wind sucking and mirical collars.

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Waltzing Matilda

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Just got horse on trial that windsuck. I think it is a reminant learned behaviour from days as a racehorse. Was treated for suspected ulcers years ago and maintains good condition.

She only seems to do it wen she is insure/ not controlling the situation, so I am doing sum ground work with her to establish trust and boundaries/guidance etc.

In the meantime however do I use the collar she came with? I always said I would never use one, but don't want to risk colic either. And want to break what I think is now a habit!

Can anyone give me info/feed back on mirical collar, and/or anything else that has helped please? Thanks :-)
 
Waltzing Matilda said:
Just got horse on trial that windsuck. I think it is a reminant learned behaviour from days as a racehorse. Was treated for suspected ulcers years ago and maintains good condition.
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Is she getting any antacid treatment? What about her diet - how much grain vs hay/roughage? It is possible that she still has a pH imbalance.

She only seems to do it wen she is insure/ not controlling the situation, so I am doing sum ground work with her to establish trust and boundaries/guidance etc.
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Stress is often a trigger for stereotypic behaviours like windsucking.

In the meantime however do I use the collar she came with? I always said I would never use one, but don't want to risk colic either. And want to break what I think is now a habit!
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First, it may only stop her windsucking while she is wearing the collar; it probably won't break the habit. Second, I would question whether windsucking causes colic, given that air appears not to be swallowed (contrary to common belief). The behaviour is associated with a higher incidence of colic, but that doesn't mean one causes the other. Both the behaviour and any colic could be cause by the excess gut acid.

Can anyone give me info/feed back on mirical collar, and/or anything else that has helped please? Thanks :-)
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Well, it isn't a miracle for a start! It is just a band aid/plaster that masks the underlying cause. It may create additional stress rather than relieving it. And it may actually worsen the acid situation by preventing the horse producing additional acid-neutralising saliva.

So I personally wouldn't use one.
 
Hi, sorry, didn't put about diet as that is ok and was mainly looking to advice from people that had used collar/suppliement (like an anti spasmodic). She has 1.5 scp of hi fi lite/molasses free, lite balancer, plenty of equibeat (v.low sugar sugar beat), brewers yeast and magnesium. She is out at grass, but does have some hay at night. I don't feed hard feed and am v careful with feed generally as paranoid about risk of lami!!!

My old TB had a form of ulcers
(And low grade lami due to this!) so am 'master' of fiber based feed to.manage this as best as possible!!!

She has been on mag for about 3 weeks now and is no longer footy, (this can act as an ant-acid I believe too), and her diet is similar to what she was having before with the addition of extra fibre and balancer. She has always wind sucked I believe.

She is out 27/7 at mo with my other mare and a gelding (I prefer them to stay out all the time if possible). If they have to come in at winter for night times she will have a snack it your ball and I have a boardom breaker type toy too.

I want to resolve the underlying problem if possible. Which is y I discourage her from doing it and and I am working on trust/boundaries, so she can look to me for reassurance rather than stressing. I am taking my time with her and ensuring her back is ok (previous history of treatment for pelvis issues) and will have saddler out to do saddle too. I tried 2 saddles on her yesterday for fit, without girth and she tried to bite, but I checked back and she was mildly twitchy, so gonna get someone out - really wanna start off on the right foot so to speak.

I have been looking up tge condition and c that sum people have used slippery elm or liquorice root, or limestone flour to help?

I don't really want to use the collar but she seems ok it. She still tries to bite the fence in the yard but can't windsuck and I am wondering about using it along side supliments and behaviour training temporarily, as really don't wanna risk colic :-(

She is a really nice horse so really want to keep her and make a go of it. Thanks. X
 
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