Caleigh has suddenly become what looks like..uh..head shy? She tosses her head as high as she can, pins her ears, bugs her eyes, and flinches whenever she is bridled and haltered, or brushed on the face, or someone gives her a pat on the cheek, or if I turn around fast she'll balk and take a few fast steps backwards with her head in the clouds.
She has no reason to be head shy and from watching her I'm starting to think it might be pain related and not head shy at all? Has anyone had a horse that acted head shy but wasn't? I'm at the barn everyday so I'm with her every day. We don't have grooms or anyone outside of my barn owner and her family and the boarders at the barn and I know everyone of them. I get there before most of them do anyways. I'm at the barn a steady 8-10 hours and I honestly don't think anyone would be messing with her.
In my massage training I'm learning trigger point therapy, where on a horse a lot of triggers are along the back, the hips, high points on the neck, and the jaw muscles. I checked out Caleigh looking for trigger points but I wasn't getting any feed back. She still puts her head in my lap and loves hugs on her face but she balks at the littlest things now? This just started within the past 3 weeks.
I was thinking she was just acting up and was jealous of the attention Legacy is getting but this has gone on too long. I called the vet and scheduled her earliest appointment Wednesday at 10am for some Chiro work. I'm starting to think she might be out of whack maybe? However pressure from my hands when I was poking around on her looking for a trigger didn't get any sort of response. Tomorrow before her bath I'm thinking I'll give her a full massage and see if I find anything. I was thinking it might be working on collection but I've been doing the same thing with her for 5 months now and she's on regular chiro work every 2-3 months depending on her work load. The only thing I can really think of is she might need some chiro work. I'm hoping that will fix it?
Anyone had a mystery thing like this? :shock:
She has no reason to be head shy and from watching her I'm starting to think it might be pain related and not head shy at all? Has anyone had a horse that acted head shy but wasn't? I'm at the barn everyday so I'm with her every day. We don't have grooms or anyone outside of my barn owner and her family and the boarders at the barn and I know everyone of them. I get there before most of them do anyways. I'm at the barn a steady 8-10 hours and I honestly don't think anyone would be messing with her.
In my massage training I'm learning trigger point therapy, where on a horse a lot of triggers are along the back, the hips, high points on the neck, and the jaw muscles. I checked out Caleigh looking for trigger points but I wasn't getting any feed back. She still puts her head in my lap and loves hugs on her face but she balks at the littlest things now? This just started within the past 3 weeks.
I was thinking she was just acting up and was jealous of the attention Legacy is getting but this has gone on too long. I called the vet and scheduled her earliest appointment Wednesday at 10am for some Chiro work. I'm starting to think she might be out of whack maybe? However pressure from my hands when I was poking around on her looking for a trigger didn't get any sort of response. Tomorrow before her bath I'm thinking I'll give her a full massage and see if I find anything. I was thinking it might be working on collection but I've been doing the same thing with her for 5 months now and she's on regular chiro work every 2-3 months depending on her work load. The only thing I can really think of is she might need some chiro work. I'm hoping that will fix it?
Anyone had a mystery thing like this? :shock: