Weaving

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xRomi&Darcy4Evax

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I looking for a new horse for a while now and have found one which seems absolutely perfect for me. The person who is selling him is a well know dealer in my area and is very well though of but he tells me that the horse was previously sold and the owners ruined him and he picked up some bad habits the main one being weaving. I know what weaving is but not alot about it. Is it a really bad idea to get a horse that weaves and is there any way to get a horse to stop doing it?

Thanks, Romi :confused:
 
If the horse is suitable in all other ways then I wouldn't let the weaving put me off. I have had a weaver previously and management was key with him. As much turnout as possible and a de-stressed environment is important.
My horse was bought from an auction where he wore a hole in concrete over about 4 hours weaving. After about 6 months, through lots of turnout he only really weaved when excited such as at dinner time etc.

The biggest downside of a weaver is that they can have some excess wear and tear to the front legs and can wear their shoes down faster. I always used rubber mats at the door for this reason.
 
mynutmeg said:
If the horse is suitable in all other ways then I wouldn't let the weaving put me off. I have had a weaver previously and management was key with him. As much turnout as possible and a de-stressed environment is important.
My horse was bought from an auction where he wore a hole in concrete over about 4 hours weaving. After about 6 months, through lots of turnout he only really weaved when excited such as at dinner time etc.

The biggest downside of a weaver is that they can have some excess wear and tear to the front legs and can wear their shoes down faster. I always used rubber mats at the door for this reason.
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Thank you for your comment it was really helpful, I have rubber matting in my stable already so hopefully if I decide to buy him this will prevent these problems to some extent.
 
Defintaly wouldnt let it put me off buying a horse, and at least the dealer has let you know says something about them too, least they were honest enough.
Ditto the rubber mats and also weave bars too, although my old jumping horse was a weaver and one place wouldnt allow bars up, so i hung a horse ball toy from the roof and set it back from the doorway a bit 3/4 of the way across the stable that helped stop the weaving too as he didnt like banging himself against it plus he used to play with it so kept him occupied!!:)
 
It does my head in! My weaver had apparently only ever been seen to weave twice at feed time. He came to us, weaved against a blank wall in the stable and then in the middle of the field. I assumed he would settle over time. 5 years later he weaves when its feed time, going out time, coming in time, tacking up time, being plaited, on the lorry, rugging up, tied up etc etc. He does drive me mad, a lot of it is attention seeking because I used to go and try to distract him. Now I throw things when he builds up speed. The whole yard has to revolve around him! He wears his shoes down, damaged his hoof structure and has heel issues . as for 2 bouts of 6 months box rest? He almost had me weaving against another wall myself!!
 
Weave bars can be useful in a moderate weaver but I found that mine would just stand behind the bars and weave so they don't always work. If you have to stable then distraction is good so treat balls etc are good
 
ive got a weaver although you wouldnt know it now he's out all the time. He was quite bad when i first got him but over time it dropped down to virtually nothing even when stabled. He did well on a quiet yard with lots of turnout and a routine.
 
It depends on the horse. One of mine weaves but I wouldn't say it's as bad as others have mentioned. He mainly does it at feed time, if he wants out or needs a pee! He won't wee on the trailer so he may do it towards the end of a long journey. He has rubber mats but it has never caused lameness or worn out his shoes. Images competing move he knows when we're getting ready so may start then, so we just try to limit his stress. I.e. not showing him his travelling boots ;)

Really it isn't an issue for us, however, we try to make sure he stays chilled when/where possible. He does everything else we ask of him so I can't moan!
 
It depends how badly they do it, I had one that weaved that frantically he would be dripping with sweat within 5 minutes, his trigger was being left alone, which was inevitable as I was renting 2 stables and a small field off my neighbours. He was difficult to keep weight on as he stressed it off. I sold him because of this to a girl who kept him on a large yard of 50 horses and she said he hardly did it. He used to start doing it as soon as I went into my other horses box, and when I had the vet to my other horse even though we treated the horse in front of the weavers box he was frantic and the vet suggested sedalin, to see if that helped. He also upset my other horse.
 
I have a weaver - she tends to do it when she wants to go out, or is excited or slightly stressed for some reason - it drives me insane,but generally she stops after a minute or two. I don't put anti-weave bars up as I have seen her do it behind the bars anyway - a word of warning - picking out front feet when a weaver is doing it's finest weaving act is bloody difficult! :)
 
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