Day Two - Project Lily - Tips to stop weaving?

[dwi]

Good news is that I was much firmer with her today and we had no recurrence of the nappy behaviour when being led. She clearly responds well to firm handling so hoping we can develop good habits there.

The bad news is that she was apparently weaving first thing this morning before I got down at 6.30 to turn her out and then she was weaving again tonight after I'd put her to bed.

Her old owner assured me she didn't weave, just the odd flap at feed time. If that's true I'd really like to try and break the habit before it becomes one.

Any tips?

 

[MrsMozart]

Nope. Is a stress management behaviour. Dizz does it.

Try an anti-weave grill, but watch her behaviour. If she's stressed she'll find some way of letting it out/coping with it.

 

[dwi]

Do you think she'll stop weaving once she's settled into our yard or will she always be a weaver now?

 

[legaldancer]

Turn her out 24/7? This stopped mine.

 

[MrsMozart]

She might stop, but it depends on why she is weaving in the first place.

I was told Dizz didn't weave, but she's done it since day one with us, and she's been in different stable designs and layouts. The best for her is when another horse is directly opposite her. She does it when she sees me, especially if I have her tack/my riding hat on, and at feed times, and used to do it all the time when she was in one stable - I could never figure that one out as it was a big and airy stable in the middle of a courtyard where she had a good view. She doesn't do it when she's in the field.

I put a rubber stable mat down in front of the door to take some of the pressure off.

 

[Django Pony]

Weaving is caused by frustration, stress or anxiety. Alleviate those problems and you will stop the weaving.
Try to find out what is causing her stress and remove the cause, for example does she do it when her feed is due? If so, have it pre-prepared so as not to cause her stress. Is she anxious in her stable - is she on her own or next to another horse who she doesn't like or is bullying her? Is she getting enough turn out? Some horses just hate being stabled - could she live out?
A mirror can help (special horsey one) or a stable companion if it's large enough to accommodate one? It doesn't have to be another horse, a goat or sheep or even chickens can work!
Try environmental enrichment - some toys or treats to make her stable a more fun place to be. Provide plenty of forage and fibre, of different types if possible for example hay, haylage, alfalfa, lucerne, hand picked grass, chaff etc. There is a really good description of this in 100-Ways-To-A-Perfect-Equine-Partnership
It sounds really easy as I type it here, but it's not! I wish you the best of luck!
Keep us posted!

 

[dwi]

I'd love to turn her out 24/7 but we're on clay soil so nowhere around here offers full turnout in winter. She's out from 6.30 in the morning and then in at about 5 at night so pretty good for the time of year. As soon as the field dries up she can go out full time.

 

[golddustsara]

Don't worry my boy did it for the first few weeks, then settled down completely. Like MrsM said, it is a stress management thing, they have to let the stress out in some way. I found adding a stable ball, putting a weave grill up and generally doing things like adding carrots to his hay etc helped but now I don't need to use any of those methods. I generally try to keep him out as much as possible but if you can't then a routine will definitely help.

 

[Orangehorse]

I had a mare that weaved, but it got less the more settled she became. I made the stable as welcoming as possible. She could see out front and back, there was always a nice comfy bed and ad lib hay (luckily she wasn't a greedy pig). I put a rubber mat in front of the door so it was a bit softer if she did weave. I turned her out early in the morning and brought her in at dusk.

She would stand by the gate and weave if she was worried about something, but with careful and considerate management she got to she hadly ever did it and even coped with a couple of weeks box rest OK.

I sold her and the new owner said she didn't settle in the first livery yard, but went to another where the stables were bigger and she could see all around and she was OK then.

 

[Laafet]

I would recommend a mirror. T has developed this habit, he only does it in the morning when he wants to go out or if we change his routine. Very annoying. But the mirror, maximal turnout and a calmer have all helped.

 

[Natch]

[ QUOTE ]
Weaving is caused by frustration, stress or anxiety. Alleviate those problems and you will stop the weaving.

[/ QUOTE ]

Not necessarily. If it is an established behaviour it can become habit, regardless of if the environment is changed t be ideal for the horse.

OP, forcibly stopping a horse from weaving can actually make his/her stress levels go UP. Have a think about why you want to stop the behaviour. Its great to want to improve her living conditions to mean she isn't so stressed. But don't be disappointed if she continues to weave.

 

[Tinypony]

You say she was weaving today before you got there. That means that other people were there before you, moving about and generally doing stuff, because they saw her weave. Were they feeding and turning out? Maybe she's not used to seeing other horses being fed, taken out of their stables etc while she is in. Maybe she went out first at her old place. You could ask her previous owner what her routine was.
Weaving seems to often occur when the horse is anticipating something such as being fed or turned out/in, or when they see other horses being taken away. You can put a grill up, which may just displace her behaviour inside her stable, or start her doing something else. It's the cause you need to be looking for though. Also, if anyone starts telling her off or reacting to her weaving, she will almost certainly get worse.

 

[AmyMay]

QR - I certainly wouldn't worry too much about the weaving just yet. Let the horse settle, establish a routine that they can rely on and it may well decrease or stop all together.

 

[coen]

My old TB mare used to weave pretty badly we didn't have the option of 24/7 turnout but she would be out in the day and in at night. I tried her at a few different yards over the years, big small, but she was pretty much the same everywhere. She was a very stressy type and would always be worse if something changed her routine, like a show day or new horse on the yard ect then she would weave box walk get diorhia. Didn't like antiweave bars as she just done it inside and she wasn't too friendly to other horses.
I knew she weaved when I bought her as a 10yr old & with an established weaver like her I don't think it is possible to stop but with your horse it may just be the upheaval so he may stop or decrease his weaving when he is settled in.
It never caused any mayor problems.

 

[ladyt25]

I really wouldn't worry too much about it - my horse has done it ever since I've had him. He is stabled at night in winter and weaves most days at feed times. He'll also do it if he thinks something's going on he's missing out on or generally if he gets himself worked up!

Best remedy is turnout as much as possible really. It sounds like yours is having plenty and it's quite likely she only does it at feeding etc. I think if they have their head over the stable door when doing it then let them be - I would be more worried if my horse did it back from the door or box-walked to be honest.

I know people say some horses may copy the vice but non of our horses have ever copied my horse's behaviour. He is very intelligent and I think maybe it's something intelligent horses do - they need to be occupied.

Maybe try find her something to hang in her stable to keep her busy - those treat balls etc.

Other than that just leave her be - I also think weave grills could just make the problem worse. My horse has weaved for 15 years and hasn't suffered any detrimental effects in all that time! If you canm turn her out 24/7 though in summer i think that'd help her a lot.

 

[RobinHood]

There has been a lot of research in recent years into stereotypy so there's lot of information on the internet if you're interested.

McAfee et al. (2002) did some interesting work on the use of mirrors and Cooper et al. (2000) looked at the effect of increasing visual horizins, well worth a read.

You'll find lots of papers here http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob...ed632203bfd2d9a

 

[Hippona]

Mine weaved and head nodded like a maniac when I got him...when he wanted to go out, at feed times- if another went past him on the yard.

I ignored his daftness. Turned him out as much as possible. Feed him a fibre diet. Gave him a routine.

He rarely does it now- unless I take one of the others out before him....in which case he will nod away over the door until I let him out.

But generally he is much better.

I am moving him at the weekend to my own rented yard...he will probably start doing it again, I am prepared for it, but I 'm sure he will settle eventually. Plus if he wants to dance his time wawy that up to him. I will hang his haynet near the door so he can combine eating and dancing.