Horse Weaving And Stall Walking

Your horse may be trying to tell you that she's bored, anxious, lonely...stressed.

Left unchecked, pacing and weaving can cause physical and emotional equine health problems. Find out why she's stressed and you can usually resolve these unhealthy horse behaviors.

Rapid stall walking is usually a sign of stress or anxiety. Your horse will circle around her stall, clearly agitated. The faster she's pacing, the more anxious she may be. If she's defecating frequently during her circling, she's really wound up. Continuous neighing during the trip may indicate loneliness.

Slow stall walking indicates boredom or a general dislike of the surroundings.

Horse weaving looks like your horse is walking in place, swaying his front and neck from side to side repetitively. This usually takes place by the stall door where she can look through the grill. This provides a little visual stimulation to your horse as she watches the background change through the bars. Not really thrilling, but it's better than staring at the wall.

So where to begin? The fastest way to soothe an anxious horse or stimulate a bored horse is to adjust her feeding routines, turnout schedules and housing options to more closely resemble a natural equine lifestyle.

Horses are highly social herd animals. A lonely horse is far more likely to develop stall walking and weaving behaviors. A sensible and regular feeding routine based on sound equine nutrition knowledge will keep your horse healthy. And the more time she spends in the pasture the better! Grazing on a healthy horse pasture makes for a healthy horse.

Try to make her stall a little more interesting. Windows and views of other horses help. If she's confined to her stall, be sure to feed her throughout the day. This reduces the risk of colic and stress.

Stall walking and weaving are almost always the result of controllable triggers like stress and boredom. Simple improvements to your horse's lifestyle will eliminate them quickly.

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