What are Stable Vices?

Stable Vices are a way of saying “the horse has a very bad habit” although the vice may be nothing more than trivial in nature and easy to cure with more exercise. However, many of them can become deeply psychologically scarring if not corrected early. Stable Vices arise from insufficient exercise and being confined, something a horse is not naturally adapted to. Vices can and will develop out of boredom, hunger, excess energy, isolation (loneliness), and sometimes can be learned by watching other horses or equines around them. There can be dire health consequences for a horse if they are not addressed. Most stable vices occur in horses who are kept in box stalls full time, whereas pasture horses rarely - if ever - develop bad habits on their own. Horses who have vices may not be cured by having more room or pasture time, even if it is full time, and may need to be rehabilitated. Vices can also return if a horse is put back in box stables.

The vices that cause the most problems are wood chewing, which can be from hunger or boredom, and may result in a further detrimental vice if left untreated or rehabilitated - cribbing. Cribbing is when a horse grabs something with its teeth, arches its neck, and suck in air violently, needless to say this is harmful for the mouth and teeth and can also lead to colic and subsequent death. When a horse is rocking back and forth in a repetitive fashion it is called Weaving, and happens to nervous horses or horses that don’t get out enough, and can lead to lameness eventually - along with the counterpart habit called circling, where a horse walks around in a circle and causes the same bad wear and tear on the hooves. Some horses can get violent, and resort to wall kicking to relieve boredom - this can hurt the horse and damage the barn, and other horses can learn it from a horse who has this stable vice. Biting is also one of the more dangerous habits, as the horse may bite people who pass by. Finally the horse may try to dig or paw with its front feet, and this is called pawing, it can lead to severe degradation of the hooves, lameness, and injury to tendons.

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