weightloss/windsucking

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jessicaamy88

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can anyone reccommend anything to prevent my youngster windsucking?? she is currently turned out 24/7 (with 3 other youngsters) until she is ready to break but Last winter she dropped a massive amount of weight and muscle as she was more interested in windsucking on the fence posts than eating grass/haylage! i have reluctantly bought her a collar which has cut it down but im worried that once the summer grass has gone and isnt as appealing she will go bk to standing at the fence for alot of the time!
 
Did she have access to the hay 24/7 during the winter, and was she able to get to it (ie not bullied out of the way by other horses?)
 
try her on protexin probiotic, it has been said that it is likely to be down to ulcers and they do it to try and aleviate (sp?) the acid.
 
its rare she comes in really as she just lives out but on the odd occasion when she has been she doesnt bother as much and i have crib box painted on the door! if she has a hay net she will usually stand and eat it or if im grooming her etc she is fine. if i take her collar off she might try it if shes left alone! (like overnight or whilst i ride my others) she tends to do it after feeding mostly. i have fed her outside the field twice a day all thru summer to get her weight built back up and you can guarantee when i put her back in she will go to the fence post and suck for about 10 mins before she goes off to eat the grass. its such a hard habit to break.. just dont know what to try first :S
 
Is it possible to put electric fencing around the field to stop her getting to the fences?

I feel your pain, my tb is a cribber, but he is ok if he has enough grass to eat, he still does it but not so much, he would rather crib though if the grass gets to short or if he only has hay to eat and the weight falls off.
He is also out 24/7 and has been for the last two winters.
 
Well, contrary to what most of us would advise, why not consider stabling her overnight during winter?

I suspect that the sharing of the hay may contribute to the stress levels, hence the windsucking.

Just a thought.
 
seaofdreams said:
Is it possible to put electric fencing around the field to stop her getting to the fences?

I feel your pain, my tb is a cribber, but he is ok if he has enough grass to eat, he still does it but not so much, he would rather crib though if the grass gets to short or if he only has hay to eat and the weight falls off.
He is also out 24/7 and has been for the last two winters.
Click to expand...

the field is about 16 acres so electric fencing is a bit of a no go.. the summer grass is not brilliant but its enough to keep her gaining weight. the winter grass isnt the best which is why we provide haylage.

just been doing some research.. what do you all think of this idea???

http://www.bunniesmuzzles.co.uk/home
 
amymay said:
Well, contrary to what most of us would advise, why not consider stabling her overnight during winter?

I suspect that the sharing of the hay may contribute to the stress levels, hence the windsucking.

Just a thought.
Click to expand...

Sensible thought as my boy got stressed when I put a stable mirror up as he seemed to think the *friend* was going to eat his food and crib on his door, mirror removed and he went back to normal :)
 
stabling her is a very last resort, she has never been in for longer than a couple of days when she had an abcess and she was itching to be back out then! i dont think the hay sharing is stressing her as she will take it or leave it, as will the others. quite often they will all be grazing on grass and the hay is free for her to eat on her own but the cribbing has become more of a habit! if the sharing of hay was stressing her out she would eat the grass??
I thought about putting a muzzle on her so she cant grip the fence but i worry she wont get the sufficient grass intake or it will make eating the hay difficult!
 
I definitely wouldn't muzzle. And I wasn't suggesting stabling 24/7 - just overnight in the winter.

Sorry, nothing else to suggest.
 
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