# How to stop a horse cribbing ?



## Bettyboo222 (18 July 2010)

A lady on my yard has just got a new pony and she cribs and windsucks all the time. The farmer has said she will have to move if she can't sort it, she just needs something she can do until she gets a bar to put over the stable door. Are there any spays that you can use ?

Any help appreciated ?


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## crazycoloured (18 July 2010)

I had a horse that was terrible for cribbing i had a weaver bar on the door but he kept on cribbing i tried sprays with no luck.I invested in a miracle collar thinking it would help but he still did it with the collar on.in the end i had to electric fence the tops of the posts in the field and i put a strip of electric tape on top of the stable door which seemed to stop him.he was crafty as he knew when it was switched on and off.I would not buy crib collars etc as im my personal experience they dont work and try and provide plenty of turnout


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## Bettyboo222 (18 July 2010)

crazycoloured said:



			I had a horse that was terrible for cribbing i had a weaver bar on the door but he kept on cribbing i tried sprays with no luck.I invested in a miracle collar thinking it would help but he still did it with the collar on.in the end i had to electric fence the tops of the posts in the field and i put a strip of electric tape on top of the stable door which seemed to stop him.he was crafty as he knew when it was switched on and off.I would not buy crib collars etc as im my personal experience they dont work and try and provide plenty of turnout
		
Click to expand...

She just bites everything, The electric tape is a good idea but we aren't allowed to use it at out farm


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## CBFan (18 July 2010)

I'm sorry but cribbing cannot be resolved overnight. If ever. she needs time to settle (it is often exacerbated when they are under stress so the move won't have helped) and she needs to be put on a high fibre diet - so plenty of hay to eat when she is in. You may also find adding limestone flour to her feed might help as it would neutralise any excess stomach acid which may bepart of the cause. 

some horses reduce the amount they crib and others don't.


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## jack9 (18 July 2010)

i used cribbox for my lad - its in ablue box you can get it from good tack shops....


it tastes foul (take my word for that  ) and its an instant stop.... but i did let him crib in his stable where no-one saw.... just no on his door - so he wasnt too stressed about stopping completely....

failing that - stick a weave bar over the door.....


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## bj_cardiff (18 July 2010)

You could put a weaving grill with the insert in so the horse is behind bars and can't crib.. Personally if its causing problems I'd move it to somewhere it can crib, its doing it for a reason (endporhin release) and stopping it doing it will just stress the pony out more..


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## Luci07 (18 July 2010)

you most definately no NOT want to let the horse "crib and get on with it". I have seen two horses end up with surgical colic having done that so it is not an option,

The sad fact is, despite different opinions, no one/vet/expert has actually got to the bottom of what causes cribbing or why. Stressy horses "can" be prone to it, some horses will copy the behaviour, others will take no notice and there is no rhyme or reason as to why. The most logical explanation I have seen is that cribbing can be started by excess acid in the stomach (hence increasing fibre in thei diet) but there are a load of contributory factors. I dislike collars as they simply mask the problem not solve but if the optiion is a surgical colic then I would put on a miracle collar and stop it. Once a horse has started cribbing seriously then it is almost impossible to change this behaviour so you can only manage it. Cribbox will help, fibre will help and the horse will hopefully be less stressing. As for the weaving - constant weaving can cause front foot problems so I would stick up a weaving grid. Its not good news, some can reduce but in my experience, once a committed cribber, always a cirbber.


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## Dot1 (18 July 2010)

Completely agree with the above.

Although lot's of people will tell you to let the horse to continue to crib it can have disasterous results.  I don't like collars but if you are giving the horse lots of forage, turn out and it isn't due to ulcers some times you don't have a choice.

We let our horse crib, apart from losing condition he coliced several times which unfortunately let to surgery and we almost lost him.  Since he has been wearing the collar he has never coliced.

We don't use the miracle collar as it gave him a headache and tension, so we use the traditional collar.  Actually if he tries very hard he can still crib but he is turned out for most of the day and always has lots of hay so rarely does it now.

I hope the lady at your yard finds a solution!


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## completeblank (18 July 2010)

My horse has just stopped cribbing at twenty-five years old. He started at the age of five and was such a committed cribber that he would crib with a cribbing collar on, didn't care about cribbox and would even crib on people or his own leg if there was nothing else around to do it on. The only change I have made in his management is removing all cereals and molasses from his diet. It took a year to take effect and he gradually just stopped cribbing. If it is possible for even a hardcore cribber like him to stop, then I think any horse has a chance but, in my experience, diet is key and it's not going to happen overnight.


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## Bettyboo222 (18 July 2010)

Just got back from the yard after suggesting to the lady everything that you have said and the poor pony is showing signs of colic , she is biting and trying to scratch her belly. She is also lying down and rolling, the vet was just arriving, as I had to leave. I will be going down early tommorow morning and I think her owner is staying there all night depending on what the vet says


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## Nari (18 July 2010)

Re cribbing & colic most vets now think that cribbers may be more prone to colic because of underlying health problems (often ulcers) that cause them to crib - the cribbing is a symptom, not the cause. When my cribber was in hospital following a colic op he didn't think any of the surfaces in the stable were suitable for cribbing on so the vet actually removed a door grill so he could use the top of the door. Their opinion was that the stress of not being able to crib was far more damaging than the cribbing was (& that he was a fussy so & so since most horses just cribbed on the internal manger :rolls eyes.

I hope the pony is alright & that it's a mild colic that a couple of jabs will ease x.


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## mybaileysglide (19 July 2010)

it depends on why the horse is cribbing, my horse windsuckson anything she can find but she windsucks because she has stomach ulcers and sucking air into her stomach makes them feel better. we gave her rennies tablets and they actually worked for her, it didnt stop her completely but she didnt do it anywhere near as much as usal and she seemed alot happier when she was eating (usually she windsucked with every mouthfull she took). im sorry to hear about the pony and i hope its not too bad  .


