cribbing - stop or not?

[MandyMoo]

I was just wondering what your views on cribbing are (or any other vice)...one of my horses cribs only after a meal...and what we do is put some anti-crib gel on his door while he is eating, and so once he has done he doesnt crib.

however, my friend raised the topic of, would it be better to let them crib to de-stress...would preventing the natural stress relief of cribbing cause the horse to become distressed?? or would you stop them doing it anyway as it could damage teeth/cause colic etc??

just a thought. was interested in what you all thought.

xxx

 

[Sarah Sum1]

I recently read that vices are a form of stress releif and by stopping them you are making the stress greater. I read that it is the stable management that needs to be looked at rather than using collars etc. It makes sense to me. Like if a person bites their nails or taps their fingers etc.take that away and you have instant stress!

 

[Gamebird]

i have had one - I put a collar on it when stabled away in other people's stables as I didn't want them to think I was going to damage their stables. At home it went 'al fresco' so to speak...

 

[seabiscuit]

Absolutely, categorically it HAS to be stopped- not via a collar tho, through other methods. In some horses it causes colic, and in others it seriously effects the muscle/topline/general well being, if you look at any cribber that is allowed to crib, they dont look at all brilliant, and have a poor coat- so there's your answer- its not good for them.

 

[MandyMoo]

[ QUOTE ]
if you look at any cribber that is allowed to crib, they dont look at all brilliant, and have a poor coat- so there's your answer- its not good for them.

[/ QUOTE ]

thats not entirley true...my bay horse in my sig is a cribber...and e has a smashing shiny coat, and has really good topline etc and looks fab tbh! lol he always gets compliments but i do agree cribbing causes problems aka colic/bad teeth.

i just created this to see what people thought about stopping it or not

thanks for posting, good to see all opinions

xx

 

[seabiscuit]

Yes but you said that he only cribs a little at mealtimes...thats not a serious cribber really!! I was talking about horses that do nothing but crib!

 

[MandyMoo]

[ QUOTE ]
Yes but you said that he only cribs a little at mealtimes...thats not a serious cribber really!! I was talking about horses that do nothing but crib!

[/ QUOTE ]

oh ok...haha fair enough, good point...i have actually never seena a proper cribber!... xx

 

[AML]

Someone who was doing research into cribbing, likened it to the craving for a cigarette. They also wanted to see if a horse would still do/ decrease/ increase the cribbing if kept in a near natural state as possible. We had an ex-sj that retired from work at 16 and due to never staying a field, he had become our "free-range horse". He chose where to go, field, set aside, grass on the drive, field of crops, woods, stable, barn; what to do, sleep, eat, play, cogitate; and when to do it. His cribbing neither increased or decreased. He was pts at 27 never having had colic and looking a picture.
I'm glad we allowed him to live as he wished, with what we term a vice, but for him it seemed to give him pleasure and comfort.

 

[shady_lady]

STOP IT! I actually want my stable to have a door!! Plus my horse knows he's not supposed to do it, when you walk past or shout at him he stops! Don't think it's a serious vice with him more of a 'bored lad syndrome'

 

[Jul]

[ QUOTE ]
I recently read that vices are a form of stress releif and by stopping them you are making the stress greater. I read that it is the stable management that needs to be looked at rather than using collars etc.

[/ QUOTE ]

Ah but with an established cribber you can change the management as much as you like - they'll still do it. I've known plenty of horses who will crib in the field. The reason they started it may be long gone but they still do it.

In answer to your question OP, I'd say if it's easy to stop him and he doesn't seem stressed by it, then stop him. But if it's a major hassle to stop him or he seems worried by not being able to do it then leave be.

 

[vikkiandmonica]

I leave my gelding to do it, as I think it is comfort and relief to him. I don't know if this is proven or anything, but when he was lame and on box rest, and even when he was turned out for short periods of time, he was clearly in pain and would just stand at the fence post wind sucking. Now he's better, he only really does it when he gets fed in the field by the gate, as it's easy for him to do it, but if I feed him on the yard and turn him out, he doesn't bother.

 

[jac47]

Sorry dont agree with your post at all mine cribs and has a healthy coat and in my opinion cribbing does them no harm

 

[vikkiandmonica]

^^Agreed, my gelding has an excellent topline and a really shiny coat

 

[CrazyMare]

OH's horse windsucks, and does it in the field too. We have never tried to stop him, because he is happy, relaxed and looks shiney and well - in fact he is bordering on tubby right now.

We just gaurd him by ensuring he has hay/hayledge adlib, give him some alfa A/alfa beet before riding, and get his teeth checked every 6 months.

 

[vikkiandmonica]

Just to add, although some horses who windsuck do get terrible teeth, I have never had any problems with my geldings, and the dentist has never said that they differed in anyway from my mare's in condition wise.

 

[Lou_Lou123]

I have a horse that cribs whenever he isn't eating. He lives out mostly, comes in when it's really cold in Winter overnight, and during the day if it's really hot in Summer. He'll crib on anything. He has a brilliant coat, never has any problems with his teeth, never had colic in the 6 years I have had him. He is retired and people always comment that he has good topline considering he doesn't work! Before he retired it never affected his performance, he has been to HOYS as a show hunter. I have read that it is linked to too much acid in their stomach, and cribbing is the horses way of trying to neutralise it. My boy actually gets more stressed of you try to stop him!

I managed to find a link to this that talks about the link to acid.

http://www.equine-training.co.uk/vet8.htm

 

[Mel1]

my horse crib bites and windsuck A LOT, it drove me mad to the point that I could still hear it in my head even when I was nowhere near her!

i tried everything, collar made things even worse, there is a good scientific review called "Prevention of crib-biting: a review." by McGreevy published in the Equine veterinary journal that I recommend to anybody who is trying to stop their horse from cribbing.
they reviewed the studies that have been done trying to prevent horses crib biting /wind sucking however none have been really efficient to stop horses for definate. it was shown that in extreme cases, horses that are prevented to crib bite on any surfaces starts crib biting on their own limb!

Personally I have given up now, I try to minimise her stress and boredom as much as I can, and try to protect fencing and stable by putting rubber on top of things she crib bites on so it doesnt damage her teeth too much. she does it less but I know i wont stop her

It is a pretty anoying habit, but the best way is to prevent it arising in the first place. a horse starts crib biting for a reason, then when you remove the initial cause, they still carry on out of habit.

however, my horse is in a fantastic shape with a beautiful coat, most annoying thing is their teeth and it has never been scientifically proven that crib biter have higher incidence of colic (i'm not saying it's not true but there is just no solid evidence)

I think there might be some logic behind saying that some horses who crib bite generally dont look great, I think in these horses the brain is overproducing an hormone (cant remember the name) related to stress. Chronic stress is highly detrimental to your immune system and gastrointestinal system and can cause a wide range of biological problem and for example increased disease suceptibility in animal like in human.

Saying that, your horse may still be cribbing even after the source of stress has been removed, and is not suffering from stress anymore but simply carrying on his old bad habit

sorry this is a long post, but it's a question that I tried to answer myself for a long time, a year ago I would have said yes definately stop them but now I've changed my mind and oh god I will never buy another one EVER!