Cribbing Collars - Tightness

[Whoopit]

As title really.

I've had the new nag for two months and we've finally given in.

She now has a collar as we cannot abide the gulping noise. We basically encased her box in metal and she stopped doing it, then taught herself to pressure onto the metal instead of gripping it. So i've caked everything in creosote, Cribox, horse 5h1t - everything. She still does it. But not all the time - just when there's someone there.

So, after a completely pointless waffle, how tight should the collar be, if it's at all describable?

 

[Pearlsasinger]

I'd have her scoped for ulcers, or for a quick fix/test give her aloe vera juice and throw the vile collar away.

 

[Clippy]

I hate those collars To be effective they need to be pretty tight.

You'll have to experiment and see how tight it has to be to stop her grunting air in

 

[Moomin1]

Cribbing collars are repulsive. By putting one on just because you find the noise objectionable is not really the way forward. Your horse cribs because of a reason, be it a learned habit or a direct cause now, and the cribbing results in the release of endorphins, which reduce his feeling of stress and calm him down. So basically, by preventing him doing it, you are causing him distress.

You need to be looking into why he does it - is it a learned behaviour from a past environment, in which case tbh it's going to be hard to break, but providing some stimulation ie stable toys etc will maybe help. If it's a new behaviour, then look into why he has started doing it, and try to reduce or eliminate the causal factor(s) rather than merely preventing your horse from alleviating his stress, just because you can't abide the noise.

 

[Littlelegs]

I hate the things, they're horrid. Even if the horse cribbed in the field & was incurable I'd leave it to it rather than use one. Let alone if I just disliked the noise the sporadic times it did it. They should be banned imo.

 

[Ella19]

Even if your only option was to have the horse on its own in a small electric taped paddock causing it more distress because it eats through the post and rail in a day even with electric fence on top?

 

[Roasted Chestnuts]

I personally dont see the harm in them, they stop the horse doing it, stops them wearing their teeth down and causing further harm to their tummies by continually adding excess air. They dont have to have ulcers to be doing it, they could just be doing it due to learned behavour.

Yes they look horrid but I havent seen any actual damage by one?? My friends horse cribbed for years and when he wore his collar he stopped, gained weight and ate better.

New one also cribs and he stops and doesnt even try with the collar on and doesnt look stressed etc when not doing it according to his old owner.

 

[Pearlsasinger]

Even if your only option was to have the horse on its own in a small electric taped paddock causing it more distress because it eats through the post and rail in a day even with electric fence on top?

I'm afraid I don't understand why the horse has to be on its own in a small paddock. Surely it could have a companion in a larger taped-off paddock? We have walls, so probably wouldn't have the problem but I wouldn't use a collar, I would try to find and rectify the cause.

 

[JillA]

Collars hide the symptoms, they don't deal with the problem and they must be hellishly uncomfortable . There is a link between cribbing/windsucking and gastric ulcers, especially ulcers in the hind gut which won't be revealed by an endoscope. Check this out -http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fr05hMmLCY4
I did this on my ex racer when he began bucking and it was positive. I treated him (with my vets consent) with bicarb, omeprazole, yeassac and a low sugar/cereal diet. He is much better now, and I can confirm it from time to time by palpating over his loins.
There are many more horses than we realise with ulcers in their digestive systems

 

[montysmum1]

I cannot stand the collars personally. As others have already said, explore and eliminate the cause first.

I am having great success with my new horse (who was a very bad cribber) with a lot of turnout, ad lib hay, minimal cereals in hard feed, micronised linseed, with brewers yeast, yea sacc, limestone flower and magnesium.

He's putting on weight amazingly, and his cribbing is barely even happening (I've not seen him do it in over a fortnight, though i'm sure he is occasionally, though he lives outside our backdoor so it can't be that often!)

I had a mare who cribbed badly to start with, but again, with careful management of her diet she reduced dramatically.

IMO, and in accordance with a lot of research, using collars actually increases the horses stress, and therefore exacerbates the cause...

