Windsucking is a repetitive behavior in which a horse arches its neck and gulps air into the upper part of its esophagus, producing a distinctive grunting sound. Unlike the closely related behavior called cribbing, a windsucking horse does this without grabbing onto a fence, door, or any other fixed object. Estimates from studies in the UK and US place the prevalence of cribbing and windsucking combined at roughly 4% to 9% of the horse population, making it one of the more common stereotypic behaviors in domesticated horses.
How Windsucking Differs From Cribbing
The two behaviors look similar and are often discussed together, but the key distinction is simple. A cribbing horse latches its upper front teeth onto a solid surface, pulls back, and swallows air. A windsucking horse achieves the same arched-neck posture and air intake without biting down on anything. Both produce the same characteristic grunt as air rushes into and then back out of the upper esophagus.
Because windsucking doesn’t require a surface to bite, it can happen anywhere: in a stall, in a paddock, even while being handled. This makes it harder to manage than cribbing, where removing or coating surfaces can at least reduce opportunities.
What Happens Physically
When a horse windsucks, it contracts the muscles along the underside of its neck to open the upper esophagus and draw air in. Over time, horses that do this frequently develop visibly enlarged ventral neck muscles, a telltale sign that experienced horse people recognize on sight. The air doesn’t typically travel all the way to the stomach. It enters the cranial (upper) portion of the esophagus and is expelled back through the mouth.
Chronic windsucking also takes a toll on the teeth. Horses that crib show obvious wear on their incisors from gripping surfaces, but even windsuckers can develop abnormal incisor wear over years. This wear generally isn’t a problem in younger horses, but as a horse ages, severely worn incisors can loosen or fall out, reducing its ability to graze effectively and potentially shortening its useful lifespan.
Why Horses Start Windsucking
Windsucking is classified as a stereotypy, a repetitive, seemingly purposeless behavior that develops in response to stress or an environment that doesn’t meet the animal’s needs. Several factors are linked to its development.
Diet. Horses evolved to spend most of their day chewing high-fiber forage. When they’re fed energy-dense, low-fiber concentrate meals instead of having near-constant access to hay or pasture, the risk of stereotypic behaviors rises significantly. A lack of roughage is considered one of the main drivers. Horses that go more than four hours without eating are at higher risk, especially when housed on non-edible bedding that offers nothing to chew on between meals.
Gastric ulcers. Multiple studies have found a relationship between gastric ulcers affecting the upper (squamous) lining of the stomach and cribbing or windsucking behavior. The connection likely runs both ways: management practices that expose the stomach lining to excess acid, such as long gaps between meals or high-grain diets, predispose horses to ulcers and to stereotypies. Researchers have proposed that gastric pain itself may trigger the behavior initially, and that the behavior can persist even after the ulcers heal, essentially becoming a learned habit.
Housing and social isolation. Horses kept in stalls with limited turnout, minimal social contact, and predictable feeding routines are more prone to developing stereotypies. The American Association of Equine Practitioners recommends allowing adequate exercise, forage, and social interaction while reducing the cues and routines that build anticipation around feeding times.
The Colic Connection
The most serious health risk associated with windsucking is a specific and dangerous type of colic called epiploic foramen entrapment, where a loop of intestine slips through a small opening near the liver and becomes trapped. An international study found that horses with cribbing or windsucking behavior had a dramatically elevated risk of this condition, with an odds ratio of 67.3 compared to horses without the behavior. That’s not a subtle increase. While this type of colic is relatively rare in the overall horse population, the association is strong enough that owners of windsucking horses should be aware of it and vigilant about colic signs.
Do Horses Learn It From Each Other?
One of the most persistent beliefs in the horse world is that windsucking spreads by imitation, that a horse stabled near a windsucking horse will “pick up” the habit. Research into this belief is revealing. A study exploring horse owners’ perceptions found that people who had never owned a windsucking horse strongly believed in the copying theory and said they wouldn’t want to own one. Owners who actually had experience with windsucking horses did not believe copying was a real cause, based on what they’d observed firsthand.
The science supports the experienced owners. Windsucking appears to develop from internal factors like gut discomfort and environmental stress, not from watching a neighbor do it. Isolating a windsucking horse “to protect the others” is unlikely to help and removes social contact, which may actually make things worse.
Managing Windsucking
There’s no reliable cure for established windsucking, so management focuses on reducing frequency and addressing root causes.
Diet and turnout changes are the first line of approach. Maximizing forage access, reducing concentrate meals, increasing turnout time, and providing social contact with other horses all help address the underlying conditions that promote the behavior. Slow-feeder hay nets can extend foraging time for stalled horses and reduce the long gaps without food that contribute to both gastric ulcers and behavioral issues.
Cribbing collars are the most common physical intervention. These collars fit snugly around the throatlatch and apply pressure when the horse tries to flex its neck to swallow air. A study testing two types of anti-crib collars and a muzzle on eight established cribbers found that all devices significantly reduced the behavior. Notably, the study did not find elevated cortisol levels (a stress hormone) while horses wore the collars, and there was no rebound effect where horses cribbed more intensely once the device was removed.
However, the AAEP takes a more cautious position. Their guidelines suggest that because stereotypies may serve an adaptive, coping function for the horse, there is rarely an ethical justification for physically preventing the behavior with collars, surgery, or aversion therapy like electric collars. Prevention of the behavior has been associated with increases in stress markers in some research. The AAEP recommends it is preferable to allow the horse to perform the behavior on a suitable substrate rather than simply blocking it.
Surgery has been used in severe cases. The most well-known procedure involves cutting specific nerves and removing portions of the muscles that allow the horse to arch its neck and gulp air. In a study of 35 horses that underwent this modified procedure, 20 stopped the behavior entirely and 11 showed a noticeable reduction, while 4 returned to their previous level of windsucking within a year. Despite these numbers, veterinary opinion has shifted away from recommending surgery due to the risks, the ethical concerns around simply suppressing a coping mechanism, and the availability of less invasive management strategies.
Long-Term Outlook
Once a horse develops windsucking, the behavior tends to persist for life even if the original trigger is resolved. The goal for most owners shifts from elimination to management: keeping the frequency low, protecting the horse’s dental health, monitoring closely for signs of colic, and providing an environment that minimizes stress. Horses that windsuck can still lead full, productive lives. The behavior itself, while frustrating and sometimes noisy, is more a signal that something in the horse’s environment or history wasn’t ideal than a disease that needs aggressive treatment.