Perfect horse but he windsucks, should I buy....?

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Smallhorses

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Morning!! :)

I went to see a TB last night.

GOOD POINTS:
He rides so well, I felt a great bond with him which was sooooooo lovely :) He's just started dressage and the owner's instructor said he had some lovely paces. Nice jump, brakes! and just generally nice friendly horse.

BAD POINTS:
He wind sucks.

He will be living out.

Would you....?
 
He would have to be cheap - Cheap - CHEAP!!! Great bargaining power for you though as they'll struggle to sell a windsucking TB ;)
 
If he will be living out, then yes I would. Wind sucking is usually a stable developed habit and may disappear with living out

I would try and haggle though
 
Long term I don't think its wise to buy a horse with a vice, 2 horses on my yard (owned by the same person) have had to have major surgery for colic, presumably brought on by this problem. I believe it can affect the gut considerably, there are supplements out nowadays though so it would have to be reflected in the price they are asking.
 
How much does he windsuck? All the time? Only in the stable? Only at feed time? If I liked the horse I would consider it. I would expect a bargain though and I would ask the vet to be particularly vigilant for any related issues during the vetting.
 
He will be out 24/7 in an electric fenced field so I suppose - although pleeeeease correct me if I am wrong - that he won't have anything to "windsuck" on.....:confused:
 
Go for it.....windsucking is easily controled.

My mare is a windsucker, she lives out 24/7 and on a high fibre diet, she is given a field lick which she now uses instead of sucking...we have wooden post and electric fencing. top of posts are covered in cribox to stop her doing it on that.

She now never windsucks in the field. Never done it in the trailer.

If i giver her an extra strong mint, she windsuck while i tie her up to groom, her but nothing bad.

I would not turn him down for this vice.
Might get a little money off, but then i'm sure owner has already priced him accordingly.
 
I could be wrong, but windsuckers do not need fencing etc to perform their habit on - cribbers are the ones that need to latch onto something and suck whereas windsuckers will do it without.

I bought a cribber - he is perfect in every way and the price paid reflected his habit. He does it at feed time, if given a treat, or if stressed. He is an ex bsja horse and developed the habit when stabled 24/7 and competed hard with a previous owners.

He does it a lot less when on summer grazing 24/7 and ensure he has ad lib haylage when stabled overnight in the winter. He has no significant tooth wear and is not prone to colic so health wise has no real affect on him.

I note somone has advised a collar - personally I see these as cruel and the stress relieved by the vice may then manifest itself in another way.....

Good luck in whatever decision you make!
 
Gilbey said:
Do you really want to be keeping a TB out 24/7??
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Why not????? I have a TB who lives out 24/7 more than happily she much prefers it to being contained in a stable...much more natural.

I have nothing against stabling, I have done for years with my other horse, but just because it's a TB doesn't mean it has to be stabled.
You'll find most the racers are out in the winter, no rugs or anything, then brought back into work for the racing season.

As for windsucking without the fencing, you are right, they don't need them, but the majority will windsuck while cribbing/latching onto something. As with my mare.
 
Yes, I did :)

Windsucking doesn't make a horse more prone to colic... I'm sure someone else will tell me I'm wrong, but I sought vet advis eon it and current research shows no link.

My TB lives out 24/7 and it reduces his windsucking, you might need careful management if he/she is stabled as this is when most of them do it. Mine costs me a bit more than normal in terms of feed in the winter and an extra rug but thats it so far...

Please don't put the collar on, I hate to admit to trying it and all it made him do was get stressy, box walk and chew wood :( He's a determined chap and even licked the cribbox off while pulling faces when I put it on his stable door so be prepared for a bit of trial and error! Wouldn't swap him for anything as his is perfect in every other way :D
 
Iv had 3 and never again, to much damage to fencing and their teeth and cost loads to keep re doing fencing. Collars are cruel and makes them more stressed and at the end off the day I stuggled to sell them so nope never again
 
thatsmygirl said:
Iv had 3 and never again, to much damage to fencing and their teeth and cost loads to keep re doing fencing. Collars are cruel and makes them more stressed and at the end off the day I stuggled to sell them so nope never again
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I agree with this I'm afraid. I have one, TB broodmare, the vendors said she didn't do it in the field (rubbish). My beautiful post and rail fencing is ********* as are my stables. She colicked 7 times last winter (my vet says this not connected but really!) and gets really bad gastric ulcers. Super mare TBH and not her fault as was ex-racer but no, never again. Collars are very, very, very cruel
 
Depends how often s/he windsucked. My ex racer does occasionally but now she has constant access to forage she has stopped, although does still do it occasionally if her routine is drastically changed.
 
broke_but_happy said:
Depends how often s/he windsucked. My ex racer does occasionally but now she has constant access to forage she has stopped, although does still do it occasionally if her routine is drastically changed.
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So is the purpose of a collar to stop the horse from biting on something or does it stop it altogether i.e. can it stop the horse from fresh air without an object?
 
Smallhorses said:
So is the purpose of a collar to stop the horse from biting on something or does it stop it altogether i.e. can it stop the horse from fresh air without an object?
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it stops the horse being able to bend their neck and suck, they can still bite an object or latch on, but can't round their neck and suck as it has a metal (even nastier) or a firm piece of leather under their windpipe attached to the collar.
 
Sidney said:
I could be wrong, but windsuckers do not need fencing etc to perform their habit on - cribbers are the ones that need to latch onto something and suck whereas windsuckers will do it without.
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^^ This. I never knew there was a difference until i read it in a magazine. My lad cribs on what ever he can latch onto (usually the gate in the field or the stable door) His began when he was eventing. He was stabled 24/7 with just half hour turnout a day. and he's been doing it since. I bought some 'Cribox' (i dont like collars in the slightest and tbh, dont think they work). I think it is AMAZING stuff and stops him from doing it. I tested it over a few days to begin with incase things when a bit belly up. But it hasnt affected his behaviour at all. He occasionally cribs and the field gate now but hasnt in the stable for around a month now.
 
If the windsucking was minimal, and the horse was perfect for you in every other way and you weren't planning on selling horse on, you would be silly not to go for it.

The one thing I would say, is "is he living out because he windsucks that badly that they cant have him in?" A lot of adverts say 'only windsucks when in stable' which could be true, but what if horse had to be on box rest for a number of months? Could you cope with it if it got really terrible? Then ofcourse there is that age old 'is it connected to colic or isn't it?' No scientific research proves that it is, but a lot of people who have windsuckers say that the horse gets more bouts of colic than they would expect, have you asked if he has colliced before and how many times? Could you cope with possible regular collicing and afford treatment in the worst case scenario?

Windsucking is quite a drastic thing to experience, and if you haven't seen it before it can be quite distressing, you just need to make sure that your horse is as stress free as possible, living out obviously helps, as does giving them licks and things to play with (in my experience). Most horses that do it, will continue to do so for the rest of their lives, but living in a relatively stress free environment should help to reduce it :)

I hope it goes well for you :)
 
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