What is your most hated stable vice?

[kathryn4411]

Out of all the stable vices which one do you hate the most?

[hessy]

Barging! Lack of manners in general.

[Expert_LizPitman]

Sorry, I just have to comment on this. Stable vices (cribbing, weaving, windsucking) are almost always a result of poor management - not necessarily now but some time in the past. They are behaviours that the horse instinctively performs as coping mechanisms in stressful situations. Poorly kept zoo animals also perform similar behaviours - think of pacing tigers. There is also an association between stable vices and ulcers. There is no evidence that they are learned from another horse except that one stressed horse can increase the stress of another. I have great sympathy for horses who exhibit these behaviours.

Manners is a very interesting question. The defintion of "bad manners" is really behaviours that are not acceptable to a human. Things like fidgeting (a horse who has not been taught to stand still or otherwise finds it difficult), barging (a horse who rushes through door/gateways because he is fearful of being near it, often because he's clunked himself), pushy (a horse who has not been taught to wait), aggressive in a stable (usually due to poor treatment and hence fear at some point in his life)... these are all "bad manners" with causes that are not the horse's fault at all, yet by calling them bad manners we are sort laying blame.

Stable vices are very hard to train out of a horse and it is usually best for these horses to keep them in a way that avoids the stress that triggers the behaviour - i.e. out 24/7 instead of stabled. "Bad manners" are usually very easy to address as long as you see it from the horse's point of view - which means we should all have horses with perfect manners!!!

[lopsidale]

The thing I hate most of all is bad manners. My pony wasn't ridden regularly for years, and so wasn't handled all that much. She was bargy, rude, and riding her was a total nightmare!
It annyoed me so much, because I DO NOT tolerate bad manners! I also hated it when she started crib bitting.
However, after regular handling she was fine, and all her vices started to ease away. She's still quite rude sometimes, trying to rush after riding to get home, and napping sometimes, but making sure that I let her know I wasn't going to tolerate it (if she barged back to the yard after riding, I'd make her wait a few extra minutes before feeding her).

[H&Rweb]

I haven't had a horse which exhibits any vices, but in observation of other people's horses my pet hates are the kicking of the stable door and crib biting. I guess it is because of the destructive sounding nature of the vice and the increase in the risk of injury to the horse I dislike these the most.