Windsuckers and livery yards

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Milliechaz

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Hi, I have my windsucker stabled at home but we are contemplating putting the house up for sale later this year and I am considering returning to livery for more of a social side. Do you find it difficult to find a livery yard with a windsucker or is it not something that is particularly frowned upon nowadays.
 
Milliechaz said:
Hi, I have my windsucker stabled at home but we are contemplating putting the house up for sale later this year and I am considering returning to livery for more of a social side. Do you find it difficult to find a livery yard with a windsucker or is it not something that is particularly frowned upon nowadays.
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There have been a few windsucker's on various yards i have been on over the years and tbh no one really pays much attention to them. Jst one of those things I certainly don't think it's frowned upon x
 
I think views on windsucking have changed for the better over the years. I would make sure any potential yard I was moving to knew I would do my best to keep damage to a minimum and that I would pay for or replace anything that needed it before I left.
 
I think it depends on how destructive they are e.g. whether they are going to damage the stable & fencing and how honest you are up front with the yard owner. I’ve been on yards that have been ok with it but also one that asked a livery that cause excessive damage and refused to use a collar to leave.
 
As a YO for me it would depend on the fencing and if it was post and rail, is the horse likely to chew and damage loads of rails which would be expensive to replace. If they are within electric fencing it probably wouldn’t be a problem. Likewise if stabled then I’d want some precautions over the door, either a metal strip (which you could offer to provide) or the stuff you paint on. Being upfront and discussing it would be appreciated.
 
Milliechaz said:
Hi, I have my windsucker stabled at home but we are contemplating putting the house up for sale later this year and I am considering returning to livery for more of a social side. Do you find it difficult to find a livery yard with a windsucker or is it not something that is particularly frowned upon nowadays.
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I would check with the local livery yards you are considering moving to first, because some are very anti it still…plus make sure you check there are in fact livery yards that will suit you…we have very few near us and those that exist are really not great for various reasons!
 
Thanks for the feedback everybody. I would always be upfront and also pay for any damage. That's one thing with having them at home you appreciate the cost of having to repair things and always try to keep things nice in the 1st place.
 
I rented a yard and ran it as a livery yard. The Yard owner specified I wasn’t allowed to any wind suckers or crib biters because of the damage they cause which meant I did have to turn a potential client away. I’ve never known problems anywhere else though.
 
spotty_pony2 said:
I rented a yard and ran it as a livery yard. The Yard owner specified I wasn’t allowed to any wind suckers or crib biters because of the damage they cause which meant I did have to turn a potential client away. I’ve never known problems anywhere else though.
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How do windsuckers cause damage?
 
My friend has a windsucker and when she moved to her livery yard, the first thing she said was how he windsucked, that she had a collar on him when he was stabled but it made him stress to the point that he colic'd badly so she took it off, that she would pay for any and all damage that would potentially be caused, she would cover the stable door with some sort of rubber to reduce any damage, she would pay for electric fencing to go inside the perimeter of the field (it was individual turnout with beautiful post and rail fencing) to stop him getting to the fencing and she was open to any suggestions that the yard owner had in mind to implement. In a twist of events, the yard owner mentioned that one or two liveries also windsucked and simply added that she wanted my friend to keep an eye on her horse when he was tied up in case he found anything to windsuck on. She's been there for 10 years plus and there's been no issues. She did get turned away from 2 previous yards though, so some people do still see it as a major problem and won't allow a horse that windsucks on livery x
 
Cragrat said:
How do windsuckers cause damage?
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My friend's windsucker that I have posted about above would loosen post and rail fencing with the strength that he would windsuck, and sometimes he was known to pull the posts out of the ground completely if they had been weakened enough x He also damaged a stable door through windsucking x
 
Windusckers don't use anything to windsuck - its crib biters that usually grip onto something to ingest air

Agree with 50% of yards won't take them, the worst damage mine has done in almost 15yrs is a bit of fence post tops have worn a bit due to his teeth and saliva - not enough to need a post! I've always offered to pay for any damages but never been asked to
 
spotty_pony2 said:
I was referring more to the ones that crib and then suck in air - by biting fences.
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As Leflynn said - windsuckers don't bite or hold anything. Those that do are called cribbers or crib-biters.. It's a shame when the terms get confused, becuase a true windsucker doesn't cause damage, but can get unnecessarily blacklisted if people assume it's the same thing as a cribber.
 
Ah, that's interesting Cragrat and Leflynn. I thought windsuckers grabbed onto something and sucked air, and that crib-biters bit and ... and what. I never thought it through.

We had a windsucker (what I thought was a windsucker) agisted where I agisted. I saw to my dismay that he had been put into the yard (a yard is a small place here) instead of being out with all the others in the paddock (which is huge). I voiced my dismay to someone who was in charge and later saw that said horse was now with the others.
 
Lois Lame said:
Ah, that's interesting Cragrat and Leflynn. I thought windsuckers grabbed onto something and sucked air, and that crib-biters bit and ... and what. I never thought it through.

We had a windsucker (what I thought was a windsucker) agisted where I agisted. I saw to my dismay that he had been put into the yard (a yard is a small place here) instead of being out with all the others in the paddock (which is huge). I voiced my dismay to someone who was in charge and later saw that said horse was now with the others.
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Exactly this you are correct. Cribbing is literally just chewing and biting things. When they hold on and then gulp air it becomes wind sucking. Very advanced wind suckers or very stressed horses sometimes manage to do it without holding onto anything and just gulp air.
 
spotty_pony2 said:
Exactly this you are correct. Cribbing is literally just chewing and biting things. When they hold on and then gulp air it becomes wind sucking. Very advanced wind suckers or very stressed horses sometimes manage to do it without holding onto anything and just gulp air.
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Nope- cribbing is holding onto something and sucking in a gulp of air. Wind sucking is sucking in the air without holding onto something, hence the name!
 
We have one on the yard that hooks her chin over something to windsuck when she's stressed but she doesn't open her mouth or use her teeth. It's caused quite an argument between people as to if she sucks or cribs
 
spotty_pony2 said:
Exactly this you are correct. Cribbing is literally just chewing and biting things. When they hold on and then gulp air it becomes wind sucking. Very advanced wind suckers or very stressed horses sometimes manage to do it without holding onto anything and just gulp air.
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I did equine behaviour at college so can assure you this is correct. A quick google will confirm this.
 
I think it makes sense that crib-biters bite and/or chew their manger or any wooden surface, and that windsuckers suck wind either by fastening their teeth on something first or going freestyle - not grasping something first. So I think I'll go back to thinking that.
:)
 
spotty_pony2 said:
I did equine behaviour at college so can assure you this is correct. A quick google will confirm this.
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Sorry but when did things change from
windsucking = just arching the neck and gulping
crib biting = holding onto an object (door/rails/fence posts) and gulping
wood biting = chewing chunks off any wooden object

I was taught this eons ago all through pony club and my BHS exams through to stage 4.
 
Milliechaz said:
Hi, I have my windsucker stabled at home but we are contemplating putting the house up for sale later this year and I am considering returning to livery for more of a social side. Do you find it difficult to find a livery yard with a windsucker or is it not something that is particularly frowned upon nowadays.
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I have had 2 windsuckers here, one did it with his chin against the dog the other on his rope and one needed a crib collar so 3 in total. I would not turn a horse away
 
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