Horses that weave often do so while standing at the stall door. Increasing visual or physical contact with other horses and optimizing turnout time can help reduce weaving. | Photo: Anne M. Eberhardt/The Horse

Q: I’m curious about my horse’s weaving. I know that excess calories/energy can play a factor, as can stress or some other trigger (though I haven’t really been able to spot a consistent “trigger” for my horse’s episodes—it can range from being handled in his stall to standing and the apparent anticipation of being tacked up), but what I’m most curious about is at how early of an age would a horse begin weaving, and why would he pick that over some other habit—is weaving simply something that just “felt right” to him, when he was scanning the stereotypy catalog? Is it the kind of thing where one kid might start chewing her nails in class while the other taps his foot? And, while I’m on the topic of foot-tapping, are some horses more “rhythmic” than others? I know this might sound strange, but I’ve noticed my horse sways ever so slightly (though not with his head/neck) when his feet are being handled by the farrier. It reminds me a little of the YouTube video of the horse bobbing his head to a song on YouTube, for instance, only not as charming (to the farrier, at least!). — via e-mail

A: Weaving is a rhythmic swaying in place that usually involves a lateral excursion of the head and neck and a concurrent shifting of weight between the front feet, such that the entire front end of the horse is usually involved, as well as sometimes the hindquarters. Usually the horse does this standing right at the stall door. A number of researchers are working hard to better understand weaving in horses but realize our knowledge of all stereotypies is ever evolving. Always remember horses are built to walk and eat and have social relationships, and when these are thwarted, behaviors that we find undesirable or disconcerting can result.

Why did your horse “pick” weaving out of the catalog? Weaving and other locomotory stereotypies seem to be associated with the urge to walk, forage, and socialize. In part, we think this because one thing that seems to reduce weaving is the placement of a mirror in the horse’s stall. Increasing visual or physical contact with other horses and optimizing turnout time also can reduce weaving. And, interestingly, bedding on straw may reduce weaving, perhaps because the horse can forage on straw when other feed isn’t available. So this is opposed to an oral stereotypy such as cribbing, which we tend to link with early (like creep feeding) and contemporary high concentrate diets more than thwarted movement and socialization