Windsucking - Thoughts/Opinions Please.

Geraldine

Geraldine

Well-Known Member
Joined
21 April 2008
Messages
3,554
Location
Teetering On The Brink....
Visit site
We've had a new horse move onto the yard recently, he is in the stable next to my boy. New horse comes in every night but at the mo my beastie is out 24/7.

It would appear that new horse windsucks (I haven't seen him do it but YO and a few others have). Some people have said that horses start doing this as they copy other horses doing it. I have never heard this before and in all my horsey years I have come across 1 horse that windsucked and I can't say any of the horses stabled with it copied.

Anyone else heard this or is it complete tosh??? Just wondering if I need to be worried (and come up with a plan) before we get to nights in again.
 
I don't think its tosh but in my experience none of mine copied the weaver I used to stable with.
That said the argument is that the horses, once put under the same stress will exhibit the samer behaviour, not because they copied it as such but because they are stressed to? Im sure I read that somewhere...
But no, none of mine copied the weaver, and eventually the weaver calmed down.
 
The only time Beastie gets stressed is when the fishermen turn up (farm has a private club - lake is by his stable) but he generally just snorts and hides at the back of the stable. Plus he's no where near as bad with the fishing gear as he was when we moved on last Feb.

No one knows a lot about the new horse (he is absolutely stunning and such a lovely chap) as the owner got him from a dealer she trusted (!!!! Cheers You Mug) and surprisingly she can't get hold of him to return the horse.

Just don't want my boy to start doing it - there are a couple of spare stables on the farm at the mo so if I need to I'll bag one of those now. Do you think I should move stable while I have the chance in case new horse is a permanent resident???
 
One of our Equine colleges locally did research into equine vices and it came up with proven evidence that vices including windsucking was a) hereditary and b) neighbour copied. I think you will find once he has settled in to his new surroundings he may only display this at feed times or when his stress levels are up. You could see if the yard owner could suggest putting a collar on him to supress it.
 
I also think you'll find its illegal to sell a horse without disclosing stable vices...or at least that's what one dealer told me!!
 
He's been seen doing it on the field gate and tbh he doesn't seem stressed - he was quite chilled from the moment he arrived, seems to be a laid back boy. So the question is should I move my boy to be on the safe side???? I'm thinking it would be better to leave the gelding in a stable on his own than kick up a fuss so they get asked to leave (apparantly this happened at the last yard 2 hours after the horse arrived - their last horse had been on that yard 18 years!!!).

I haven't had any experience with a dealer but I'm getting the idea that they're not all entirely honest!!
 
I had a horse who windsucked when I bought him having been left in a field on his own for years....

He was a beautiful horse, and not at all stressed whilst I had him (I cant say before that!), yet he windsucked all the time.

I tried the collar, but tbh it rubbed him raw and didnt stop the biting, only the windsucking.

In all the 12 years I had him, till he died, I didnt know of another one who copied him.....and he did it in the field and in the stable.
 
I have just been researching on t'internet - half the sites say don't stable next to a horse that does and half say they don't copy!!!
confused.gif


Horses - sometimes it's worse than having children!!!!!
grin.gif
 
We have a windsucker at our yard and we are all in american type barn stables and none of the horses have ever copied and he is quite bad with his windsucking. He even does it with his collar on.
 
I know of a field of three horses and one of them windsucks all the time, the other two have never copied it and they've been together for years
 
My horse has been in a field with a windsucker and he didnt copy her. I think if the horse is stressed they are then likely to copy a windsucker, otherwise they ignore it. My horse always looked mildly surprised at the windsucker at first then ignored her.
 
tricky one. Many differing opinions on this subject, but personally I would not worry, unless your horse has shown any previous sign of being influenced by other horses behaviour around him then I would be inclined to say that if he his of an independant personality then leave well alone.

If on the other hand he has shown signs of copying other horses behaviour then you may want to consider moving him.

