With my own horse suffering from this dreadful disease and my ongoing efforts to help him to find exactly what was the cause may be,  I was pleasantly surprised to find out just how many horses were being successfully rehabbed each year.

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The more research I did, the more successful outcomes I came across. 

So, with nothing to lose and so much to gain, I decided to stop concentrating on the triggers and to to look at my lovely boy more holistically and assess what the rest of his body was telling me. 

As we all know this horrible disease affects horses or all types and ages, but many of the affected horses do tend to show some similar postural signs ie tension, a hollow back, dropped shoulders and a dip in front and behind the withers.   

It raised so many questions  :   were these compensatory patterns in my horses body the result of the trigeminal nerve being over sensitive, or could it be the tension and compression in his body, caused by these compensatory patters, that were affecting the trigeminal nerve and becoming a contributory factor in the headshaking ?    Could it be the result of an old injury, poor conformation, or lack of development causing nerve impingement/compression?

I don't suppose we will ever know for sure, there are so many possibilities, but for those of you struggling with similar issues, I thought it may give you some hope to read Quigley's story, below. 

Quigley's Story

Diagnosed with Trigeminal Neuralgia several years ago, my lovely young horse Quigley had a difficult time as a youngster. The prognosis from the Vets was poor and his quality of life was not much better.  His whole demeanor had changed with the onset of this dreadful disease;  he went from a lovely laid-back character to a hyper, agitated, over-reactive horse with a serious health problem. 

He was clearly in some discomfort and following a number of trials and medications, the vets couldn't do any more for him - he was 5 years old and written off as dangerous. 

For such a lovely young horse with his whole life ahead of him, it was just too big a decision for me to make in a hurry.  All the therapies/treatments that I had been able to find, in the early days, were to alleviate the symptoms rather than the cause, so following a lot of research I decided to take a more holistic approach to his management and investigate the possibility that his headshaking may be due to a mechanical or musculoskeletal issue. 

Once I stopped concentrating on the triggers and started to assess what the rest of his body was telling me, it made me question whether it was it the headshaking that made him so tight in the back and hollow through his outline, or could it be a compressed nerve or poor posture that may be a contributory factor ?

A demo day on ‘Back Health’ at Ashbrook Equine Hospital and a couple of timely veterinary articles inspired me to consider a new direction and a plan to see if I could find a way to release the tension/compression and give his body some space to heal.  He wasn’t safe to ride at this point and we were both putting on the pounds through inactivity, so we started from the ground with absolutely nothing to lose.

Although I have always enjoyed working my horses from the ground, it has always been supplementary or preparatory to ridden work.  Quigley was the first horse that had been off work for such a long time and could not be ridden.  I couldn’t believe how much his frame changed and how much topline he developed from just 15-20 minutes groundwork, 3-4 times a week. 

It proved to be an absolute revelation and helped develop a strong foundation for his future training.  It wasn’t just his body that was so clearly developing, his whole demeanor was changing, as was his posture, movement and quality of life - and I was hooked !!

Without doubt, the groundwork has led to a healthier posture, a happier horse, a release of the tension in his back and for the most time, no headshaking 😊.   We still have the odd day when the triggers just get on top of his hypersensitivity, and I am sure there always will be, but here we are now, several years on, he is now back in ridden work and loving life. It has been life-changing for us both – and so rewarding. 

This is Quigley’s story – a program set to help change the postural imbalances and compensatory patterns that were clear to see within his body.  Every horse is different of course and they all have to be assessed individually.  However, I do believe that looking at the horse from a holistic point of view, by making sure their environment, teeth, back, tack, feet, feeding etc., are all taken into consideration, is a great place to start and offers some hope for those with similar issues. 

The kindness shown has been immeasurable.  I now have a great team of professionals who support us both every step of the way.  They have all played a huge part in Quigley’s ongoing welfare. They know who they are, and they all know how grateful I am for their patience, understanding and support.