Would wind-sucking put you off buying ?

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itsmyparty

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I'm thinking of going to see a 7 yr old Hanoverian mare who is reputedly good to do in every way, gets great scores in dressage, jumps Newcomers, cross country and has a very sensible head on her (I trust the person selling her as we've bought from her before and she was 100% honest about the horse we bought from her). Her only problem is that she wind-sucks. She does it indoors and out but has never had colic. If we bought her the intention would be to keep her for life, like our other boy. I've had no experience of a wind-sucker so any thoughts gratefuly received !
 
Persomally I wouldn't go there. You always have the threat of colic and then they can also damage the stables and fencing.

There are also some yards that won't accpet them so finding livery can be difficult.

In my opinion there are plenty of horses out there that don't do it so why take the risk.
 
It wouldn't put ME off, since that was your question - but it does seem to put off many other people - I would be asking what had been done to address the windsucking (Coligone, U-gard, high fibre feed, etc) but the fact is no matter what you do it has almost certainly become a life long habit now.
 
last year I bought a 17yr old pony who wind-sucks...but is so good in many other respect that I ignore it( tho' I would rather she hadn't worn down bits of her stable and various fences. We feed her as though she cd get colic/ulcers ..I suspect ,as she can be highly strung at times, that she may well have had ulcers in her youth or,as she is a bit of a ferrari, wind-sucking maybe her anti stress/excitement therapy...It's an impossible habit to break. The others have not copied her...that can happen, I am told, with youngsters...
Like you, we prob won't ever sell...and I am sure it wd be a prob for lots of potential buyers if we ever did, but we took a view on the basis of her jumping ability and temperament generally under saddle. If you really love this mare,I shd have her!
 
I considered a wind sucker when horse hunting last year. However, decided against it as my horses are kept at livery, and many yards are not happy about having the.

However, if I had my own place - then it wouldn't put me off.
 
How bad is the windsucking? Does she actually hold onto fences etc or just do it without? My horse started doing it a few years back but only mildly when he's tied up he grabs his rope and does it then but tends to be when he's obviously feeling tense. He doesn't appear to do it any other time and certainly has not chewed/held onto any fencing. My old pony did it more severly but again never used any fence just tucked his chin in. He only ever did it after feed time (think like someone having an after dinner smoke!) so i didn't see it as a problem.

He did have digestive problems though but I do not know whether the windsucking caused it or was as a result. Still he was a fab pony as is my horse who is fantastic so i wouldn't let it put me off. I keep mine outside all summer and the horse is only in at night during the winter. I think if they can be kept out with others as much as possible sio they don't get bored and are given distractions in stables then in it lessens them doing it.

To be honest I find the best horses have some quirk that would be considered 'undesirable' (biting, kicking, weaving, general moodiness!). Oh my horse also weaves at dinner times! Think he's just v intelligent and gets bored easily. He has never suffered from colic or digestive problems (touching wood here) and I've had him 13 years!

I go by what my instincts tell me, if i like something, it is sound, does the job i want I wouldnt' be put off my what I'd consider a minor vice.
 
B's horse Monty windsucks ALL THE TIME it drives me nuts!
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He does it in the stable and out in the field, he doesn't grab hold of or bite anything though, just stands there nodding his head and windsucking. Weirdo.

We've had more damage caused to our fences and gates by the babies biting all the wood!
 
Thanks for all the comments. The problem is, if I go and see her and she's a nice animal I know I'll want her. Not sure what my livery yard would make of the vice though. I need to check it out with them.
 
I haven't read all the other posts so sorry if I repeat! My friend has a mare she has had her from 5 years old, who has always wind sucked & cribbed, @ 16 her front teeth are horrid they are worn away, in like a half moon shape! I can only compare them to my old horse who's 32! but apart from that its never caused a problem, no other have copied her! she has worn out a few fence posts! (It s the teeth that bother me she's only 16 now, so how she will graze latter on would worried me)
 
The livery issue will be the deal-breaker, I expect...
Purdey is 18 this year and her teeth are still fine.
I agree with LadyT..the talented ones have their quirks...bit like men!
 
