Horses and the VICE weaving???

Question

Can someone tell me a bit about weaving, like what it does to the horse?

Does it shorten it's life?

Can a horse weaving in a field?

Why do they do it?

Please just tell me all the facts you know I will be grateful for all decent answers! =]

Also what do you think of this horse?

http://www.horsemart.co.uk/AdvertRef/HM827DB3H/Page/3/Referrer/DisplayResultsHorses.asp/Web/DisplayHorseDetail.asp

Answer 1

Usually horses weave when they are upset, stressed,excited or just plain bored.  Weaving is a side-to-side movement, that is extremely hard on the horses knees, so these horses usually develop knee injuries & other leg problems....Weaving is a vice which can occur for a myriad of reasons...horses can weave anywhere....you cannot cure a weaver, but the best place for them is outside, where they can stretch their legs, these horses also usually benefit from an interesting toy to play with to bust their bordom!

The horse sounds & looks nice, doesnt seem like her weaving is a HUGE problem...ask about it tho, like when she does it so that you can prevent those kinds of things from occurring...also try to keep her outside, but if she must be inside, give her a toy (I bought a Lik-it toy for my youngster who weaves & he loves it...)

Hope it helped!

Answer 2

It depends on how bad the weaving is.  I have a mare that if stalled, will weave constantly.  She won't eat, she won't drink, she'll just weave constantly.  But I just don't put her in a stall,  She can be outside in a small pen, and for some reason, even if it's the same size as a stall, she won't weave because she's outside.  And of course in pasture she never weaves.  You might just not be able to keep this horse in a stall but I don't see that as a big problem.  I don't think horses were meant to live in stalls anyway.

Answer 3

its usually because they are bored, stressed, unhappy etc. you can fit a weaving grid http://gallery.nen.gov.uk/gallery_images...

(like in the picture above) but sometimes it will just stress the horse more you should also put a toy in the stable for the horse (whether they have a grid fitted or not.) i have put a few links of toys that are good and also a stable mirror

Answer 4

in my opion horses weave when they are bored!! you see so many anti-weaving things put up in the stable when really all they want is to be out,,,i know its not always possible to do this but it can then lead to badhabits as windsucking on the stable door,,ive seen this happen.

Answer 5

I love the horse she looks like a great horse to have, very pretty

one of my horses learnt to weave when his field mate used to stand at the gate weaving when he wanted to come in, he never stopped weaving after that. In the winter when he had to come in at night he had ad-lib hay to keep him occupied and a weaving grill on his door. I also kept him out as long as possible and tried to work out what stressed him out and made him weave more.

I wouldnt say its a major vice but in the long run they can have leg problems but thats when they are a lot older, but saying that my horse had no problems at all with his legs

If i saw the perfect horse for me and it weaved i dont think it would put me off buying him, u should be able to negotiate a better price too

Answer 6

OK nice horse and cheap. I've had lots of horses that weave, it's a habit like smoking or biting your nails, once you have it you're stuck with it and a horse has no incentive to give it up. It's called a 'vice' because it's supposed to be catching, but I've never seen a horse catch it just like I've never seen a person catch nailbiting. They do it because at some point in their lives they've been in a stressful situation and the movement creates endorphins in the brain that makes them feel better - most zoo animals do it because their lives are so unnatural. Horses that weave need plenty of non-stressful stimulation - that generally means turning them out with other horses a lot and stabling them as little as possible. One good thing about them is you can always tell when they are worried!

I would not worry about buying a weaver but then my horses live out all year as a herd. One problem you may have is that lots of livery yards refuse to have weavers, or make you keep them apart from other horses which of course just makes them worse. If you're short of funds and have somewhere you know you can keep it, that might be a bargain horse. (Tip - don't buy one with sweetitch though)