Do you have or would you buy a horse that "Cribs"?

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moneypit1

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A friend is considering buying a horse that cribs. In every other respect the horse is what she wants but I am wary. I have no real experience of cribbers but don't know if I would want one on my yard (she would keep it with me). Any advice appreciated. (Don't know how severe it is but apparently has never worn a collar which I find strange in itself).
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Yes I have one and no, it doesnt bother me in the slightest. It's very easily prevented for mine by not providing him with a surface to get hold of.
Windsucking is much more irritating and far harder to control.

Others DONT copy! Collars arent that nice and if he isnt a serial cribber, theres prob no need for him to wear one.
 
Depends, but I wouldn't say absolutely no way.

If it was a younger horse and I thought the cribbing was due to stress/ulcers/poor diet then yes I'd buy it, but at a considerably reduced price, as cribbing can be stopped in these circumstances (well, I could give it a try).

Ad-lib hay, a high-fibre diet and Coligone can really improve cribbing, but some horses will carry on even when they have no physical reason to.
 
I would - my TBx cribs and she has two logs in her field to chew on as the fence is protected by electric fence. Some horses crib for a reason such as boredom or wrong diet and this can be corrected - others do it coz they like it!

IMO (and I may get shouted at for this) collars are wrong - they are stopping the horse from doing something it feels it needs to do. They don't always work and cause more problems than just leaving them to get on with the cribbing...
 
I have one- but she is not a true cribber- she only does it when shes having her rug put on to go out or is given treats by hand. When she arrived she did it quite a lot- but we changed her feed and now shes pretty much normal. She is a lovely loving mare- does not trash fencing/doors etc- in fact she doesnt act any different to any other horses on the yard. Never had colic either- oh and none of the others have 'copied' - I would not worry about taking on another.
 
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IMO (and I may get shouted at for this) collars are wrong - they are stopping the horse from doing something it feels it needs to do. They don't always work and cause more problems than just leaving them to get on with the cribbing...

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I'm not going to shout at you, I'm going to agree with you
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The only way I would buy a cribber is if it was completely proven in competition and was priced accordingly and I had no intention of selling it on.
 
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IMO (and I may get shouted at for this) collars are wrong - they are stopping the horse from doing something it feels it needs to do. They don't always work and cause more problems than just leaving them to get on with the cribbing...

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I'm not going to shout at you, I'm going to agree with you
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Thanks
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My ex racer cribs/windsucks. Never had colic, bad teeth, not hard to keep weight on (for a t/b anyway). I got a collar and she had it on once and i promised never to put it on her again. Collar won't stop cribbing, only windsucking. It is a habit and doesn't cause a problem for me or anyone else on the yard. I would prefer her to have that 'vice' than another like bucking or rearing etc.
 
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Thanks everyone, I am mainly worried because of my new post and rail fencing and stables! xx

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They dont chew, just hold onto it, I doubt it'll suffer any damage
 
My horse cribs, but I just stop it with a bit of anti crib liquid or gel. No problem... Wind sucking - that's something else. Collars are used on wind suckers not crib biters - although crib biters often have a wind sucking problem - it's not always the case. My horse had a lengthy box rest and the boredom set in eventually, there was nothing more that I could do – it was the start of his penchant for the stable door and any other bit of wood he could nibble on.
I recently moved him and pasted the wood in anticipation of him cribbing – and this seems to have broken the habit.
I hope this helps.
 
Yes, I used to have one that cribs - it was his only fault, in every other way he was perfect and was a brilliant hunter. Recent research has shown that it they are fed a forage-based diet, ad lib hay and an antacid, the cribbing can improve tremendously as it can be caused by excess stomach acid. Contrary to popular belief - cribbing cannot be caught! Quite often, horses in the same yard do crib but this is because their management and feeding is the same, rather than one has caught this stereotypical behaviour from another horse.
To answer you original question, it wouldn't bother me in the slightest.
 
I had one and TBH wouldnt buy another unless it did it very rarely or could be avoided (ie. if it didnt do it when turned out for example). She destroyed all the tops of our fence posts making our fencing wonky as hell (was fixed 3 times in the year we had her!), took chunks out of our wooden yard fencing (bits came off when she pulled down hard on them to get her suck) and basically it just drove me crazy even though I knew it wasnt her fault.

