Cribbing / Windsucking

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My horse cribs after eating his hard feed (so he cribs probably 6 times per day - twice after each of his three meals). Because this is not a lot I have been ignoring it but the other day I put Cribox on all the places he can do it in his stable just because I thought I might as well. At first he would go to look for somewhere to do it and realise there was no where and so now he seems to be eating and then not even looking for somewhere to do it.

However, now I am worried as I have just thought, if a horse crib bites and you remove all the places he can do this, will it encourage the horse to start windsucking? He has never done this and I would prefer him to crib than windsuck so am now worried that I should not have put the cribbox in his stable?

Does anybody have any idea if this is likely to be he case?

Thanks
 
To my mind windsucking and cribbing are the same thing really...by cribbing on something do you mean your horse takes hold of something and gulp/grunts or sucks??? Because that is windsucking and either way, you need to get to the cause of the problem before trying to stop a horse doing it. I have seen a windsucker use it's leg because it had no surfaces to use! Not pleasant!
There is a strong link between windsucking/crbbing and stomach ulcers which your vet can investigate but in the mean time, does your horse get turnout every day and have ad lib hay or hayledge to eat because leaving a horse for long periods of time with no food will cause upset to the stomach and the ulcer problems. How much hard feed do you give too?
 
By cribbing I mean he has to take hold of something to gulp, windsucking means that they can gulp without anything to take hold of. They are not the same thing.
He is out every morning, exercised every evening, has 3 hard feeds per day and ad lib haylage - I very much doubt that his lifestyle is the cause (plus he did it before I got him).
 
Yeah, its not the same thing. I dont *think* it would encourage him to windsuck instead. Interesting thought though. Has any research been done on this I wonder?

TBH, I used to have a cribber, best thing to do was to turn her out 24/7 as she did it out of boredom (I think). Sometimes she was in a paddock were she couldnt do it so she just didnt, and she never windsucked instead. Thats the first thing Id do with anything with a stable vice is to chuck them outside 24/7 as I think it really helps.
 
I agree with you that the best thing for stable vices is 24/7 turnout. This is just not possible until May for me. Usually at this time I put them onto all day turnout (rather than just am) but still bring in each night. I think with him though I will leave him out day and night over the summer and see if he does it when he has to come back in at the end of September!

I shall let you know if he starts windsucking
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