Hi, my horse used to head toss, there is a difference between head tossing and head shaking, he would do it only on hacks and if I wanted to go a diffent way to him, it got worse when out hacking with others and especially if there was another horse in front, i.e. if they went into trot and he was up their bum and I was holding him back, then he would head toss and rein yank until I thought I would go over his head, he was behavioural rather than being bothered by pollen. Anyway, to cut a long story short, if you read Pat Parelli head shaking/head tossing, (google it) she will tell you the reason why horses do it if its behavioural. Also, I took his bit away, so he couldnt pull on it and switched to a bitless bridle, the head tossing has now nearly stopped.

Hello! As Justine says, headshaking can vary from a full-blown syndrome, with the trigeminal nerve affected, to more common allergic reaction, a little like hay fever in humans. You can try a fly veil - you can see one in issue 307 (Feb/March 2008), and also fly-repellent wipes, gels and creams and be safely applied all over your horse's head (avoid getting anything directly into his eyes). Equilibrium also do nose nets, and riding fly masks that cover the horse's eyes and ears - I'm thinking of trying one on my mare, who is senstive to flies bothering her while we're out hacking. After I've done so, I'll put a review on here. You can see more of Equilibrium's fly products at www.equilibrium.com

get a continental ear cover, you know the type that covers the ears and has slight fringe on it, they are only cheap, worked with my TB. Suzie.