I don't think you need to try to second guess what other horses are doing, look to your horses personality for guidance.
 
He doesn't get stressed (apart from the fishermen) but he did learn a lot of tricks through boredom when he was on box rest for 9 months.

I don't want to make too big a thing of it at the farm as I really like the new horse and no one has a clue about his past - poor boy.
frown.gif


It has helped knowing that other people have had dealings with this and knowing about their experiences. I am quite reassured now.

Thank you all!!!
grin.gif
 
Why does she want to return him, because of the windsucking?
My ex -racer does it. Not because she is stressed but because it is a habit.
Nobody she has been stabled with has ever copied her and none of the other liveries have a problem with her.
She has good teeth, no digestive problems and holds her weight.
I don't even notice it that much now really, you just get used to it.
If he is a nice horse and does all the things she wants of him then i wouldn't return him just because of his habit. She could maybe ask for a bit of money back as it does affect the value.
 
One of my youngsters is out of a mare who cribbed constantly - to the point that she would pull out lines of wooden fence posts.
Despite advice that I should put a crib collar on, lest the foal copy, I ignored this and just let the mare crib when she wanted - my youngster never showed any signs of copying, doesn't crib, doesn't windsuck. I think the enlightened view is that cribbing collars are pretty cruel, so would never use them - horses crib and windsuck for a reason.
I'd not worry at all if I were you - make sure your own horse has plenty of forage (hay/grass/haylage/sugar beet) and he will be fine.
S
grin.gif
 
I asked for advice on this recently as we bought a pony in the full kowledge that she was a mild windsucker. As I own a livery yard I felt I had a duty to my liveries not to have the mare suck in sight of the other horses, even though I know that the jury is out on whether it can be copied or not.

On advice of others on here I have removed her collar as I was persuaded that it is cruel and the sucking is infrequent and does her no harm. We have got around the problem of sucking in sight of others by making her a top door which is about a third of the normal size. When she is in her stable her bottom and small top door are closed and so she can see over happily but the top of the top door is too high for her to windsuck on. If she wants to suck she can do it inside the stable where she can't be seen.

Hope this helps.
smile.gif
 
My loan horse is a windsucker, as was my first horse. Have never seen any horse copy them.
We also get mares in during the season that windsuck, and have never seen their offspring pick it up. Nor have I seen other mares copy.
I do understand why people worry about it - but has anybody ever actually had another horse copy? I've never heard of a case.
And just to add, I completely agree that the collars are cruel. They do it for a reason, and trying to stop them will make them stressed and more likely to start off other vices.
 
There is a horse at my yard who windsucks quite badly... he is a point to pointer and I think he took it up when he first went away to be raced as he was on the usual racehorse 'limited forage/lots of nuts' diet
frown.gif
frown.gif
(personally I hate this but I know it happens in the racing industry).

Now he does it all the time, if you give him his nuts he will eat some nuts then suck then eat more then suck again... there is always loads of mushed up dried on nut at the top of his door.

None of the horses stabled near or next to him have ever copied though... I would be inclined the think that it is more of a management issue, if you are keeping horses on a routine of restricted forage (like a race yard) they are all more likely to start it.

JMHO however
 
I think she does want to return the horse because of the wind sucking. TBH I haven't actually met her yet - spoke to her when she came to see about stables (she asked me if YO was in & where would she find her) but that's the only time I've seen her.

Horse is lovely though, not sure what they had in mind when they bought him (showing, hacking etc) but I like him - he's very nice.
 
I just had to ask my horses companion to leave as Fred started trying to copy
blush.gif
Since his friend has gone, he stopped thankgod!!! If there is a vice going, Fred will copy it
blush.gif
 
my two crib and in the 5 years or so on my yard not one horse has ever copied them. I think it is very dependant on your horse
 
I doubt for one minute the other horses will start copying. People tend to get a bit hysterical about stable vices. But really, unless the other horses are particularly stressed, or are real youngsters, they are unlikely to copy.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top