Obsessive Windsucker causing problems - HELP!

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Barbacus

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Hi everyone, i just wanted to put this up to see what other people would do in my situation... there is a horse at the yard where I keep my horse that is an obsessive windsucker. He actually windsucks on the rumps/hips of other horses and displays the behaviour 24/7. His main victim has sores/bald patches and other horses have also sustained less permanent damage. The owners are very lovely people but seem less than keen to separate him from the herd or even to put a preventative collar on him, and everyone else seems more interested in keeping the peace than ensuring the welfare of the other horses in the field.

To add to the problems my young horse also windsucks but not obsessively, however when this horse is in the field, my horse mimics his obsessive behaviour (although he doesnt do it on other horses, just the fence posts). My horse's windsucking is easily deterred by cribbox, which I apply to the posts regularly, however the obsessive horse is not, so he removes it all from the posts.

This doesnt seem like much I know but its really starting to get on my nerves. I'd be really keen to hear what others suggest, even if it just gives me enough courage to raise this issue more strongly with the yard management.

Cheers!
 
Odd that the horse is so bad he does it on the bodies of other horses, never seen that before! Does he do it even if they're wearing rugs? I dont think the owners should be made to put a collar on him, collars are horrid things which IMO are cruel (having had a cribber and seeing how upset she was as soon as I put a collar on).

I think I would get together with the other owners and see what they think. Really, I think the only option is to electric fence off a section of field just for the windsucker. At least he can then be right beside his herd but then not cause them any damage.
 
Hi, yes I know he is really bad - i've never seen a horse windsuck on the bodies of other horses before. He only does it on the horses who are lower down the pecking order than him and he makes their life so difficult if they don't stand still they end up just letting him do it. He does it with or without rugs and is oblivious to any kind of topical application!

Ordinarily I wouldnt suggest a collar either - I don't like them myself and I wouldnt put one on my own horse for sure, it was just because this is such an extreme case and it would allow the horse to still be with the herd and graze.

The owner did move the horse into a separate paddock in the field after two of us complained but then turned him back out again without any prior consultation because she said he was loosing weight, which I felt was a bit of moot point because we have access to ad lib hay/haylage and feed as part of our livery costs.

Its really frustrating as I'm sure you can imagine as I don't want to cause 'trouble' by raising my objections, but at the same time it drives me nuts that my horse and other horses are suffering as a consequence. I will take your advice and suggest again that he needs to go back into a separate area in the field.
 
Re: moving yards! Yes I have considered this however the hacking, facilities and turn-out (minus windsucking horse) are so excellent its a toughie!! I'd rather find a way around the problem than move my horse as he's very happy... especially as he has a fellow windsucker friend... arghhh...
 
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i've never seen a horse windsuck on the bodies of other horses before. He only does it on the horses who are lower down the pecking order than him and he makes their life so difficult if they don't stand still they end up just letting him do it. He does it with or without rugs and is oblivious to any kind of topical application!

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Sounds very familiar, although mine only does it on horses lower than he is. with or without rugs.

Not only does the cribbing sound an issue but if he is making horses lives difficult, there is also a dominance thing going on too.

May sound bad, but it may be worth giving him is own electric fenced paddock, this way you are taking away the ability to grasp anything to crib
 
Get the owners to try Equine America U-Gard Plus, it's worked wonders on my cribber & he was pretty bad. Now a little bit of Cribbox on his stable door & you'd never know he cribbed & he hasn't been seen to do it in the field for ages
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. I'd tried other supplements, collars etc to very little effect but this has really made a huge difference & I can't recommend it enough.

I can see both sides about putting him in a seperate field. Cribbers are often stressy horses (even if they don't show it by galloping around) & so don't always do well on their own. I could give Jim adlib hay in a field on his own but he'd be too unsettled to eat it & so would still lose weight. Could he be put out with one higher ranking horse?
 
Hi there, thanks for your reply. I will take a look at the Equine America product you suggested - is it a pro-biotic?? I have found my own horse’s windsucking behaviour quite easy to control with diet and cribbox – so much so he actually forgets that he does it. Its only when he has to be stabled for any length of time or he’s reminded by the other horse that it’s a great fun thing to do, that he starts doing it again.

I have made subtle suggestions before to the owners that the horse has a chronic problem and have they looked into supplements or investigating if he has an ulcer – especially as I have investigated the causes myself as my own horse does it, but to be honest they don't seem too interested....

