Do young horses copy wind suckers or cribbers?

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Katkin

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Just a thought this morning, I've been asked by a friend to look after his old horse for a couple of months whilst he is working abroad. The horse is normally stabled at night and out during daylight hours but, and here's the downside, he cribs/windsucks and weaves quite badly. He even windsucks/cribs on the fence posts in the fields and particularly enjoys doing it when he's got a mouthful of food so don't think it's boredom.

Although I'm happy to accept I'm going to get some crimping here and there, I have a few youngsters and I wondered how "susceptible" they would be to copying this behaviour? Anyone any advice or had similar situations?
 
No idea if this helps at all but I went to a talk by the Vet Jane Nixon a couple of years ago, who suggested that windsucking/cribbing is actually inherited... so hopefully the other youngsters wouldnt 'copy' the behaviour unless they are genetically pre-disposed to...
 
Because horses on stressy routines/lots of hard feed tend to be concentrated on racing/comp yards and be breeds prone to stress and ulcers (linked to cribbing), people think that they copy it/catch it.

However it is much more likely to be breed/feed/management/genetics. Which can lead perfectly possibly to a non cribbing horse starting to crib after being on a yard with cribbers and people thinking it is copying.

All I know is I thought the same until my horse spent 8 years staring directly at a chronic cribber and never picked up the slightest tendency - but then, it was a small relaxed yard and this other horse had been a racer cribbed elsewhere from an early age - none of the other horses on the yard copied it, not even my 3yo.

I no longer believe that it is at all common for it to be copied behaviour, tho Im sure there are exceptions, but much more about environment and feed and that kind of thing
 
There have been studies conducted on TB mares who windsuck and their foals. It was found that foals that were mixed in breed did not copy their mothers and did not windsuck at all in later life. I think horses only learn behaviour if there is a benefit to the horse eg. to overcome boredom, (door kicking and then being fed is a perfect example of conditioning the horse to kick the door), and windsucking stems from the need to relieve the gut of acid build up because, as you will know, horses can not be sick - the horse learns that when he gets a pain in his tummy if he windsucks it is temporarily relieved.

In conclusion, unless your youngsters are badly managed which I'm sure yours are not, then they shouldn't feel inclined to windsuck or crib.
 
My 3 (almost 4) year old has lived beside and opposite my loan mare since she was just turned two. Loan mare used to crib quite badly and still does it at feeding time. Youngster has never shown any signs of it - and she's a high-strung, fidgety, impatient p-i-t-a!
 
My friend has 3 TB's; my loan mare and her older ex racer both crib bite like you wouldnt believe (even in tandem!) but her latest TB ex-racer who's only 8 has been with them for a year now and hasnt copied them.
 
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