Windsucking

[Bedlam]

Would you buy a windsucker if it ticked every other box - ie price, competition record, no adverse vet history etc...?

Would be looking to sell on in 3 years time.....

 

[Doormouse]

My mare windsucks and to be honest it doesn't worry me at all, she is a bit like a smoker, she sucks after food and if she wants attention. I am just careful not to give her sweets or anything to encourage it. However, I never want to sell her and I know a vet will not pass a windsucker which makes selling very difficult unless you can find someone who doesn't mind. Also, if they windsuck, buyers automatically want a price reduction to reflex this. If you were planning to keep the horse then I would say go for it but if you want to sell on I should look for something else. Hope this helps.

 

[Chunkie]

Funnily enough I have seen a windsucker I quite fancy but have no experience of it. Do they only do this when stabled, or will a horse living out do it too?

 

[Doormouse]

Lizzie does it in the field if she can find something to get hold of but only if I give her treats or food. Wooden fencing is in a certain amount of danger from them, electric is better. I know that some get very stressed if you stop them sucking, I'm lucky with mine that she is more of a social smoker so to speak and doesn't really bother if I remove anything she can grab hold of. Stress seems to be a factor too, the happier she is the less she sucks. It doesn't appear to affect her performance but I do struggle to keep weight on her neck. The only thing I would say is that often if they have one vice then they will have another, eg, Lizzie also weaves when waiting for food or when she is in season.

 

[soloequestrian]

No. Although the old theory that windsucking causes colic directly because the horse ingests air has been shown to be wrong, there is an association between windsucking and a particularly nasty form of colic called epiploic foramen entrapment. So far no-one knows the mechanism though.
I'd buy a horse with any other vice, but not windsucking/cribbing.

 

[HazellB]

Would you buy a windsucker if it ticked every other box?

I did and I'm happy about it. Forget the "You're buying trouble" nay-sayers if you are willing to put up with a bit of annoyance, extra care and hassle from a new horse. As for the colic advice ... there's more chance of your horse getting shot after being tangled in a fence or hit by a car than specific colics cropping up.

I bought a nice mare who sucked like a loony and with some effort have pretty much got a handle on it. I knew nothing of the problem even after 35 years of horse ownership, but soon learned. In my mare's case it was years of silly teenaged owners keeping her corn fed and under-used - I noticed she sucked with real effort only when fed any form of hard feed, carrots or treats. I diagnosed stomach ulcers and my vet agreed when he paid a visit for something else. We didn't bother with scopes, etc. All I did was feed limestone flour each day, twice or three times, in a bit of chop or sugarbeet. Within a week she wasn't putting in much effort to the sucking and just going through the motions so to speak. Weight piled on and she calmed down a lot.

Now, she's another part time sucker who doesn't swallow much air at all and is only a pain when she's locked onto something that rattles or bangs with her pulling at it.

Having said all that, if you plan to sell at least try and get the price down more and watch your chosen horse for an hour or so before buying just to see how much hard effort is put into the sucking. If there's effort, there's a problem that's perhaps hard to solve, if there's not much air going down and not much muscle being used, don't worry.

 

[minmax]

Wouldn't touch it with a barge pole.
The fact that most people on livery yards can't stand them, me included would mean its a no. Its got to be a stress thing, if they do it in the stable they wreck doors, ledges etc, if they do it in the fields they pull posts over. Wouldn't want my horses anywhere near, it drives me nuts so I'm sure it would annoy them.
But, if you really love the horse, can ignore the vice, don't mind thats its poss worth less because of it, then go ahead.