What is windsucking?

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Rebels

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And would you buy a horse that is known to do it in the stable? I already have a weaver so dont want another difficult one.
 
I have a windsucker.........basically sucks air in and makes a gulping sound whilst held onto door or fence post.

She's 26 years old, semi retired and an absolute sweetheart.

I bought her as a weanling at 6 months.

She's bred us 6 foals...........none had her habit until the last. Funnily enough she's thrown 5 fillies and then a colt (he's the crib biter).

It never put me off.
 
I think it can cause health problems because they take so much air into their stomachs, but I'm not completely sure of that. Personally I'd avoid it, or at the very least I'd want to see it heavily reflected in the price.
 
I have a windsucker - and besides ruining the fencing, she is no trouble. Her price reflected her vice. It does not affect her health at all.

I would get another if the horse is what I wanted
 
It's a stereotypy - a behaviour that the horse performs as a coping strategy. Recent research suggests that it stimulates the same regions in the forebrain that cocaine addicts activate. Physically stopping the behaviour will reduce the horse's ability to cope with stress. Windsucking is a an oral stereotypy likely to be food motivated. If the horse only windsucks around feed time in the stable then it might be worth seeing if it's less stressed living out. Other things to try are feeding ad lib forage, switching to a fibre based diet, ensuring as much horse to horse contact as possible and making feeds less palatable using powders such as limestone flour.
 
not wishing to be pedantic, yes you are you are all saying!!!!!, but windsucking is when they gulp air without holding on to anything, when they hold onto to something it is called crib biting. it can be managed alright and doesn't always affect them badly, best to read a good article by an expert about it and go from there.
 
Cappy is a windsucker, not a cribber. He only does it when he gets excited around food or when he is stressed. Coligine has helped him enormously. He has never had any real problems, and only one small bout of gaseous colic. * touches wood* I think that whilst it is not desirable, it is not major either. Cribbing, box walking and weaving are much more detrimental to health, effecting teeth and joints.
 
I have a windsucker, and he has stopped windsucking since i have changed his diet, and fed his a suppliment designed for horses with digestive discomfort. Many horses start to winduck becasue of digestive discomfort, Witch s why many will do it whilst eating.

If your horses windsucks there are 2 issues you have to deal with. the phyisical reason and the emotional/behavioural reason. Taking away the phyisical reason why a horse winsucks, can still leave behind the behavioural needs.


Many horses that have little turn out/are left to stand long periods with out roughage, can develope digestive discomfort, ussually a build up of acid in the stomach, with can lead to stomach ulcers. It is though that horses start to crob/winsuck becasue these things help to produce more saliva, witch helps to nutrilise the acid. Generally the gulping noise is just the larangx vibrating and horses dont generally swollow the air as such. It is said that horses that windsuck are actually generally more successful competition horses. There are a lot of conflicting ideas and advice on windsucking.

However the horse i have on loan is 17 and has windsucked his whole life. In the space of just over 2 months, with careful management, diet adjustments and suppliments i have managed to stop him windsucking. In his case i feel he had digestive discomfort, and now he dosnt. He is also a lot more happy, more eager to work, and is gaining condtion.

Just somethign to think about
 
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