Weaving - affect on value?

N

NewHeights_SJ

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If you were looking for a competition horse (sjing) and was told it weaved but ONLY when put in new, stressful situations and is fine once settled (ie. change of home, horse weaves until it has settled in but only in stable) do you think it would greatly affect the value?

All opinions appreciated!

N xx
 
I think it would detract somewhat. Some people (inc. my mum and by (not always willing!) extension, me) have a list of vices which are just not worth buying into.
 
Not for me. Weaving is what they do in their own time - it's their business as far as I'm concerned. Ridden vices are different! And so is cribbing to a certain extent as it damages fencing. But not weaving - particularly not intermittently like you describe.
 
wouldn't bother me so long as it was intermittent...the grey in my siggy did this but was fine the rest of the time. if they do it a lot (i.e. all the time) i;d worry about the joints but not if they did it infrequently...one thing i would think about tho is if the horse has other 'issues'- i only say this because grey i had was also very clingy with others- you couldn't leave him on the box without his friends- he'd go mad- i always thought it was linked to his weaving....
 
If only at feed time, then no. Otherwise, yes. Drives me crazy watching them....!!!! Cribbing, however, doesn't bother me at all. Have had both.
 
there is absolutely no proof that weaving has a negative effect on legs or feet- whatsoever.

pilfer weaves when stressed or in a new yard etc etc.
he has a rubber mat at the front of his stable, mainly to stop the noise!

it doesn't bother me, its his own time and as i bought him to ride and he is fantastic at that i forgive him!

i don't think it detracts that much from value anymore as so many more people are understanding of this 'vice.'
 
Depends on how well it jumps.
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If every top jumper with a management issue got dropped off the list tomorrow, there wouldn't be many left.
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I figure you have to take into account what the horse's job is when making judgements like this. If part of his job is to live on a livery yard and/or with someone who can't stomach the problem or what has to be done to mitigate the problem, then it's a no go. Being manageable is part of the horse's job.

But if it's job is to jump higher than its head and it's going to live with professionals who are not too bothered so long as it performs, then being easy isn't part of its job description. And someone selling such a horse would likely know that, too, so I wouldn't expect a vast reduction on price, although I would expect it to cost less than a similar horse with no problems . . .if such an animal could be found.
 
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Depends on how well it jumps.
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Classic!
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And true.....

It honestly depends on the horse. As TS said if it's a competition horse and it's good at what it does I shouldn't think resale value will be a concern. If I were buying a riding club horse or hack with the intention of selling it on to the pony-patting brigade I would make sure that it had absolutely no stable vices whatsoever.

For what it's worth I've sold cribbing, wind-sucking and weaving eventers and competition horses without dropping the value at all. Though I sometimes put 'weaves hence £......' next to the completely undiscounted price.....
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If I was buying one to keep then it wouldn,t bother me particularly but if I was buying one to sell then I wouldn't as I know alot of people won't buy one that weaves so it would cut your market down maybe.........
BUT if it was particularly talented then I probably would still buy it!!!!
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Sorry, that's not much help at all is it!
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What she ^ said.
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Again, depends on the horse. If it's a young horse and you don't know how talented/capable/suitable it will be to make a top class competition horse, I'd likely keep looking. You shouldn't shut the door on having to find the horse a job where easy is a bigger attribute. The thing with vices is however well you manage them, the horse hasn't forgotten so even if the horse never does it with you he's likely to start when he moves and you have to be honest when you sell him, both for his sake and for yours.

If it's an established schoolmaster, that's been doing the job for years at a decent height and will likely get sold into the same job after you then it's less of an issue.
 
LMAO Gamebird, you should sell used cars!
At a certain level I think its immaterial. One of mine does it sometimes, and more so in the Winter because obviously their in more. Does annoy me to watch, but what he does in his time is up to him!
I also have a boxwalker and a teeth grinder, sometimes I do have to remind myself that I am not in an equine asylum!
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As a competition horse then I am not sure it would affect the price all that much if it was a proven horse at a decent level.

What I do think it would do is limit your market as there lots of people who will not look at horses with any vices. Many people keep horses at livery, there are yards that will not accept horses with vices.

