Do horses get headaches? Find out more.......

This morning I was disappointed to wake up with a sniffly nose 🤧 and a banging headache 🤕

Not ideal for any one, being ill is just so inconvenient, and a headache can be anything from niggly and annoying right up to down right painful and debilitating 😭

This got me thinking about our horses, did you know they get headaches too ⁉️

**What would cause my horse to have a headache?**

🔺Ill fitting tack ( e.g browband too tight)

🔺Neck or head trauma (e.g from pulling back when tied)

🔺Dental problems such as ramped molars exerting pressure on the temporal mandibular joint

🔺Chemical induced (e.g high pesticide exposure, field spraying, nitrites in diet, pig weed

🔺Hormone induced (e.g Menstruation in mares)

🔺Histamine induced (e.g Allergies)

🔺"Fasting” (e.g being fed meals instead of adlib forage)

🔺Activity induced (e.g Irregular, intense activity or heat exhaustion)

🔺Anxiety from loss or change (owner, animal buddy, travel)

**How would you know if your horse has a headache, what are the signs?**

🔻Hyper reactive to touch (specifically to head or poll or neck)

🔻Defensive behavior upon approach (pinning back ears)

🔻Hyperactivity (nibbling, unable to stand quietly, paces in paddock)

🔻Ataxia, clumsy, unresponsive

🔻Sweating on forehead or ears

🔻Lowered head or elevated head posture

🔻Difficult to catch

🔻Difficult to groom and/or tack up

🔻Skittish, irritable, aggressive, spooky

🔻Head shaking, head pressing, or staring

🔻Furrowed brows, squinty eyes, worried look, frequent blinking, distressed or dull expression

🔻Tight mouth/jaw

**How can you help your horse if they have a headache?**

There are many ways you can help your horse resolve their headache, depending on the cause:

✅ Ensure tack fits correctly

✅Try to avoid stressful situations

✅Chiropractic treatment may be required if the headache is due to skeletal alignment

✅Ensure Adlib forage as much as possible

✅Regular dental examinations

✅Equine Massage Therapy

**Equine Massage Therapy can help by:**

✔️ Increasing blood flow in areas that might be ischemic (lacking blood flow) and therefore helping relieve pain

✔️ Decreasing pain from Trigger Points which can refer into the neck and head

✔️Loosening chronically tight muscles and taught bands of tissue helping with muscle balance and neck alignment

✔️Releasing the muscles that attach to the base of the skull, relieving the tension headaches that travel up the back of the head and into the eye

✔️Regulating certain hormones decreasing levels of the stress hormone Cortisol

✔️Increasing endorphins and stimulating the Para-Sympathetic Nervous system, therefore promoting relaxation


If you think your horse could benefit from Equine Massage Therapy please do get in touch to find out more or to book an appointment 📲

(Credit: some information included from a study by veterinarian Ella Bittel, DVM)