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## wilsha (19 July 2010)

you can paint/spray on cribox, crib stop or creosote the pony wont like the tase and hopefully not chew that door


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## splashgirl45 (19 July 2010)

i think cribbing can be part stress and part acidy stomach.  i used settlex on my mare as she was quite a bad cribber, she gradually improved and although will still crib its not as much. (am prob tempting fate but have had her 8 years and never had colic...dont feed it anymore as now has lots more turnout and only hacks so less stressful than competing.   i find she cribs after a feed but not if she has hay or haylage available.  this horse may be extra stressed because of the yard move .  maybe people have told her off while she is cribbing which will make her worse.  lots of hay/haylage and turnout are the best thing and maybe cut out any feed for a while(unless she is thin)to see if that makes a difference, then gradually introduce small feeds again nearer to the winter.  i wish them good luck and hope the colic clears up ok....


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## horsegirl (19 July 2010)

They start cribbing due to boredom and continue through habit.  Plenty of turnout and unlimited hay might help but stopping cribbing by force is cruel IMO and doesn't work.  I don't believe cribbing causes colic, it might be true that horses with ulcers do crib and horses with ulcers do get colic but the ulcers are not caused by the cribbing so preventing this does nothing but stress the horse.  Other horses do not "catch" or learn cribbing either so don't listen to people who tell you that!


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## potty_4_piebalds (19 July 2010)

my old pony always cribbed nothing would stop him he had collars and sprays etc the more you tried to stop him the more he would do it and stress because he was being stopped. it didnt bother me or amyone on the yard so we let him do it and he would only do it after he's feed and when turned out he would crib off he's favorite post 2/3 times then walk away to graze. it never caused him any health problems. but have seen some very nasty sores on a ponys head from having a collar on 24/7.


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## Cocoa (19 July 2010)

I know that there are lots of different opinions on crib-biting but all the research (and there is a lot of it out there!) high-lights the negatve welfare implications of preventing the behaviour.

In short


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## Cocoa (19 July 2010)

Ok, i just wrote the biggest explanation and HHO runied it for me...hence the unfinished post.

Basically (majorly shortened version)...

Cribbing is a motivational behvaiour that causes a reward in the brain when carried out through the release if increased levels of dopamine. It has been shown that this is a coping mechanism to sub-optimal conditions for the horse, eg: social isolation, reduced foraging behaviour, reduced ability to carry out environmental monitoring, reduced chance to exercise. These are all things that we subject the stabled horse to, and for the horse this is not ideal. Horses will redirect their motivation to forage for example, into crib-biting behaviour. 

Preventing cribbing throught the use of a collar has been proven to cause the horse severe stress (evidenced by increased cortisol levels) though removing their coping mechanism (brain chemistry) and poses welfare implications. 

I understand peoples desire to prevent the behaviour, as cribbing has been linked with epiploic foramen entrapment colic (although this is not common) but please consider the long term welfare implications of using a collar.

Also please do not isolate stereotypic horses from others through the fear they will learn to crib. It has been shown that horse do not learn stereotypic behaviours from one another, rather they develop similar sterotypies due to the fact they are subject tot he same management practices.

It is possible to reduce the behaviour by removing common cues such as the expectation of feeding or turn-out. If possibel use an equi-ball type trickle feeded for concentrate meals, this allows the hose to express the foraging behaviour. Also feed forage during the concentrate meal. Horses commonly crib after a meal, so providing them with forage to redirect their behaviour may remove the desire to crib.

Sorry for the essay but this is a subject I feel strongly about and there is a lot of mixed information out there. But if you take the time to read the evidence (from proper perr-reviewed research) it can really help your understanding and make sure people are doing their best for the horse.


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## Bettyboo222 (19 July 2010)

Cocoa do you mind if I print that off and give it to the owner ?


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## Cocoa (19 July 2010)

No not at all.


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## Bug2007 (20 July 2010)

Unfortunatley the majority of ponies and horses who crib and windsuck never stop completly, its more of a case of controlling it.....these habits normally start as a thing of stress. After a horse has been windsucking for a while it becomes a habit and even if they are no longer stressed they need to suck, it's like being addicted to drugs, when they suck it releases endophines which feel good to the horse.

I have a wind sucker and we have used Cribbox on everything she used to suck and crib on, that stops her doing it, don't use hay nets as a good sucker will do it on there too.

Give the horse a lickit in a tub, this we have found to be helpful and when she feels the need to suck she now licks instead.

Good luck.


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## Scoutie (20 July 2010)

My mare used to crib when I first got her, she would also dig up her bed, only eat half her feed and nap for Ireland.  For her it was stress brought on by a ferry journey from Ireland and landing in a new place.  It took about six months for this to almost stop and a year before she really showed her true personality which showed how stressful the transition had been for her.  When she is excited she will still crib but it is now clearly related to event i.e preparing to go hunting or to a party.

We tried differnt things to stop her cribbing but nothing really worked except consitency of care.  What I have learnt is how stressful such a move is for a horse and that this should never be forgotton or taken lightly.  My mare is naturally a very confident know-it-all but her world was very shaken at the time.


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## jack9 (20 July 2010)

btw just to add further - i used cribbox with mine and yes it did work for him - but another horse i knew - the owners used cribbox and it went down with colic not long after...(within hours)

mabey that was stress of not being able to crib i dont know?

i personally wouldnt buy acribber agai - purely for the fact it s apain in the backside trying to get a yard to take them and also i feel awful trying to stop them lol.


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## horsegirl (21 July 2010)

I've been at 3 yards with mine and never had a problem with people taking him but I have encountered lots of people who think I should stop him doing it


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