 

[Littlelegs]

Ella, if I had a horse like that I would do the same as my friend did for many years, & erect sacrifice posts for the horse in the field it would normally be in, so it didn't destroy the post & rail.

 

[AmyMay]

I completely agree with Moominmincepie.

 

[Laafet]

Right, if you are going to use one it has to be put on VERY tightly or it will be as much use as a chocolate fire guard. But be aware, if it is a simply nutcracker type one that those can twist round even when on very tight, I had to 'rescue' a quarantine horse we had in (we won't use them on our own horses) last week as her very tight cribbing collar had somehow got twisted round so she was basically throttling herself with the nylon part. Now we are there from 7am until 4pm, imagine if that had happened at night. She was so funny about us trying to help her out of the collar that we have not bothered to put it back on and funnily enough she is not cribbing. I also have photographs of a mare we boarded that had a Miracle 'Humane' collar that had marked her so badly she had white hairs on her forehead where the collar went, she still cribbed in the collar no matter how tight it was on.
I had a cribber, he lived under my flat, you can imagine how annoying the 'sound' was. But if I put a collar on he colicked. He had acquired the habit as a coping mechanism from when he had been in a lot of pain in the past before I owned him, I tried everything. In the end I just made sure he had ad lib haylage, sometimes put my steady dressage horse in with him for company and he always had a treat ball. IMO it is cruel to use these collars.

 

[Whoopit]

Thanks Laafet - someone finally got there in the end of answering my question instead of moaning at me for putting one on!

To everybody else who has a dislike for collars - I wish I was Dr Doolittle like you and then I'd just ask her what was causing her to do it.

And thanks as well for the advice about the vet & possible ulcers. God, wish i'd thought of that

 

[Laafet]

No worries, I scoped my own horse for ulcers and we certainly don't with the work horses. A lot horses do have ulcers. If you try to add as much fibre into the diet, distraction toys, maybe a mirror etc then you are doing all you can. My own cribber had learnt to do it to deal with a fracture to his jaw whilst in racing, no matter what I did he never stopped. I could control it with the snack ball, but he never completely stopped.

 

[Spotsrock]

My lad used to have ulcers but treated and cleared up he still cribs with hard feed or hayledge. Does it in the field waiting to come in. Weight poor. Started using a collar in the field to save the fence so they all stayed safe as he didn't understand the sacrifice post idea. Weight went up and stayed up. He eats grass until I call him to come in. Eats all his dinner then has his collar off for bed when he hardly sucks but has designated post in his stable. He looks soo much better for it and it doesn't seem to bother him. He's the sort to let me know when he's unhappy!

 

[Spotsrock]

Sorry, how tight? I have his on quite tight. I had to make extra holes in it Which I thought was odd as I thought mainly tb's picked up the habit and the collar was huge lol

 

[Roasted Chestnuts]

They do have to be quite tight I agree, I never had them turn round when the proper tightness, too loose and the swivelled,

 

[mandwhy]

My old loan horse is an incessant cribber and has a miracle collar leather one, I never used it as I preferred to live and let live, but now he has gone back he does and I certainly don't think it is 'cruel' as such, and it does work. My main issue with them is that they will crib frantically as soon as you take it off, so I'd rather a consistent amount of air than a large amount at one time. He lived out with both me and his owner and was a very good doer but had previously been stabled as a youngster so probably learned behaviour from possible previous ulcers.

Anyway, for that type it needs to be so it is tight when the horse has its neck arched which it will really only do when cribbing, when it is just standing head up it should not be tight anywhere but not loose so as to come over the ears easily, and when their head is down grazing you could easily fit a hand flat under it. If you feed your horse a haynet check the collar isn't interfering with that as I think eating from above chest height might cause more annoyance to a horse who grazes head down all day.

 

[poiuytrewq]

Tbh it might be something best just to accept and get used too? I make sure wherever my horse is he has something to hang on - we banged extra fence posts in by the gate etc and put electric tape on the proper posts. Managing is better than trying to stop it as they often become stressed or upset

 

[aintgotnohay]

use an old leather stirrup leather instead as a collar.punch holes in it and cut the extra length off with scissors and tuck it in the buckle part.