Highly strung horses

Another day of sub-zero temperatures, this time on top of snow that fell two days ago. Many are finding it impossible to ride their horses unless they have an indoor arena. We have had to make a sand track through the snow to stop horses slipping as we lead them to the paddocks.

Horses used to grazing don’t like being kept in and it always does highly strung horses good to get out of the stable. It also helps against weaving, crib biting and wind sucking. Some people wonder if these conditions are genetic. It seems that while the condition is not hereditary, an inability to cope well with stress is. This means that a highly strung mare may give birth to a highly strung foal. Weaving, cribbing and wind sucking can be caused by stress so the least amount of stress the horse suffers the better.

I had a three quarter bred on livery here who was a weaver. He needed plenty of exercise to keep him relaxed. We also put herbal calmer in his feed which helped. He had weaver bars on the stable door but would still weave behind them, especially during stressful situations such as waiting for his feed and when other horses left the stable yard. Fortunately his weaving did not affect his legs and he was a good competition horse.

I also have a horse who is inclined to box walk if left on his own. A companion next door solves this problem. Severe weavers, cribbers and wind suckers can often benefit from a companion in the stable with them, such as a small pony or even a sheep or goat. However, one problem is that the horse gets so dependent on the companion that it has to go everywhere with him and this can make life difficult at times.