[bnwalker2]

I wasn't sure if I should put this here or in health.

Nacera has turned out to be a weaver. For those who don't know, Nacera is my 20 year old rescue horse. I've had her a little over a week.

She weaves nearly constantly. When she's in her stall she'll stop and eat her hay but then goes back to weaving after a few minutes. She's turned out all day, and she'll go off and graze with the other horses for an hour and then comes back to the gate and weaves.

I know this is not good for her, and it certainly can't be helping her keep any weight on. When she's stalled, she has a horse next to her that she can touch. And when she's in the pasture she has the other horses for company. Is there ANYTHING that can be done to curb this behavior? I'm just afraid it's going to hurt her weight gain and recovery

Here's a video of her doing it:

YouTube - Nacera weaving

[JBandRio]

Oh I soooooo hate seeing a horse weave, it just makes me nuts!

First thing I'd do is some pretty aggressive ulcer treatment. If you have the funds to to Ulcerguard, get that - it will provide the fastest level of the highest quality treatment. Ranitidine could be used, but the results would take longer.

Is she where she sees activity all the time? If she is, see if isolating her a bit helps; if she's not, see if more activity helps. There isn't a given here, and neither may help.

[FarFromOver]

Has she been doing that the whole time you've had her?

[Thrills]

I have just purchased a dedicated weaver.

Mine was also underweight from weaving herself silly in a stall 24/7 at the trainers. I have her on a 60%timothy40% alfapha bale with mineral block and she is getting beyond fat.

Things I do to keep her from weaving...

-No Stalling what so ever. she is out 24/7.
-Cut all grains/hot feed
-Has a buddy 24/7.
-Regular excercise/interaction.

I've found that the weaving is worse when she's feeling stressed/anxious.

We mixed the horses up, and moved them around until we found a buddy she was comfortable with. She'll still weave with other horses beside her, but seems to really prefer the company of a certain mare and we haven't witnessed her weaving in the pen since they became roomates.

I've found training wise, that my mare will even try to weave under saddle if I put a lot of pressure on her. She'll weave in the tie stall while I tack up if there are no other horses in the arena.

she's slowly getting better and I'm seeing it less and less the more she aclimatizes to her new home.

You've only had her a week, and it was a rescue situation. From what I've read/been told you never get rid of the habit completely, but it can be managed.

Good Luck!

[bnwalker2]

Originally Posted by JBandRio

Oh I soooooo hate seeing a horse weave, it just makes me nuts!

First thing I'd do is some pretty aggressive ulcer treatment. If you have the funds to to Ulcerguard, get that - it will provide the fastest level of the highest quality treatment. Ranitidine could be used, but the results would take longer.

Is she where she sees activity all the time? If she is, see if isolating her a bit helps; if she's not, see if more activity helps. There isn't a given here, and neither may help.

Thanks for the suggestions! During the day when she's in the pasture, she's with 4 other horses. She walks out with them and will graze with them about an hour then walks back to the gate and does that the rest of the time she's out (yes, I'm sure, I check on them often LOL).

Her stall is at the end of the barn so it's the most quiet area of the barn I'd say. She has another horse next to her and the way the stalls are set up they can see and touch each other. Whether out or in, she has a pile of hay in front of her at all times.

Oh, and there's a radio playing all the time as well.

Originally Posted by FarFromOver

Has she been doing that the whole time you've had her?

Yep, she did it the day she got here. I have noticed it does get worse when she's anxious... that or she starts to pace. The speed she sways at varies it seems but she's nearly always doing it at least a little bit.

Originally Posted by Thrills

I have just purchased a dedicated weaver.

Mine was also underweight from weaving herself silly in a stall 24/7 at the trainers. I have her on a 60%timothy40% alfapha bale with mineral block and she is getting beyond fat.

Things I do to keep her from weaving...

-No Stalling what so ever. she is out 24/7.
-Cut all grains/hot feed
-Has a buddy 24/7.
-Regular excercise/interaction.

I've found that the weaving is worse when she's feeling stressed/anxious.

We mixed the horses up, and moved them around until we found a buddy she was comfortable with. She'll still weave with other horses beside her, but seems to really prefer the company of a certain mare and we haven't witnessed her weaving in the pen since they became roomates.

I've found training wise, that my mare will even try to weave under saddle if I put a lot of pressure on her. She'll weave in the tie stall while I tack up if there are no other horses in the arena.

she's slowly getting better and I'm seeing it less and less the more she aclimatizes to her new home.

You've only had her a week, and it was a rescue situation. From what I've read/been told you never get rid of the habit completely, but it can be managed.

Good Luck!

Thank you for the input as well! Keeping her out 24/7 isn't an option right now unfortunately (have to rotate horses), but since she does it when she's out too I don't think that would matter with her anyway.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that once she settles in she'll at least stop doing it a little bit!

[SWRerider]

That looks so miserable! I have nothing to add since I have not had to deal with it myself, but could that be why she is in such poor condition? That must use up a LOT of calories. It must be pretty entrenched by 20 yrs old.
Thrills has some good ideas.

[LuckyAshley]

My mare is a weaver in stalls as well, not fun at all - it bothers me so much. She'll do it in the trailer too sometimes - I have no clue how she holds her balance while doing that in the trailer... but she does! The only thing I've found is to simply keep her on turnout. If I make stalling a routine for her, she seems to adapt to it eventually, but will still weave during the time that they are turned out and fed. It's something that just seems unable to be broken of, you just have to work with it and find out ways to keep the horse content.

Good luck!