windsucking

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zoon

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How to stop/reduce windsuckign in a potential purchase?

I am against using collars, so what else could I try? I am going to put up a stable mirror and he will have ad lib hay and a snack ball to keep him entertained. The door of his stable is very wide and angled so not actually sure if he could get a hold of it. He will have a haybar though so may just grab hold of that. Obviously will have max amoutn of turnout possible, but again may do it on fences!

Are supplements any good? Was looking at settlex by feedmark (at their stand at olympia) which has ingredients to reduce stomach acid. Not sure if any ulcers are involved - will talk to vet if it goes as far as a vetting as he's jsut a strong possibility at the moment.
 
I have almost stopped mine. He colicked a lot with it so had to do something. I got a top made for his stable door. It is metal and very wide. No sharp edges, He cannot get get his mouth around it and fortunately doesn't do it on anything else in his stable. I cannot leave rugs over the door or he will grab them and windsuck. He still has a go in the field but not for long. I tried Settlex but it didn't have any affect on mine.
 
Try watered down chilli on all the possible places he can winsuck.

I had a windsucker once and it worked. Just normal chilli paste with water. Or extra strong mustard =]

Hope i helped x
 
How old is he? Is he having any adverse effects?

My OHs horse windsucks, we don't make any effort to stop him as he gets more stressed by that. We make sure he has adlib hay/haylege, plus plenty of turnout and a ceral free diet and he is a happy horse.

His windsucking is very much an engrained habit at 16yrs old.
 
I think you need to investigate why he is doing it, rather than stopping the habit - it may be he has ulcers (was he in training or on the track?), kept without adequate forage, in a stressy environment etc

I do think the windsucking is an end to a cause rather than the problem itself.
 
I had a chronic windsucker, ex-racehorse, 4y/o, colicked occasionally, tried everything, she was determined and the strongest curry paste didn't work or anything foul tasting, you need to remove all surfaces the the horse can use. I even caught my mare windsucking on her fieldmate's mane one day! I eventually sold her because I could not cope with the stress of the colics. Even if the stomach is ulcerated, there is little you can do about it. Horses windsuck with different personalities, some do it and never colic, some are stressy (mine was) some are chilled, you just have to keep trying things and see what works for you. Good luck.
 
If its a windsucker then it'll do it anyway without the need for fence posts even. I had a cribber (ie. he needed a post to gulp on), the horse destroyed our fences! Make sure you have a line of electric tape along the tops in the right place (ours was slightly too high so she managed to get under it to do it). Id turn out 24/7 if you can as of course max turnout is best. I tried the usual tricks of chili etc. on posts but TBH she didnt seem to be put off by taste, only smell and it never lasts as it just washes off in the rain. I tried that miracle collar and within a day it was taken off and gathered dust thereafter as yes, it worked but only when so tight it looked so uncomfortable - awful things IMO. I tried supplements as well to no effect.

Mine never colic'd with it though, I think it depends on the horse as the reasons behind why they do it may differ (ie. some may have ulcers whereas others may do it purely due to stress etc.).

All you can do is max turnout, give loads of hay/haylage at all times and get used to it!
 
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