Weavers?

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navaho

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Ive got the opportunity to buy a lovely 16.2 gelding who i really like, the only downside is he does weave. Ive never had any experience of weaving before, his owner said he only weaves at feed times & doesn't do it constantly. Is there anything i need to consider before committing to having him?
 
My old jumping horse was a weaver, only at feed times or when something really stressed him!! Weaving bars stopped him although would accasionaly do it behind them, so i also i used to hang a toy ball just to one side of his stable door inside so when he did he would clonk himself and kind of shock him out of it. It gave him no problems at all, the only thing you might find is some yards dont like it espeacailly if they have youngsters there or very pretty stables and dont want bars up. But most dont mind weavers.
 
I keep mine on rubber mats and they don't wear their shoes or their feet more than those that don't weave.

You need to check whether your YO is OK with you having a weaver if you are on livery. People say it's not a vice horses learn from each other. IMHO that's not true - they do damned well copy.
 
I'll be keeping him at home, so don't have to contend with any liveries or YO thank God. Reassuring to hear there isn't to much to worry about apart from the shoes (which isn't an issue).
 
jemima_too said:
I keep mine on rubber mats and they don't wear their shoes or their feet more than those that don't weave.

You need to check whether your YO is OK with you having a weaver if you are on livery. People say it's not a vice horses learn from each other. IMHO that's not true - they do damned well copy.
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Yes they definatly do dont they, i woned my jumping horse for 2 years before he started doing, he was 6 and stabled next to a weaver within a month he was a weaver himself.
 
some horses can weave so much that they can be hard to keep the wieght on,
but this doesnt sound the case with your potential horse,

I have had my boy for 15 years and he never did it untill last year when he saw a horse in opposite stable doing it, I try to keep him turned out as much as possible and again put up stable toys/licks so it limits him doing it.
 
If he is exhibiting a stress behavior at feed times one other thing to consider is are they too stimulating for him?
e.g.
either
- if he is on a busy yard with lots going at that time and has to wait for his (probs less of a problem if he is going to be at home, espec if you can turn him out loads)
or
- is fed a high-sugar diet? I know one yard where they more or less eliminated banging on stable doors and some moodiness around meal times by swapping everything onto a bulkier lower energy feed. It wasn't the intention but afterwards they noticed it and realised that basically the horses had been living from sugar high to sugar high with the lows in between making them much more stressy abt meal times.

Not say it is the case here but something to consider.
 
I have a weaver - he only does it when he's on his own. It doesn't cause him any problems but I have to make sure he's never left on his own as he does it quite frantically and gets himself in quite a state - but he's a 'typical TB'. I have weave bars which help but like zoelouisem said he just weaves behind them! I have a little 3.5t horsebox and the horses travel backwards (looking out the back window) and it can be quite embarrassing when your sat at traffic lights and the lorry is swaying from one side to the other!! :D Needless to say I have put weavebars in my lorry too :D
 
My old mare weaves, that is why I said about the shoes, but I have 3 other horses and they have never picked up of the weaving. So I would say if a horse starts to weave because another horse does, then they are both in a stressed state to begin with.
 
Should have said she did it when I got her, also had TBH that did it when I bought him and again the others never picked up on it, in fact he, like my mare only now do it at feed times.And he was pretty bad when I bought him, long gone now bless him.
 
Dizz weaves. She is generally a stress head, so I keep her on a feed suitable for horses with stomach ulcers (Saracens Releave), and she lives out as much as possible. Much happier horse :) as she doesn't weave anywhere but in the stable.
 
I have a weaver - a 28 yo TB and have my own small yard.

He actually has his stable door open 24/7 and is able to stand out on the yard (when he's in). He's usually a weaver at meal times when his stable door is shut but now that doesn't happen as he just stands in the doorway and waits for his feed. However he does occassionaly weave slightly at the stable wall usually when he can hear the other horses behind his stable sets him off as he can't see them.

Can you leave his door open?.. or would he weave in the doorway?
 
Yer my old horse who used to do was my jumping horse very highly strung and stressy, used to put him out for as long as poss but he used to only stay out half a day max, as when he was fed up he would jump the gate and make his way back to the stable. Never really stopped him doing it though although the weave bars did really help. I just took it as part of him, loved him loads and was a fantastic jumper so didnt mind!!:)
 
Depends what you want from said horse. but no weaving doesn't spread from seeing an animal doing it, they tend to weave because they are in a stressfull situation themselfs
 
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