Weaving Behavior
When a horse moves their head from side to side continuously, the horse is trying to express a thought or feeling. I saw this behavior in our stallion when he wanted to go outside. It was the only time he made this motion, and it trained us to let him out. Very effective. Other horses make this same motion when they want to come in. The motion is to get our attention, like waving a hand.
Sometimes the weaving causes the horse to lift a foreleg just from the momentum of the head movement. This causes the ground underneath the hooves to indent the material. This is evidence of potential trauma to the skeletal system.
I also believe there is some anxiety that would be alleviated with a change away from inflammatory foods.
Cribbing And Other Unusual Addictive Behavior
⬇︎ Click or tap on any image to fully open it. Swipe or click the arrow to move through the gallery. ⬇︎
We used a TV for our young TB…it stopped it instantly…now he’s hooked on Cops and Golf.
I think that weaving is a communication tool used by horses to communicate with humans their frustration with something – such as “I want to go outside.” Adding an “intelligent” distraction will work but the root cause still needs to be addressed.