I dont believe other horses copy it though, I had a very influencial youngster when she was here and he never tried it. Collars are horrid things. They are very uncomfortable for the horse as they have to be worn so tight and dont help anyway, you take them off and they do it again! I personally wouldnt want a tight strap round my neck permanently... And we tried putting yucky stuff on the fencing but it did nothing.
 
Many horses that crib/windsuck do it because they are adicted to the endomorphin release that happens. I have one , a really talented horse who is always playing with some thing, never stressy just loves to work loves those ball things with feed nuts in , i always have a full haylage net in his box . Basically keep him interested the whole time ,have no problem with keeping weight on ,poor teeth or colic.
For me a weaver is far more of a problem as they will wear their legs out in time.
So i certainly would not dismiss a horse out of hand that did crib.
 
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Thanks everyone, I am mainly worried because of my new post and rail fencing and stables! xx



They dont chew, just hold onto it, I doubt it'll suffer any damage

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Humm, not convinced! Badger and Tully's doors look slightly eaten, but Badger licks his in between cribbing so maybe he has licked it away!
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So yes we have 2 that crib at the mo and the other one weaves!!! I would buy another although they would have to be priced accordingly - only thing about it that bothers me is that Badger and Tully have both had colic but we've never had another horse have colic before and neither have we had one that cribs - could be a coincidence though..
 
I own one and it doesn't bother me in the slightest, as long as he's doing the job he was bought for why worry what he does in his own time?
 
Hi, we have had three 'cribbers' and they have been amongst the best horses we have owned.
The have had their own quirk in the stable but been very relaxed ridden horses. The cribbing is a stress relief so i have never tried to stop them doing it but have managed it sensibly.
I wouldnt worry about other horses 'catching' the habit because i dont belive thay do.
 
Firstly i have owned a cribber and never found it any detrement to its health etc. They do slightly damage fencing unfortunately, but you could always put up abit of electric tape etc. As for copying other horses, well i would safely say an older horse would not copy, BUT a youngster will definately copy, i have seen it happen first hand, and these were horses with ad lib forage, lived out and wernt weaned until late...
 
Agreed daisychain - young horses kept with a cribber will often copy the habit. It's really only a problem if it's a problem!!
If the horse looks happy fit and healthy, not showing any signs of stress or digestive problems I would'nt worry - but be prepared to protect you doors and fences with electric tape or cribbox!!

And you must remember it is a vice and as such must be mentioned when you sell - so the price should drop accordingly.
 
It's nice to see so many 'enlightened' views about cribbing...it is caused by excess stomach acidity; the horse buffers the acid in its stomach by swallowing saliva to neutralise it. Unlike a dog, a horse can't generate saliva without doing eating movements (hence why your horse doesn't drool like dogs do at feed times) so have to grip onto a door etc.
The best way to manage crib-biting is to feed ad lib forage, keep the concentrates as low as possible, perhaps give antacids, and turn out as much as possible. Although established cribbers are seldom 'cured' by improved management, the incidence can reduce substantially. The theories about endorphins have now been discounted, and cribbing collars treat the symptom and are in my opinion, very cruel.
As for your fencing - try to put a nice firm post in your horse's field as a designated crib spot, and protect the rest with electric fencing. They don't eat the wood, but they can loosen the fence as they repeatedly tense on it, and release.
I'd buy one without a second thought.
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No I'd never buy one. I had a cribber at my stables in England; damn thing ate all of my post and rails making them look unsightly, pulled posts out of the ground and munched his way through my brand new stables. Ended up giving him a log in his stable and cribboxing the wood on the stables and he was happy. Had to electrify his field to stop further damage to the fencing. He was the reason I then changed my T&C's to not allowing cribbers or windsuckers on my yard.

The link to ulcers would worry me also.
 
I had no end of colic problems with one of the 2 cribbers I've had, and whilst the other was no problem, I wouldn't buy one again in case it was the same as the colicy one.

