Crib Biting / Wind Suckers

They are both man made problems, not vices. Frequently associated with stomach ulcers.

Good management and diet are key to minimising them. Wouldnt put me off buying if horse was perfect in every other way but price should reflect potential gut/teeth damage.

Horses should NOT be prevented from doing it but management changed to help.
 
My horse crib bites. You cannot tell he does it from his teeth, they are fine. He only cribs after food or tit bits. I think he may have been stressed before as he was on a racing yard with alot of activity. I believe it could cause colic as a lot of air could make its way to the stomach,although <<touches wood>> I have never had any problems. I would buy another that cribs as long as it was suitable for me! Good luck with viewing
 
I have two cribbers and touch wood i havent had any problems.. They do say they are more intellegent!!! Go with it just dont try to stop it as it causes more stress.
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If you're buying may be worth asking current owners to pay for scope of stomach just to double check for ulcers. And yes, can wear teeth down - easy to check - just part his lips and look at top incisors, they'll be wedge shape if the horse does it a lot. Also some people think they are more likelyl to get colic as they swallow air giving them 'wind'. Another common complaint is that they don't keep weight on very well, so if this horse is lean just have it in the back of your mind.

I have had 2 windsuckers in my life - contrasting stories - first horse was a top class showjumper and at 17 had done it all her life with no ill effects. Other horse was one I was due to buy, and was skinny and had been prevented from doing it, got horrendous colic, was operated on but died 2 days after.

So I'd say go for it, with caution and if you do end up getting the horse don't stop it from windsucking as I personally feel they do it for a reason (whatever that may be).

Good luck!
 
My mare wind sucks after food and when she wants attention. It hasn't so far caused any problems other than a slightly upside down neck because she does it on her stable door which is quite high. A friend said to me the other day that what horses do in their own time is up to them, quite a good comment I reckon!
 
Does crib biting cause stomach ulcers? What are the symptoms?Our mare started this when in previous ownership and shut in most of time. She is now out 24-7 and gets much worse in the winter particularly straight to fence after feed. Otherwise a cracking horse.
 
Food is obviously a trigger for wind sucking - some people say they are getting the taste back but I don't know how true this is. I guess smokers always have a cigarette after food so maybe wind sucking is a bit the same! I have never experienced a link with wind sucking and ulcers so far. The only time I ever had trouble was when I tried to stop a horse cribbing and it got really bad colic.
 
Variable signs from poor performance to biting/kicking at their stomach when you groom it or do a girth up. Also if they 'grunt' when going over a jump this can be an indication. Windsucking coupled with a 'stressy' or worried head, and lots of stabling (not much turnout i.e being fed concentrates and not so much forage) can all predispose to stomach ulcers.
 
It's not that cribbing causes ulcers - it's the other way round. The belief is that poorly managed horses that are stabled for most of the time cannot trickle feed as nature intended. But the gut keeps on producing gastric juices in expectation of a normal trickle feed. These unused gastric juices can cause ulceration of the gut wall. Cribbing is believed to be the horse's desperate attempt to get something into it's stomach. If you try to stop the cribbing eg with collars, grilles etc you stop the only source of partial comfort the horse has and you can make matters 100 times worse. Unfortunately, these stereotypical behaviours also release endorphins in the brain which creates an addictive feel-good factor for the horse so a confirmed crib biter will commonly continue the behaviour even when managed in a more horse-friendly way.
 
agree with BOF although through management you can signifigantly reduce the amount they do it.
My horse came to me cribbing like mad. He has very worn down teeth so has obviously been doing it a fair while but now just does it after a feed. A bit like having a fag after a meal
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my little contribution to this subject isthat having moved my 5 year oldfrom a box on her own to one next to another where she could see out and also chat to her mate next door through a mesh, she has stopped crib biting altogether. i think there is nothing cut and dried, or black and white about this vice, every case has a different cause/reason.
 
Another thing to bear in mind is where you are going to keep it? If at home fine if he ticks all the other boxes, but if keeping in livery check that the yard is willing to take a horse that does this. i have a livery yard and had 2 windsuckers/cribbers i spent a fortune replacing fencing, and trying to pacify other liveries!! I personally wouldnt take a windsucker/criber now without a serious clause about damages to fencing etc! And i dont think my other very settled livieries would be too happy either!
 
I'd avoid it if I were you. I'd take any other 'vice' (stereotypy) but not a cribber - it's likely that many of them perform the vice to cope with pain, sometimes human-induced pain like poor diet, sometimes pain from another source. There is also some evidence now that there is a link between cribbing and epiploic forman entrapment, a type of colic that always requires surgery. Two out of three horses I've known who were put down due to colic were cribbers.
 
I have two and they are both great horses but have suffered with the stomach ulcers and I just can't reccomend buying a horse that cribs. There is so little that is actually known about it the majority of it is just theories, something that works and is true for one horse wont necessarily be with another, why voluntarily make your life more complicated than necessary?
 
id have any vice but a cribber too. what they do in there own time is very true but unlike all the other vices cribbing can cause colic. one of the above comments says its starts with bad managment i have to disagree we have 2 5 year olds both home bred and both done the same, one is thoroughly chilled the other weaves and cribs like mad, same stallion and 2 chilled mares, vets opinion is he does it because of ulcers. both were very poorly as yearlings so spent a long time in with an undiagnosed illness. but as of yet no colic, just drives us mad watching and listening!!! i do think once they start then managment can do a lot to stop them doing it as much. i know each case has to be treated differently and every horse is different but i would be wary unless i knew the previous vetinary history of one that cribs.
 
Captain windsucks with out cribbing, he has had colic once. He is now on coligone and is a lot happier, although he does still windsuck when excited or stressed, just not as much. Personally I don't believe that t other horses have learnt it off him. His neighbours are Fany, who doesn't do it neither does the ISH on the other side.
 
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