I just got a Guardian mask July 23, 2004 and put it on her. It didn't change her head tossing at all initially, but I know this may take some time. I can't afford to have my horse stabled during the day so I can't judge if she would get better by being out of the sun .
The only drug my vet has tried on my horse, Mariah, so far is fluphenozine and all it did was make her lethargic for about 4 days and give her diarrhea really bad. When that failed, he told me to get a fly mask with sun protection for her eyes so I got the Guardian mask. The other thing he told me to try is a fringe with tassels on her muzzle like the Guardian's Nose Shaker. So I ordered it.           click on thumbnail right

I haven't seen her headshaking in the pasture until recently. Mostly she headshakes in the pasture after I put her back when I'm done working with her. She used to toss her head from the moment I put a lead rope on her until ... well, I'm not sure when it stopped but it was sometime after I put her back in the pasture. It seems like most other horses with this problem only toss their heads when they're being ridden or exercised. I can have her in a round pen with nothing on her -- no halter, lead rope, bridle, saddle, or lunge line -- and I'm not touching her or making her move at all and she'll just be standing there tossing her head sometimes very spasmodically and violently. I can leave her there for several minutes while I'm talking to someone and out of the corner of my eye, I see her headshaking intermittently. The first time I noticed it was when I rode her at the trot. She seemed to only do it when trotting so I thought it was a behavioral thing that just needed some work. But it evolved into her doing it so often, I'm not able to ride her at all. I noticed lately that she sometimes rubs the left side of her muzzle on her left leg and also keeps her head down close to the ground more often. Most days I don't see any nasal drainage, and if there is any, it’s only a slight amount. There is no eye drainage at all. It doesn't matter how dark it is outside when I work with her -- her headshaking is the same. She's also outside 24/7 and doesn't seek the shade of the shelters in her pasture to protect her eyes from the sun. She doesn't sneeze but she snorts a lot. Stress also seems to make her headshaking worse (being exposed to anything out of ordinary). At times, I feel like I have a glass horse -- very fragile and easy to trigger headshaking.

I really miss riding her! I'm glad at least that I had a friend show me some Pat Parelli exercises so I have some ground work I can do with her. I think I'd be going crazy not being able to do anything else with her for so long.

I don't know of any head injuries that Mariah has had but I've only had her for such a short time. She loads in the trailer like a dream, I suspect no trailer injuries before I got her and she hasn't had any since she is with me. 

After leaving the mask on her for 2 days, even though I was there in the mid-afternoon when it isn't dark at all, I did notice about a 10% improvement in her head tossing. I brought a knee-hi nylon with me to put on her muzzle. I knew it would be too tight so I made a straight cut from the edge down almost to the toe and attached it to the Velcro on the mask. It was pretty funny because she kept sticking her tongue out trying to get it off and yawning to try to stretch it out far enough to get it off. But I did notice that while she was doing this, she was not shaking her head. I led her around for just a few minutes and even when she was walking, she wasn't tossing her head. Usually once I start leading her, the head tossing gets really bad -- she'll violently jerk her head straight up. 

I tried to shave her muzzle and she had a bad reaction to her whiskers being shaved off. It seemed to trigger some violent headshaking. So I didn't continue. I had shaved her muzzle a few months ago without her reacting much at all so I know it's not the clipper that bothers her.

Mariah doesn't like to run around much in the pasture -- I think it makes the headshaking worse.

She gets sudden, frequent pain-shocks every few seconds. I have seen her lift up from the ground in front, too, at the trot when lunging her without any tack or lunge line.

I'm not training for any kind horse shows -- I just want a horse I can take on trail rides. I can sit on her back and walk around the indoor arena somewhat but she's headshaking even when she's just standing still so riding her increases the frequency.

Sue, August 2004 - USA

Today I took Mariah on a 7 mile trail ride at a nearby park with 2 other riders.  It was about a 3 hour trail ride.  I used a halter, the Guardian Mask, and a scarf tied so it covered her nose and mouth.  It was partly cloudy most of the time but also sunny.  The temperature was in the high 60's to mid 70's (Fahrenheit).  Sorry, I don't know the formula for converting it to Celsius.  She didn't HS at all the whole time.  I was so happy!  Feels like I have my horse back again -- even though she looks like she's ready to go trick-or-treating in her bug-eyed bank robber Halloween costume.  She wasn't moving real fast but it has been months since I've ridden her on this long of a trail.  I'm very thankful that I am able to do this with her despite the fact that I don't have her on any supplements or medications.  Maybe the weather has something to do with it because it's like autumn here in Minnesota already.  The trees are changing colors and shedding their leaves.