Would you buy a horse that windsucks?

[gordo]

We took on a cruelty case years ago, gorgeous black fella had been locked in cow shed and he windsucked. He had perfected the vice and didn't need anything to grip onto, just stood in the field and arched his neck and did it. He died of colic

[Deleted]

tbh Sunflower, having read you history of buying horses it sounds like you're scraping the barrel and maybe need to stop looking or really re-assess what you want and need. Maybe a long term loan would be better?

I had a windsucker on loan, he cribbed and windsucked, when turned out he'd do it on the fences, when he had food he'd windsuck in between mouthfuls of food. At the time I didn't know about the link with ulcers but tbh I think by then he'd been doing it so long it wasn't going to stop.

[Jay]

i have owned 2 cribbers, one was a handreared tb who did it from birth, she was never left in for long periods etc, she didnt have ulcers, i think she just did it because of being bottle fed.
She did wear her teeth out, she died aged 20 and she died of heart failure very suddenly. Through her life she had occasional bouts of mild colic, yes she did damage the odd fence post but it wouldnt put me off. In fact i have just bought another tb who also cribs, tried using collars on her, covering everything in cribox but she just gets upset and stressed if she cant, so i have given up stopping her. She is 9 years old and her teeth are in very good condition at the moment.
She also cribs in between mouthfuls of food, hay etc. She has one bad habit when she cribs and she paws out with her off front leg and gets her foot stuck in fences. If she cant free herself or pull her shoe off she will wait til we rescue her but i have just spent hundreds on electric fence equipment to electrify the whole boundary (13 acres) incase she injures herself. I will let her have her own post though within the field.

[laurac]

as per others who have commented my chap cribs after hard feed and he did it when he was playing with his treatball in between mouthfulls of nuts from the treatball on the stable door.
my dentist pointed out his teeth were starting to show damage last visit so i put cribbox on stable door and that has totally stopped the cribbing i have also stopped giving him his treatball too, he always gets adlib hay anyway
the only time he cribs in the field is on the gate in the field if i gave him a treat (reward for coming over to be caught) so ive stopped those treats too and he has pretty much stopped cribbing on the gate after being caught
i have him gastric ulcer tested last year and he was clear
my only sad thing is that clicker training was going well but he would want to crib on the leadrope, so ive had to stop clicker training as i dont want to hand feed him treats because of the desire to crib after them
previous 2 years he lived out 24x7 and would crib on a bit of rope i had tied up outside the field shelter for hin to use for this purpose so after breakfast and dinner he would wander over to it and crib a couple of times then walk off
there seems to be a real connection between hard feed and desire for cribbing after, wish i knew the answer ? ideas anyone?

[arki]

I have had my TBx for 11 years - he windsucks, crib bites and weaves. I believe it has been caused by severe cruelty before I had him. I bought him from a dealer who had shut him in a pitch black stable and he was so stressed out I didnt know any better than to buy him! At the time I didnt know any better. managment is the key to these horses - my boy lives out 24/7 with company and this reduces his weaving to a minimum - in fact most people wouldnt know he does it - he only weaves when stressed. Re windsucking my advice is no hard feed at all - hard feed seems to make the problem much worse. Re buying a horse that weaves or windsucks - it would come down to whether I had my own place or not as it is so upsetting to continually defend your old horse when people get really upset with him. They can damage fencing but they do tend to have a favourite spot ie a favourite post or rail. I would like to say though that I have had foals in with my boy and youngsters and none have ever copied even when they have been in the field on their own with him. Re colic my boy has had 3 cases of colic in the 11 years i have had him but none related to windsucking although the vet did think related to stress. You will get a good horse cheap though as people are still very ignorant about windsucking. I wouldnt buy another simply because I dont have my own land or yard and it is quite stressful coping with other people and their views on it.

