Stereotypic behaviors in horses — repetitive, apparently functionless movements including weaving and cribbing — are behavioral welfare indicators of chronic stress or past deprivation that require management attention.
Stereotypic behaviors in horses are behavioral scars of insufficient behavioral opportunity, not evidence of individual pathology. A horse that weaves is communicating that its environment is insufficient for its behavioral needs — most commonly too little turnout, too little social contact, and too little forage. Once established, the neural pathways underlying stereotypies are altered enough that the behavior persists even after conditions improve. This makes prevention far more important than cure: young horses provided with adequate turnout, social contact, and continuous forage rarely develop stereotypies. Management devices that physically prevent expression cause frustration without addressing need.