Rising 3 year old horse, lightly backed at 2 and left to sit all winter has come in for a spring refresh and is now a weaver. Would you entertain buying a weaver this young?
I would certainly pause to see why he’s weaving? Never learned to like stall confinement? Nervous temperament?
Difficulty in adjusting?
Many young horses raised in the field hate being confined. Some never learn to like a stall.
So it depends on what the history is and if I’m ready to deal with the horse never changing this habit.
No !
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Nope absolutely not. Even if I wasn’t worried about soundness issues from the extra stresses weaving puts on a horse’s body (esp one that young), I just cannot take repetitive vices like that. They drive me nuts.
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Absolutely NOT.
Ok, so I’ll be the lone dissenter. …I have a 27yo unraced TB in my barn right now who has been a weaver from the time he was a young horse. He is put together all wrong and you know that has been the soundest horse I’ve ever known?
Weaving is annoying but if the horse checks all the other boxes I wouldnt pass him by.
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My junior hunter was a crazy weaver. Gem under tack. Sound forever. If it doesn’t drive you nuts and horse is perfect in every other way I wouldn’t let it rule one out. Unless it’s for resale, then hard no. Weaving drives too many folks nuts (buyers, farriers, etc). And it’s a stereotypey. You aren’t going to train it away. Even in the best horse husbandry situation it’ll remain the stress go behavior.
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Nope on the weaving! And there’s a TB where I board who’s a stall walker, whether indoors or out. Horse is in a big stall, gets worked appropriately and is a nice mover and great brain undersaddle. When he’s turned out he will mosey around and eat for awhile, then go to the gate and walk or trot 12ft circles endlessly. Very sad AND annoying. He’s pretty young so not sure of the long term impact of the incessant circling on his body yet.
Only if literally everything else was too good to pass on.
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if everything else was good I would consider it - bear in mind I have my own farm so would have the luxury of fiddling with the routine and lifestyle to minimise it unlike a large boarding barn with a more set program
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I would consider it if the horse was otherwise a really good fit, if I had a decent sense of when/where/why/how bad it weaves, if I felt like I had multiple good options for boarding/care depending on the previous, if it was a really good price, and if it wasn’t a resale project.
That’s a lot of ifs.
Sure, if the horse has the talent you are looking for and ticks the rest of your boxes. He’s telling you that he is stressed in his current environment and management, and that he may well be an individual who is susceptible to some types of stress. He’s not a “plodder” who is immune to what he sees as stress. You can make some changes (if you have your own farm) and he MAY be less stressed as a result, and MAY not weave, or may not weave as much, when these changes are made. Things to try to reduce his stress levels are 24/7 turn out or paddock access, living with another horse/s, a more “natural” environment than living in a box stall, feed change, training changes, all sorts of things. He will probably still weave in situations he finds stressful. What he may find to be “stress” may well be unknown until he tells you. But it’s a minor flaw IMO. I’m not perfect either, and am a person who can accept imperfections in my horses, if they fulfill the athletic needs I have for a horse. I’ve had a few horses over the years who have done a bit of weaving now and again, and it hasn’t been a problem for me or the horse.
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Research has shown there is no ill effect on soundness of horses who weave, from the weaving. I did a lot of research on this. Shocking I know, but good to know. This belief it causes wear and tear has proven to be absolutely untrue.
Would I pass? No. I own a weaver, she is by far, my favourite horse I have ever owned. Weaving can be controlled to a degree, if you figure out what they like, what causes the weaving, what stall set up they enjoy. She now only weaves when she knows dinner is coming, or if there are strange or annoying people in the barn. She doesn’t weave off property.
A lot of the best horses in the world have seriously bad vices. I wouldn’t turn down a weaver, but I also wouldn’t get one if I wasn’t set up to help the horse become less likely to weave. If the horse was a “meh” choice already, then I would pass.
I wonder how much of that research was done on babies who are still growing?
Regardless for me it’s a huge no- a stressy horse isn’t likely to do well in my discipline. I can’t imagine having to high line or tie a weaver to a trailer overnight. I’d much rather deal with a bucker, rearer or bolter than a weaver or cribber lol
I had a lesson horse that was a weaver. He was the most delightful horse and absolutely the first horse anyone rode in my program. He stayed serviceably sound into his mid-twenties (and he’d been a Western Pleasure show horse so had a LOT of really young miles). He was pretty easy to manage, though – put him on 24/7 turnout, no weaving!
I’d rather have a weaver than a stall walker, especially since I am the one that has to deal with that mess! and I have 2 of those.
Many of the studies I read were on TBs, some at the track and some at home. So the track horses would be 1-6 most likely.
Will he weave if out 24/7?
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Good question. Some do not, and some weave only at the pasture gate (i.e., while waiting there for dinner).
I leased a WB mare who was a weaver when stalled with a solid door. When she was housed in a stall with a pipe-panel door, she did not weave at all.
I knew her entire history and can only speculate that it was a result of ulcers, which vet medicine knew nothing about at the time.
I have a weaver in my barn-he’s so sound I don’t think you can hurt him w a hammer. He came from a terrible environment, and his weaving has actually improved. Here he gets turned out w a buddy. When he is in, we feed him w a nibble net hay net to keep hay in front of him all the time. We tinkered w it so it is low to the ground and he cannot get tangled up. He is not shod. Now he really only weaves when they’ve been stuck in because of weather. And, again- sound as can be. I’ve had other weavers in the past and they also stayed sound. And as other posters have said, I’ll take a weaver over a stall walker any day. Oh- and I’ve never had trouble keeping weight on the horses doing ballet.
