September 16, 2019

Headshaking, Part 2

If you missed Part 1, go back and read this post first for some necessary backstory.

When my vet (an eventer herself and an exceptional sport horse vet) got out to the barn, I started by summarizing the headshaking and my recent findings.  She investigated the sore spot and the same spot on the other side, and pretty quickly said, "I can fix this," with absolute no-question confidence.

Taking conference calls while waiting on the vet.  The best way to take conference calls.

I am totally going to butcher these explanations, apologies to my vet, but I'll do the best I can.

She said effectively, his skull and his body were misaligned. Even when he's standing still, straight and relaxed, his skull hung off the atlas tilted in exactly the same way he rides under saddle, with the top of his head tilted toward his left side.

This is an extreme example, but this is the direction his head is always tilted.

She pointed out that the squishy channel the sore spot sits in (which is an area she referred to as "WAM" for [something]-Atlas-Mandible) was one finger wide on the left side, and two fingers wide on the right side, which is caused by his head being crooked on the atlas.  They should be even.


She said often it's only serious Dressage riders that will notice this condition because of what they ask their horses to do, and that the natural size of the gap varies widely based on breed and training (Thoroughbreds often have a small gap there, while upper level Dressage horses will have a massive gap).  A lot of horses will go their entire lives without anyone noticing this.

She also said that given how small the gap on the left was, it's absolutely possible that something was rubbing or clicking or moving into place when I straighten him out and he headshakes and then goes on my aids.

Ow my head hurts

So that's how Connor got his first bodywork session of his life.  She did his whole body first before starting with his head, and these were her findings:

- Pelvis was tipped to the left (he got wide eyed and picked a hind foot up to kick when she adjusted this!)

- Spinal processes were all tipped to the left

- SI palpated sore (not worrying given he'd done the most collected canter of his life earlier in the week)

- His behind-the-saddle back muscles were so fixed/tight she said she was surprised he went as well as he does (and she has seen him under saddle pretty recently, so she should know.)

- The right side of his neck in particular was so out/tight that when she asked him to turn his neck to  look behind him to the right without moving his feet, he was "convinced he couldn't do it" before she adjusted him.  After, he did it no problem.

- He didn't palpate sore under the saddle at all and she guessed that my saddle fits well

Then she got to his head, and she had me put my hand on his neck only for the bad side to be a counterbalance as she adjusted him from the front.  When she did it, she felt a "clunk" when the bones popped back into place, and there was a lot of licking and chewing and yawning.


She said she's not typically one to recommend regularly scheduled bodywork, but he was SO messed up that she is going to do a follow up session at our already-scheduled October fall shots appointment.

Next, we waited 24 hours and then did a test ride.

18 comments:

  1. It's good you're having her back - altho it is nice how long horses tend to hold body work!

    He'll probably need it at intervals, depending on what you're doing, the nice thing is you'll DEFINITELY know when he's due.

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    1. Yeah, after how much of a difference I felt under saddle (spoiler alert) I can tell I'll know when it's time. I probably wouldn't have had him rechecked so soon but she's scheduled to come out in October anyway, so hey. May as well! Hopefully with me riding him with a lot more awareness of how much riding contributed to his problems initially, he'll need it less and less over time (at least for this particular trainwreck of symptoms)

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  2. Wow this is fascinating. I want to go and check my horses- especially Irish who is a head shaker.

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    1. I definitely learned things I never knew before. I'm not saying this is going to be the cause of actual Headshaking with a capital H, because I don't feel that Connor is a Headshaker, just a horse that shakes his head a couple times during rides, but I'll be interested to hear what you find out nonetheless.

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    2. I have a horse who has Headshakers. No amount of body work was able to resolve it sadly...

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    3. That doesn't surprise me. HS seems to be more neuro (from my limited understanding) while this seems to be a head toss in relation to acute musculoskeletal pain.

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  3. Good bodywork is really a cornerstone for a hard-working pony. I'm glad your vet is so awesome and in-tune!

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  4. Last time I saw Kate (and wasn't getting married) she had mentioned the head/neck gap in regards to upper level dressage horses when she checked out Dante's head neck gap (apparently he's an UL dressage horse only on one side lol) Now I want to go poke his head a bunch.

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    1. I thought of Kate the whole time she was talking about it, partially because on one of my trips to CA last year me and her and Megan discussed the headshaking over dinner. This is right up her alley!

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  5. I also want to go poke Eli now. And like every other horse in the barn. I'm waiting to hear how your ride went after (even though I read your spoiler comment above!). Body work can make all the difference!

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    1. I know, I can't wait to poke my fingers into the necks of all the other horses I meet haha. I feel like this is one of those "cannot unsee" things. Ride report coming tomorrow!

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  6. Wow really interesting and so glad it was something with an easy fix! If Cupid is tilting his head it's usually a result of me dropping my outside rein going left - which seems a lot harder to change! :p We have a great chiro/DVM Cupid seems about every other month (though more often recently).

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    1. Yeah, I have some left rein/shoulder issues myself that almost certainly led to this situation and will lead to it again unless I fix that, so I'm focusing on my own biomechanics just as hard as his right now.

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  7. Awesome that your vet could assess and fix it so thoroughly. That is such great news.

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  8. Oh interesting! That's awesome that your vet also does body work. I have two separate people for that, and it can be tough to get the body worker out.
    Excited to read part three!

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    1. Yeah! It's nice to have a genuinely talented one stop shop for everything.

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