I know if I was buying a horse to possibly produce and sell on then I would want a vice free one. May take a different view if I had my own land/yard and wasnt paying a weekly rent for a box somewhere.
 
ive just been GIVEN a horse to event... he has all the vices in the world... weaves, cribs, box walks, gets stressed very easily etc, and to help the matter.. is 17.3hh! But this all stops when hes settled.. he becomes a completely different horse and has no stable vices whatsoever.. a bit of an extreeme to yours i suppose! but i wouldnt change him for the world. No one would have wanted him when we got him (hence being free) but now i wouldnt sell him! He moves like you wouldnt belive and has such a scopey jump, thats all that matters to me! So in answer to your question, i think if you find the right home, it shouldnt effect the price (it would help to sell to someone you know) but in the real world i think it would unfortunatly decrese the price (in my experiences by about 20% of thier value) but as a buyer you usually get more than youve paid for if you buy something with a stable vice!
 
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TarrSteps - i was thinking more how it might affect resale - for instance, if i were to by a horse, and then to sell it at some time in the future with this vice. Do you think it would greatly affect the resale?

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The fact that you asked this questions means that you know the answer. If you are umming and ahhing over it so will everyone else. You just have to hope you meet the right person or it is so talented that then it doesn't matter.
 
Not really, if it was decent.

I can see why people would be wary of cribbers because of colic issues (We've currently got 2 and they have both had colic - never had a cribber or horse with colic before), and box walkers because they make a big mess! But don't really see the issue with weaving. They aren't doing anyone any harm and can't see how they do themselves too much harm unless they are really bad.

My mums horse weaves, not a lot but just when he's waiting for his dinner/waiting to go hunting. He's 14 and was recently lame due to a ligament injury but had X rays, vet said his joints were really good for a horse of his age/work (twice a week hunter).
 
My YO has just sold a young mare who weaves (rather a lot, as it happens). Made not a jot of difference to the price. She had x-rays, ultrasound scans to her tendons, etc, etc, and passed with flying colours. Personally, weaving drives me crackers. Worse than windsucking and THAT drives me crackers as well!
 
Weaving significantly decreases the value of the horse. Will not go near them with a barge pole. Secondly other horses will copy it. I have seen it happen. Thirdly it may well have an effect on the joints, when we had a weaver years ago (never again) there were dents in the concrete t the front of his stable after a year or so, so could well do some harm. That horse was pretty bad though, he weaved in the field too.
 
is there actual evidence to 'prove' that horses copy others when they weave? a friend of mine is convinced this is the case but i'm not....
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It's a lot more complicated than that. If you seach "stereotypies" (the proper name for cribbing, weaving etc.) I'm sure there are studies around for many different animals as they also crop up in zoo-kept and research situations. Weaving is a "confinement stereotypie", where in a horse wants to move in a certain direction and is stopped from doing so. The theory is that the endorphin release from the behaviour then becomes its own reward so the horse is inclined to do it in any situation where it's bored, stressed or otherwise looking to change its state of mind.

Interestingly, I saw a wild deer weave once. It was clearly a bit wired and it had to wait at a gap for other deer to go through, cue weaving.
 
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is there actual evidence to 'prove' that horses copy others when they weave? a friend of mine is convinced this is the case but i'm not....
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Well, none of the horses at our yard have yet copied our weaver. And she can be seen clearly by at least 6 others.
 
My sisters horse weaves, but pretty much only at feedtime when he is stabled (ie doesn't do it in the field in summer during feedtime - I have seen elephants weave whilst standing in the middle of their enclosures
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) We have had him 14 years, and not one of the other horses we've had in that time (quite a few!) have picked it up.

If the weaving was at specific times, such as feeding, and the horse was talented then it wouldn't matter. Depends on which resale market you are aiming at, serious amateurs and pros wouldn't be bothered I don't think
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I wouldn't buy a young horse that weaved as in my experience, they do get worse over time. An older horse wouldn't bother me as much. My yard won't have them anyway as the other owners get paranoid that their horse will copy.
 
My ex racer does it bit only occasionally, (when stressed and at feed times). I would have another one, i much prefer them to horses that box walk or crib.

I remember a racehorse trainer i know saying, as long as they do their job well, what they do in their own time is their business.
 
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