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Not sure what my livery yard would make of the vice though. I need to check it out with them.

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Yes you must do - but also consider that if they say yes, others may not......
 
My old event horse is a windsucker and this was not a problem for many years. As he has approached mid teens however, he has had ulcers, viruses, gutteral pouch infections etc that the vet believes may be linked to windsucking. This has had an impact on whether the insurers will pay out for treatment - they have excluded anything to do with windsucking as you might expect and this excludes many things, so please think about this. Would I have chosen not to have this horse? No, he was my horse of a lifetime for eventing, and still is the dressage horse of a lifetime for the friend I gave him to in his later years! Has it caused heartache and large vets bills - probably yes.
 
Wouldnt put me off really. If the horse was what i wanted in every other aspect then id get it anyway, no horsey is perfect
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if you'd asked 4 months ago I would say yes! However I have bought a gorgeous horse in every way, BSJA winnings, XC, and now I'm re-schooling him for BD however a month after I bought him I changed yards, within a month i caught him doing it out in the field, not the major burping noise but he was taking in air, I thought this had come from the fact that he was stressed, he had changed hands 4 times in less than 2 years and I had bought him off dealers so he had moved yards 3 times in 2 months. Then I didn't see him do it again. This horse has been abused I must add as he is very headshy, will not let you near his ears and generally thinks you are wanting to kill him, so I put it all down to stress, he then did it once after some polos and then that was it - once, one time per day. Since I have been bonding with him and I also put him on settlex I am proud that he hasn't done it in my presence in over a month now and the only time I do see him is very occasionally when I leave him in his field and he can't see anyone. problem is now sorted as he is out with a pony so he is not alone and I spent 8 hours in the field on sunday and he didn't do it once - by the way it is clinically proven that this is not have habit which will be copied as the pony in the field doesn't have to hold on to things and he windsucks and that is a god awaful sound - so if it was something that he would copy - why has he stopped? Most yards if they know anything about it will accept it and not make you use a collar which is cruel. Good luck!
 
Yes you definitely have to ask your Livery Yard Owner to see what she thinks of windsuckers. I wouldn't have them on my yard and yes it would put me off buying one - I wouldn't consider a windsucker I'm afraid; the noise does my head in and they tend to do damage to property which in turn costs the YO money.
 
I was in the same position as you about 18 months ago.

I decided not to have the horse because I am always going to be at livery and not all yards will take one, and even if they do they're normally tucked around a corner somewhere out the way to keep it away from view from all the other horses.

Like you it was for life, I decided it potentially could be too much trouble for me.
 
Nope, would not even go and look.

I bought one who windsucked, within 8 weeks he had colic twice, was hard to keep weight on, livery yard owner wasn't happy and other owners weren't too pleased either.

I didn't sell him because of the windsucking, I didn't get on with him otherwise. I wouldn't have one agin though, and if I had a yard I wouldn't allow them - they do too much damage.
 
Is it windsucking or cribbing? Windsucking they don't take hold of anything in their mouth, cribbing they do. The other thing would be how often she does it.

It's a hard decision to make. Firstly, you need to check if your yard will accept a horse that does it. Also consider if you are ever likely to need to move yards as that might pose a problem. I've read a lot of studies into these vices and I remember them saying that Horses don't copy others that do it.

The thing is, I'd expect it to considerably reduce the value of the Horse and in cases can mean that you get a Horse that you wouldn't be able to afford otherise. That's the case with mine, he has one sarcoid (small, inside back leg) and this reduced his value. Sure it's a risk but he just as easily could have developed one after I'd bought him.

If it's the only thing wrong and the price was right yes I'd consider it. Insurance may exclude colic is the only thing if you have to declare it.
 
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