[laurac]

thanks for your comments arki
i think i shall cut out my chaps hard feed in the spring, i moved him to a new private yard last oct as the grass will be very rich and 4 acres for my 2 and stables - with my rescue pony (his companion) - its just the 2 of them oh and a few sheep owned by the farm owner, no other liveries, it cuts down on the stress of other horses coming and going and i really couldnt deal with the personal attack of other nasty liveries on my poor boy thinking their horses would copy the habit

[Hannah]

No I wouldn't buy a windsucker, cribber or weaver. For all the reasons listed above, plus the noise of inhaling air really bugs me

If you have your own place and can manage them, then you can get an otherwise good horse for a lot less money. If you buy a cribber, you will spend the money saved on new fencing/doors/gates Weavers bother me due to the wear on their legs, feet and the rest of the body.

ETA - There are plenty of horses out there without problems, so unless a cribber/windsucker/weaver is GIVEN to you, keep looking. Your perfect horse is out there somewhere

[Caroline]

Apparently slippery elm, mixed with water into a slime and maybe some manuka honey added, is a great healer for ulcers and will often cure windsucking, (which some horses do to pull cool air into their stomach to ease the ulcers). Worth a try if you have a wind-sucker/horse with ulcers I would have thought... It's very cheap and available from good health food shops and online.

P.S. Why not contact a rescue to adopt a horse? You could try Trallwm Farm: www.trallwmfarm.org.uk (give them a call and see if they have a suitable horse - you might be pleasantly surprised at the quality horses that end up in rescue!)

[bramblesmum]

I would purchase a windsucker as I have the facilities and no other liveries bar my own if the horse passed vetting tgen i would have it

[amelia]

I would definitely consider it - it's not a "vice" it's something that the horse develops in order to cope with a sub-optimal environment or due to having ulcers. Yes it's not nice to watch but as long as the horse is given a safe surface to crib on then it doesn't do anyone any harm. It CANNOT be copied so any livery that rants about that is totally ignorant. I know people who have bought amazing horses at bargain prices because they have been crib-biters or windsuckers. If the horse you've seen is definitely a windsucker and not a crib-biter then I would be even more inclined as then there is no chance of damage to teeth.
the horse just needs plenty of turnout (pref 24/7), plenty of forage, no concentrates and a relaxed and unstressful environment - this won't stop the behaviour but it may reduce it and will create a happier horse.

[Emily+Meg]

Just to clarify, a windsucker wont destroy fences / teeth. a Crib-biter will.

Meg windsucks mildly, apart from being an annoying sound...its never caused me any problems. No horse has ever copied it, including her foal.

She does it after feed - even just a sugary carrot - or when shes stressed. I have always wondered if its ulcer related, but I tried a course of *brain blank* - the active ingredient in gastroguard? errr... you know what I mean... and it didnt make a difference.


Most people on my yard arent aware she windsucks unless I tell them, as a) she rarely does it, and b) shes pretty discreet about it!

[muddy boots]

i bought a horse ,previous owner didnt tell me so we didnt know til we got him home,Basil, who cribbed & windsucked he was a lovely boy,and when i tried to sell him i let people see him before i told them about his little problem,even though they were interested they soon changed their mind,one said her vet told her he would always have colic! i then loaned with a view to buy to a lovely girl which was successfull but i heard last year he had ended up at auction so sadly dont know where he is now.
I tried magnesium supplements but it didnt help and 2 livery yards he had to be separated from the other horses which didnt help, other horses didnt copy him so its not contagious and if the horse you are looking at is good in all other ways (no horse is perfect) it may be worth buying him.

[sophielouise]

I would definitely consider it if the horse was good in other respects. It has been scientifically proven, that horses rarely copy stereotypical behaviours from other horses - & as Amelia has said, cribbing/windsucking (or most other stereotypies in fact) can usually be managed, although the habit may never go completely.

[sunflower]

Ive decided not to see this horse and wait until the horse market starts improving.

[hmt]

I bought a crib biter, knew he was a crib biter before I bought him, got turned away from one livery yard and told it was a 'perversion' at another. Took him to my current yard and treated him for ulcers and he is much better, haven't seen him do it in the field for six months and he only does it in his stable, if tied up somewhere else he very rarely windsucks on different doors so it's just a habit.

It will effect his resale value but to be honest I can't really see him ever being sold!!!