Also, the paddock that they turned the windsucker into before already has their other horse in (who is laminitic and so cannot go out in the main field) – he is a more dominant horse and so would not permit the windsucking on his rump. Seemed like an ideal solution but as I said they didn’t think so and so put him back out with the others...

I think I will try and raise it again and keep my fingers crossed we can work out a solution that suits everyone.
 
Hi Barbacus

no, it isn't a probiotic. It's meant to coat the stomach to help protect it from excess acid & according to the research I found it also treats low grade ulcers. I'm not promising it will work but it did for me when everything else had failed - that said I also try to keep him as stress free as possible with no cereals, ad-lib hay when he's in & daily turnout.

The paddock would seem like a fair option if he has company though they may need to put out well soaked hay so he always has something in his gut (at least if it's soaked it shouldn't harm the laminitic). If he's losing weight then they'll just have to feed him! They may want to look into cereal free foods though ... but I expect that would be too much trouble?!
 
that sounds like a very very bad case - the responsibilty is really the yard managers's, imo. whilst you can sympathise with the owners and their horse, it's not fair on the rest of you, and you shouldn't have to put up with it.
 
I feel really sorry for the horse and his owner - but I have to say that I would be LIVID if another horse was doing this to one of mine. It is one thing for them to get kicked or bitten, horses will be horses at the end of the day and sometimes these things can happen, but something else when a horse is causing soreness on another horse through cribbing/windsucking on them constantly. No way would I put up with that. Either the horse would have to be sectioned off away from mine, or I would move, no question.
 
Hi Nari, thanks again for your advice. I will definitely suggest the U-Guard to them and try and suggest they cut the cereals from the horse's diet (i know they give him a country mix type thing)... although to be honest I don't know if it will sink in as they seem to not notice the behaviour.... its quite odd really - maybe theyve just tuned out to it. Anyway I'll do my best!

I did speak to someone on the yard last night about the problem and it sounds likely that the horse will be moved into his own paddock which is good news for all of us, but especially the owners of the most victimised horse who now unfortunately has calloused sores on his back and rump!! Its always difficult to try and sort these problems out because some people find it difficult to understand that youre not having a go at them personally, just pointing out that there's a problem with their horse!

Really appreciate all the support from everyone on this thread - its given me confidence to get this sorted once and for all! Cheers!
 
Hi I participate on an Australian based horse forum and we've been discussing windsucking recently. My partner's OTTB is a windsucker (and so was his dam) but it's certainly not to the point of your horse's yard mate. Though I have heard of horses who windsuck on their own knees!!! My fella's horse is a very sensitive creature, who also is the only one of our four steeds who has been afflicted with Australian Stinghalt.

This post from another participant answered many questions I had on the topic-

I recently went to see a horse for sale that was a windsucker and was a bit worried about it so did my research. The first few links on a google search for 'windsucking' soon told me all I needed to know, with lots of scientific evidence to back it up.

I also asked my instructor about it when asking her about the suitability of the horse and she actually did her masters in Vet Science on it and said straight up not to worry about it, take the collar off, it only frustrates them and give them an antacid and they will be fixed.

Most horses windsuck (or whatever you want to call it) because of their diet causing high stomach acidity. By giving them an antacid or proton pump inhibitor (which is what is in Ulcergaurd) you eliminate their need to windsuck. People say that the behaviour can be passed on to other horses, but it is usually that the horses have a similar diet (eg in same racing stable or in same paddock with same soil quality/acidity) and so the new horse windsucks to help with their stomach pain.

I was actually reading in a horse magazine recently and there were two adds in it for 'revoluntionary new treatments' for horses. One was for ulcers and was good old Omeprazole, a proton pump inhibitor exactly as used in humans and the other was for diclofenac gel which we know as Voltaren except with a different name and marketed for horses instead!

.... so further to that post I can add that our windsucker has reduced in his indulgences, since the quality of his pasture has picked up due to top dressing of the soil, and post Australian drought rain. I've also heard that pellet feeding can aggravate a windsucker's gut - and contribute to the problem.

I hope this helps. ANG
 
Well done this is very true, also note that the stomach pain windsucking often tries to aleviate is due to excess acid due to not enough food being fed. Therefore the best way to prevent a horse starting windsucking (or reduce it in those that do) is to make sure the horse has plenty of roughage to eat, preferably ad lib as this is how they have evolved to feed.

Treat the cause not the symptoms!
 
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