Prevalence of headshaking within the equine population in the UK.

This research investigates the prevalence of headshaking in horses in the UK, a discomforting condition with an unknown cause, via a questionnaire distributed to UK horse owners. The study found that almost 5% of horses exhibited this behavior in the past year, and less than a third of horses showing these symptoms had been seen by a vet for this issue.

Research Objectives and Methodology

• The objective of the research study was to estimate the owner-reported prevalence of headshaking in horses in the UK, and gain insights into the background and disease characteristics reported by the owners.
• The researchers used a cross-sectional, web-based questionnaire to gather data. The questionnaire was promoted across online platforms – social media sites, horse forums, veterinary websites, and equestican magazines, with a target of obtaining over 1000 responses.
• All horse owners within the UK were free to complete the questionnaire; however, they were limited to submitting one response per owner.

Key Results

• Based on the data collected from the sample population of 1014 responses, the estimated prevalence of owner-reported headshaking in horses in the last year was 4.6%, with a 95% confidence interval of 3.5-6.1%.
• Over slightly, 6% of horses were reported by their owners to have shown signs of headshaking at any point since they have owned the horse.
• There was no discernible association of headshaking with the sex or breed of the horse. Furthermore, 19% of horses reported to be headshaking were at rest.
• Surprisingly, less than a third (30.2%) of the reported headshaking horses had been examined by a veterinarian for this issue.
• Among the horses examined by a veterinarian, the cause of the headshaking remained unestablished in the majority of cases (57.9%). Trigeminal-mediated headshaking, a common cause of this behavior, was reported as a diagnosis in only one case.

Study Conclusion

• The researchers recognize a limitation of their study as the unverified accuracy of data provided by horse owners.
• There is potential for over-reporting headshaking incidents because of the method of data collection.
• Notwithstanding, the study concluded that the owner-reported prevalence of headshaking symptoms within the last year in horses in the UK was 4.6%. A significant finding was that over two-thirds of the owners of headshaking horses did not seek veterinary intervention for headshaking.
• Furthermore, trigeminal-mediated headshaking as a cause was rarely reported by horse owners. Therefore, further research is required to understand and address the root cause of headshaking in horses.