|
|
 Regular
Posts: 92
| Hi guys !
I'm wondering if anyone of you has or has had a horse that weaves or stall walks ? My 8yr old mare ( have had her 6 months now) constantly walks back & forth in her stall, she has her favorite area and she just goes back & forth, back & forth. Yesterday I was looking out my kitchen window and saw her weaving. At first I thought she was just scratching herself on a tree, but then I realized she was doing the repetitive weaving motion, head back & forth in a big sweeping motion but feet not moving. I asked her previous owner if she paced the stall at their place and they said yes, her mama did it and she learned it and copied her. Her coral at my house is absolutely huge, she can lope around & it also has lots & lots of trees, so it's not like she's cooped up without anything to look at. She has another horse with her that she's very bonded with. She has grass hay 24/7 ( they both do) and she also gets a "no grains low starch senior feed" top dressed w/Equipride ( just enough feed-maybe 3 lbs a day- to mix in the Equipride). I don't feed any grains or molasses and she does get very hot on alfalfa, so the only alfalfa she gets is in the low starch senior. She's also on ulcer treatment as per my vet, and without it I can definatly notice she's not comfortable. She has a barn, and she gets ridden 5-6 days a week except for lately as the weather has been way too cold & snowy. Her attitude under saddle is fine, no problems at all ( except if she's not on her ulcer med).
I have had good results w/ a magnesium supplement on my other neurotic horses, and was wondering if anyone has any other suggestions ?
Thanks :D
|
|
| |
|
 "Drank the Kool Aid"
Posts: 5496
 
Location: Iowa, LA | The only horse I've ever owned that did that was a racehorse straight off the track. He was BAD! I treated him with omeprazole first, with no improvement. I then decided to start him on Succeed, thinking maybe it was colonic ulcers. Bingo! He completely stopped weaving and would only stall walk when he was about to be fed. This horse would weave turned out in the pasture he was so bad. Hope you get it figured out!! |
|
| |
|
Location: Down South Mississippi | Its considered a stall vice just like cribbing. They become addicted to it because it releases endorphins in the brain. |
|
| |
|
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 464
| You'll more than likely never break that habit. |
|
| |
|
Regular
Posts: 92
| Does it make any sense that she's doing it more now, as opposed to in the summer ? She was being worked every day then ,with 2 off. Now, with weather & getting dark so early, she has a lot less "working exercise". |
|
| |
|
 Best of the Badlands
Location: You never know where I will show up...... | I've got an OTT 3 year old that does it mildly.....if I have her stalled she is fine but if I put her out in a run by herself she does it (leave it to me to have something weird!) I have found that if she's got a friend out with her in the pen she doesn't do it.
|
|
| |
|
| My mare did this when I first got her..I don't stall her and she's with a buddy in a small pasture and she hasn't done it for a year. |
|
| |
|
Member
Posts: 44
| My mare is 7 yrs. Old and does both as well as pace the fenceline in the pasture. No idea why other than she is a nervous type horse. I only haul her to 3 day barrelraces and she doesn't do it in these stalls. At home she can get her head over the stall door and this is when she does it. My husband hates to clean her stall as it is a mess! She is only stalled at night and is usually fine as long as she is turned out on time, god forbid you be 30 minutes late turning her out! Pretty sure she will never quit. |
|
| |
|
 Expert
Posts: 2276
Location: ohio-in my own little world with pretty ponies :) | I've got a horse that weaved BAD! Like that was all he did all day! The more I turn him out the better he is and with his pals. They keep him busy. I also moved horses to different stalls. He was beside a horse that picked at him and he would do it right back. So I think it got him worked up so he would do it more. I moved him away from her and I hardly notice it anymore. |
|
| |
|
  Ms. Manners
Posts: 1820
Location: Oklahoma | The magnesium may help, but if she is doing it in a pasture with a bonded buddy then I see very little chance of her ever quitting. It has become such an ingrained habit that she may now do it for no reason other than . . habit. Some do it as a pain response and others out of boredom. I had a mother and daughter weaver/stall walker and it was one of the most irritating vices I have been around. Best of luck to you. |
|
| |
|
Sock Snob
Posts: 3021
| I say it has to do with gut issues, my mare started cribbing at 4 this winter i stopped graining my horses. They get beet pulp and pelleted alfalfa and timothy that has been soaked, to that i give alfalfa and grass cubes, that have been soaked with 10lbs of grass hay. Noticed after about 3 weeks my mare has just about stopped cribbin, she is 18 year old and my geldings stall walking is not bad, and they are fat, when tye wqether gets a little colder will give them more hay at night to keep them busy in the stall. |
|
| |
|
Regular
Posts: 92
| What about attitude under saddle ? Does this behaviour affect your runs in any way? |
|
| |
|
 The Vaccinator
Posts: 3810
Location: Slipping down the slope of old age. Boo hoo. | She will more than likely ALWAYS weave in a stall. Forever. Probably the best you can hope for is to keep her in a pasture with a buddy and hope that keeps her from weaving. It is a terrible habit.... terrible on their joints and legs. I leased - for four months - a very, very, very nice Hunter under Saddle mare that weaved. I was happy to send her home. I would NEVER own one. NEVER. Although this mare was a Finalist in HUS at the World Show, absolutely beautiful to look at and an extraordinary 10+++++ mover, she destroyed the stall mats at the show and there was no keeping her stall clean -- you cannot "pick" a weaver's stall clean. You just strip it daily and put in fresh shavings every day... They are like a washing machine agitator. So.... I would say.... keep her in a nice pasture with lots of lovely grass with a buddy she adores and never stall her. And as someone else said - good luck to you! (edited to add: we treated this mare like a queen at home and at shows -- daily turn-out with her buddy - extra extra large stall - extra extra personal attention daily -- low energy feed -- 24 / 7 hay... plus at the shows... lots of hand walking daily.... daily lounging.... extra attention - two stalls made into one....)
Edited by Delta Cowgirl 2013-12-21 6:09 PM
|
|
| |
|
 Big Gun
Posts: 2216
Location: Texas | I bought a weaver from a gal that lied and said he had no bad habits so now I'm stuck with him. Have learned how to work around him by not leaving him confined and had to buy him a pasture mate. For several yrs I never went to weekend barrel races because I didn't want him weaving during the whole show but I only caught him a few times and now I don't catch him at all. But if he ever gets injured and needs stall rest, not sure what I'll do
Edited by 3rdtimesacharm 2013-12-22 8:42 PM
|
|
| |
|
Married to a Louie Lover
Posts: 3303
| I think you should continue to look into remedies - hind gut issues, magnesium, etc. I feel like in issues like this you should always exhaust all options in the name comfort for the horse.
But it may be an ingrained habit.
I would look into options with your vet to preserve her joints as it is very hard on them to weave. |
|
| |
|
 Sock eating dog owner
Posts: 4557
Location: Where the pavement ends and the West begins Utah | Try a multivitamin/mineral and feed it daily along with a probiotic. I always wonder if a horse that acts this way might have one of those boulders forming in the gut. I had one that did the same thing , some days he was real good. I wish you luck  |
|
| |
|
 Own It and Move On
Location: The edge of no where | I have an old man that has weaved ever since he was a yearling, he's now 25. He does well out in the pasture. One of the soundest horses I've ever had. Got him off the racetrack as a 3 yo and used him until last year. Basically only weaves at feeding time and while I ride his buddy. He doesn't walk his stall when hauled, just goes to the front and weaves. It's never been a big deal, we just leave him alone. He's roly poly fat, still sound.....so I never made an issue of it. |
|
| |
Folks on-line