18 year old gelding suddenly stops cribbing?

[AqRose]

Hello!
Very strange question but dose anyone know why a 16 year old horse would stop cribbing basically over night?

He’s an ex-racer thoroughbred that has cribbed/wind sucked for the last 14 years I’ve had him (we’ve had full vet checks for ulcers but have never found any). But I’ve suddenly realised I’ve not seen him doing it for around 2 months.

I fully understand it’s not a good habit for him to have and I don’t want to encourage it but can’t understand why he would just stop after so many years?

(He had the dentist last month for a check up and the vet didn’t notice any trouble with his teeth?)

Thanks for any suggestions!

 

[ycbm]

My first suspect would be that neck arthritis has made it painful to do it. Though it's possible he's found a level of contentment late in life which has eliminated the need for self medication.

 

[HashRouge]

My first suspect would be that neck arthritis has made it painful to do it. Though it's possible he's found a level of contentment late in life which has eliminated the need for self medication.

Yes either some sort of pain issue is stopping him doing it, or there has been some other change that has removed the need to do it. Is he now turned out more/ fed differently/ in a different turnout set up? There must be a reason, but it might take a bit of unpacking to work out what.

 

[AqRose]

Yes either some sort of pain issue is stopping him doing it, or there has been some other change that has removed the need to do it. Is he now turned out more/ fed differently/ in a different turnout set up? There must be a reason, but it might take a bit of unpacking to work out what.

Thank you for your reply! I’m trying to think if I have changed anything but he’s feed/turnout has been the same for years. I’ll keep an eye out to see if anything else has changed in his life that I might have over looked.

 

[AqRose]

My first suspect would be that neck arthritis has made it painful to do it. Though it's possible he's found a level of contentment late in life which has eliminated the need for self medication.

Thank you! He does suffer from arthritis in his legs (I’m treating it with Bute twice a day) but I didn’t consider that it might have progressed to his neck. I’ll try some gentle neck excises to see if he has any discomfort.

 

[splashgirl45]

my mare stopped when she was put on prascend for cushings .. she had cribbed for the first 10 years i owned her and never cribbed again, i lost her after 5 years of treatment at age 25...maybe it is something in their gut which causes it, who knows...

 

[ycbm]

Thank you! He does suffer from arthritis in his legs (I’m treating it with Bute twice a day) but I didn’t consider that it might have progressed to his neck. I’ll try some gentle neck excises to see if he has any discomfort.

One telltale sign with mine was that he could carrot stretch noticeably further to the left than to the right. It was only months later that he appeared to be in any pain.
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