Shadows Story – My introduction to headshaking
I purchased Shadow, a 17hh Irish grey gelding in March 2003. A quality horse with a lovely nature.
He had been sold in the sales in Ireland, shipped over to England, sold to a dealer who sold him on to another dealer all in the space of
5 weeks. When I tried him he was fussy in his mouth and rather spooky. I put this down to him being green. He was vetted by a local
vet. She said although he looked fit he was not, as his resting heartbeat was elevated after work. He also became very tired very
quickly. Once again I put this down to him being young and unfit. He had the remains of a ‘nipped’ sarcoid. The vet said that in spite of
this he was such a quality horse I should buy him. I did and brought him home.
Shortly after his arrival he contracted a problem which caused his legs to scab & swell. He was given a course of antibiotics to clear this
up by the Vet. He was also give a Tetanus vaccine.
During the weeks that followed he became more jumpy & very spooky to ride. He was clearly unhappy in his mouth although he had his
teeth rasped.
When being worked he dragged his hind toes & looked almost lame on his near hind & displayed hind quarter weakness. Occasionally
he would 'give way' at the knee for no apparent reason. During the day he would sometimes lay down in the field for hours & sleep in a
most unnatural way
I noticed him 'ticcing' in his stable one day. As he had his whiskers cut off I assumed it was just them growing back and being sensitive.
The following week we took him to his first show. In the show ring, for no apparent reason, he panicked and galloped off. About a week
later we travelled him to a nearby centre for a training session. He was very difficult to load & unload, holding his head very high &
showing signs of extreme tension. During the lesson he bucked and threw my daughter off & then started coughing & snorting.Within
10 mins his head was being thrown violently up & down. I had my headshaker. This was June 2003.
In the following weeks he became totally unrideable and also unmanageable due to his panic attacks at the slightest thing. The vet
suggest we try Tegretol & Periactin. This worked briefly –approx 1 week. I was not happy to increase the dose. The horse was now
drinking a tremendous amount of water a day, he also had a craving for salt, licking everyone & everything. His sarcoid was enormous,
& he developed a thick cresty neck..I could not walk him out in the sun as he would strike out at his face and fall over. He would bang
his head against the wall whilst eating because of the pain. He would rub his nose & mouth on his leg, the door, anything to relieve the
irritation. He would also rub his right ear. His skin became sensitive. He could not stand being groomed or the rain on his skin. He also
became aggressive to the other gelding, chasing him quite irrationally for no apparent reason & therefore had to be segregated. He
was a very miserable, unhappy horse. I was a distraught owner!
To cut a long story short - over the next 6 months my research together with my study of TCM allowed me to realise that stress was the
major factor in this disease - stress of any kind albeit physical, chemical, emotional or environmental. I realised that geldings were more
predisposed to stress related problems since, unlike entire animals, their 'stress buffer' of Testosterone had been removed.
I discovered how so called ' adaptogens ' worked in relation to stress .I started Shadow on a varied assortment, based on my TCM &
herbal knowledge. We started on a cocktail of herbs, mostly trial & error as I was only at the beginning of my studies - however within 6
weeks the horse was calm. Gradually I started to introduce tack & gentle leading around the school.. I was careful not to overdo
anything or cause any type of stress, treating him as a person who was recovering from a very serious illness and was starting back to
work.
Over the next few months slowly Shadow regained his strength. We had several 'blips' when he would become anxious or stressed but
the headshaking did not return that year.
In Feb 2005 Spring seemed to be on the way & we had new neighbours with 100's of geese. Shadow became distraught. He dug a
huge hole in the ground in apparent frustration at the 'invasion' & was very lame. Worried that he had badly damaged himself I called
the vet who diagnosed severe bruising & promptly loaded him up with bute against my better judgement. The weather turned very cold
over the next few days & I arrived one afternoon to find Shadow manic with pain due to the snow hitting his skin on his face. It had
returned. I realised that the combination of 'bute' & Spring (see Spring Liver Yang rising) arriving had caused this to happen. Shadow
was immediately started on a combination of herbs, tailor made to address his TCM syndromes, within 24hours he was more like his
old self & back on the road to recovery.
A similar pattern was noticed in the Autumn of that year but addressed before it was allowed to cause any problems.
Spring 2006/7
These past 2 springtimes Shadow had no problems as far as his headshaking was concerned. He showed tongue & eye symptoms of
Liver heat which was addressed straight away & he continued to thrive.
Spring 2008
In February this year, Shadow had an accident in the field when a nail penetrated his hind foot. It went thru the frog damaging the
digital flexor tendon & set up a massive infection throughout the whole foot & pedal bone. In spite of aggressive veterinary & herbal
intervention the damage was too extensive to ever repair enough for him to resume anything like a normal life.
Rather than prolong his pain & enforced box rest I took the decision to have him euthenaised & he passed peacefully away on 28th
March.
In spite of all the pain, drugs & weeks of box rest, this lovely horse showed no signs of headshaking or any or its related symptoms.
During this time he had been constantly monitored & kept balanced with TCM protocols.
We have since acquired 2 more headshaking horses.
Rupert, owned by us since 1998, who was put out on loan for 2 years & came back as a headshaker after being competed &
vaccinated to excess. He was also insulin resistant with a big weight problem!
Rupert has responded extremely well & is now competing
with Emma at local dressage shows, obtaining 3 x 1st's,
1 x 2nd & 1 x 3rd in his first 3 outings.
January 2008 Rupert is consistently winning at
Novice level.
May 2008. Rupert was Reserve Champion at the
South East Regionals Championships, obtaining an
average of 71% in his 2 tests.
We also have 'Izzy' a six year old Thoroughbred Ex-Racehorse. Izzy was raced both on the flat & over hurdles some 13 times in spite of
being very small (only 15hands when she came to us in 2006) & had suffered numerous problems, so much so that our vet recognised
her from having previously treated her so many times at the racing yard! She apparently had a reputation for being' totally neurotic'
During her first summer with us Izzy had dreadful skin sensitivity & extreme irrational behaviour towards flies. She had numerous eye
problems & displayed extreme aggression at feed times. When ridden, she would leap into canter & strike out in front. She was very
sensitive in her mouth, producing copious amounts of saliva, & extremely stiff thru her back & 'upside down' racing frame.
By Feb 07she was unrideable due to her headshaking.
Today Izzy is a calm, laid back mare who now stands at 15.2hh. She has competing at Prelim level in local shows & behaved perfectly.
Autumn 08 update
Izzy has had a quiet
Summer mainly due to
her going barefoot &
a persistant problem
with ongoing headshaking
issues. She still suffers
nose irritation causing
her to wriggle her nose
when asked to bend right
& mouth/contact issues
due to nerve pain in her teeth & jaw. This mare has improved amazingly in her first year but it is anticipated that it will take several
years of intensive therapy before she can be called a 'normal' horse. This is totally due to the horrific stress she suffered during her
time as a racehorse, a life that takes it toll on so many lovely horses, the majority of which suffer horrendous problems in later life.
Spring 09 Update
Izzy was brought back into work in March after having 3 months of complete rest & a good herbal protocol. She has had no
headshaking problems apart from a few nose twitches initially. In April she competed at her first showjumping competition & gained 3rd
prize with 3 faults. Her behaviour was impeccable. Her mouth problems have reduced considerable & she is happy tow work in a lovely
soft outline. All who see her comment on her condition & behaviour. We simply cannot believe what a lovely animal she has become.
Annabelle Knight
Annabelle Knight
Rupert 7/05 Rupert 10/07
Izzy July 06 August 06 September 07 January 08
Rupert 5/08