Horse next door to one of my mares also cribs, he's underweight because he leaves his feed and hay to crib, and in the last 2 weeks he's had colic 3 times. The yard had post and rail fencing, where he's turned out, the 2 fece posts that he's used for the last couple of years are at angles, and I believe have had to be replaced at one stage.
 
You may have discounted the enorphin release theory but not all vets have!!
The first thing i had done with the horse that cribs on my yard was have it checked with a gastric scope to see if there was any problem with ulsers etc. We feed high fibre low /starch ad lib roughage. The stomach is an acid environment [HCL] strong enough to etch glass, the problems arise with ulsers so you are not going to neutralise the environment of the stomach nor should you want to. [ yes i know salivary amalays is alcaline ] Some believe that as horses can 'burp' the taking in of air into the stomach and the rest of the digetive tract can lead to instability as the airpockets would cause this and this may lead to colics and the feeling they dont want to eat.
mostly i have found that the horses that do do it are the kind of horses that are always doing. They are adrenalin junkies and i do think they get a'hit' from doing it.
for those that have a really bad problem then collars dont work but i have seen the grass muzels used with geat success and is much more humane.
At the end of the day you have to look at each potential purchase on its merits. There is no such thing as a perfect horse, its not a 'Network Q' car that you are buying you just have to look and see if its weaknesses would be detrimental for the purpose you or your friend have in mind
 
I am doing my dissertation on this as we speak!
I wouldnt be put off, as long as the horse was right in every other way.
I dont think the endorphine theory has been discounted, i have some fairly current research sat in front of me at the moment that looks at the nucleus accumbems in crib biting horses brains, it was found the there was a significent increase in dopamine receptors when compared to the control group. This was in very established cribbers that would also perform tasks to be rewarded with a surface to crib on.

If anyone can point me towards some valid research that discredits this ill be very happy as it will all help my dissertation!!
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Much of the gastric ulcer research is done on racehorses, as about 85% of all racehorses in training have gastric ulcers and are on a diet and management routine that puts them at risk of stereotypies it is no surprise that the two have been linked, although i see this as one of the most likely theories.

Young horses may mimic the movements of cribbers but horses have a limited capacity for observational learning, so it is unlikely that the habit is learned.

The feedball has actually shown to slightly increase cribbing in some horses and its believed that it is more successful with horses that weave.
Multiple forage diets have shown the most promise when it comes to cribbing.

Agree completely with the comments about crib collars, they have been show to increase stress even in horses that dont perform stereotypes, so i really dont like them! Treat the cause not the symptom!!
 
I considered one when I was looking for a new horse last year. It ticked all the boxes and sounded like a really lovely sort.

However, I keep my horse at livery - and not all yards are happy to accept them. So in the end I passed on it.
 
I have one and would have another tomorrow if he was as perfect in every other sense as my boy is. He only really does it if he's bored or after his feeds.

There is a stigma attached to cribbers but I'd rather have a horse that cribbed than one that more severe behavioural problems (IMO) like being bolshy, bargy, reared, kicked and bucked, etc. Plus I was always told to buy the very best horse you could for your money. If he didn't crib, I'd never have been able to afford him!

I have been told to put a collar on him in the past but I would never do that- the person who told me to do that is a heavy smoker- the same would apply to tying her hands behind her back to stop her smoking. It would just stress her out, not remove the urge to smoke.

I would rather control his environment with electric fencing and cribbox and allow him a free standing post he can crib on than to try and stop him completely. The two field mates he has had in the time I've owned him (inc a youngster) have never tried to copy him either.

ETS: The only time i could foresee a problem would be with trying to sell a cribber on, but as my horse is with me for life, it's not an issue for me.
 
I have had one. Yes there was a little damage to the fencing where he fixed on to the tops of the posts and destabilised them, easily prevented by electrifying all fences and giving him one cribbing post. The stable door was a little bit warped too, but not beyond use. We fed a high fibre diet and he never had colic.

I would have another without hesitation and the only discipline that wouldn't suit a cribber, in my view, is high level endurance, where horses have to be able to make best use of the food they digest
 
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