Horse just started cribbing, what to do?

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Doncella

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Just caught the horse cribbing in the field. He's 7 homebred and has never done this before. What with him being off for 5 months, then back into light work(12 week fittening programme) then the bloody snow and being laid off again I can only assume that he is bored out of his skull and the Devil makes work for idle hands/brains.
Feed was cut right back ages ago to haylege, Fast Fibre and Ready Grass.
When I got home I ordered an anti-crib collar from ebay but any other suggestions gratefully received and taken on board.

Founder member of the 'how many problems can one horse create?' clique.
 
Before I put a cribbing collar on him i'd want to be sure he's not doing it for physical reasons, whilst they are necessary with bad cribbers I'm not a fan of collars at all, horses become addicted to stereotypies and a collar is the cold turkey regime.

Cribbing can be a sign of excess acid in the stomach, why not try him on one of the many antacid type supplements for a couple of weeks and see if anything changes and maybe have a chat with the vet.
 
Cribbing ?or chewing wood? They are very different. I would expect a horse in a field to far more likely,chew wood than crib. Important to ensure adequate fibre (hay/straw) and vits and mins. Incidentaly did you know that in cattle,chewing wood is a sign of phosphorous deficiency.
 
If he really is cribbing (and not simply chewing wood as Mike says) then I would be getting the vet out. Cribbing can be a sign of ulcers and the quicker they are diagnosed and treated, the better for all concerned!
And I wouldn't bother with a collar either. Form of torture imo.
 
Not anti collars because I ended up having to use a miracle collar on one of mine but I would try other routes first - collars only stop the symptoms, you aren't actually stopping the problem. I ended up as a last resort because I concluded he was a real colic risk if I left him.

So I would look to make sure that he does have adequate minerals in his diet - mine are both on similiar to yours but are also getting a broad based supplement (Pink Powder). Did he have access to hay in the field? because boredom can also start off cribbing. Also would look at the ulcers as well. Unfortunately, there is no real concrete conclusion as to why horses crib or how to stop it. I am sure in years to come our methods will seem quite cruel (collars) but I have personally seen enough real cribbers go down with surgical colic to be open to using them. I look forward to the day when someone can definatively say what causes it and how to properly manage it. The best we do today is put sticking plaster on the issue.
 
I personally would use a collar as a last resort. I agree with others who have sugested a broad spec vit and min supp. naff pink powder or one of the brands does do a haylage balancer... I would give these a go before going down the collar route... also what is he 'cribbing' on? usually smearing anti-crib stuff on surfaces is enough to put them off if it hasn't become too much of a habit.
 
When I've had horses do this they get put on a general vit/min supplement and also a mineral block- usually sorts it out.

Also for the wood can recommend: Cribox/McNasty.
 
It can be hard to pin point why he does it. Lets assume you did the diet change, vet found no inbalance, as you said, he could just be bored. But it's worth checking it all and seeing if there is something wrong. Better safe than sorry.

But i'd like to throw in an alternative to anti crib and even the collar.

White tape. I assume he knows what it is. The fence posts, you could wrap a piece around them and then a bit tucked in one side, up, so it's elevated above the post and back in the opposite side. And do it so you have an elevated "X" above the post. So use 2 bits.

If you have post and rails, you could put tape along the top of the rail, could even elevate that with the plastic cup things for electric fencing?

I'm not saying electrify it, but if your horse is warey of tape, it may help. It might be easier than to use anti crib outside, as it does wash away over time.

If you don't get what i say, i can get a pic if you want?
 
Thanks for the answers, however he is on a high fibre no grain diet, gets plenty of roughage and is on a haylage balancer and multi vit and has been for a while. I still hold with the boredem factor as all this has started since the snow and the fact that we are not allowed to feed hay in the fields.
 
Please can we dispell the myth once and for all that horses crib because they are bored. Horses start cribbing because either they are a) stressed or b) in pain (hence gastric ulcers being linked to cribbing) and add highly palatable feeds on top of it, being a TB plus a few other contributory factors and they may start cribbing. Your diet sounds fine and he is turned out, so could he be in pain? I would suggest you ask your vet to see him. Also as someone has already mentioned are you sure it is cribbing and not wood-chewing? With cribbing the top of the posts go flat; wood-chewing is just that - bits chewed off. As you mention they have no forage when out to feed off maybe he is chewing wood (a forage replacer!).
 
CMMB said:
Please can we dispell the myth once and for all that horses crib because they are bored.
Click to expand...

I agree and disagree here. Extreme boredom will cause stress.

Agree that i would look more into whether he is actually cribbing or chewing wood, you say he can't have hay out in the fields, that sends alarm bells ringing in my head that he is hungry and trying to fill himself.
 
just another thought, do you feed him any mints?? mine started cribbing after being fed mints(i was rewarding after riding) and i started feeding settlex as i felt i may have caused excess acid and she improved a lot. obviously i stopped the mints and she now is not on settlex and only very occasionally cribs if she gets very wound up. im personally not in favour of collars unless there is a real risk of colic.
 
splashgirl45 said:
just another thought, do you feed him any mints?? mine started cribbing after being fed mints(i was rewarding after riding) and i started feeding settlex as i felt i may have caused excess acid and she improved a lot. obviously i stopped the mints and she now is not on settlex and only very occasionally cribs if she gets very wound up. im personally not in favour of collars unless there is a real risk of colic.
Click to expand...

Yes, mints seemed to exasperate cribbing in our horse!

I have heard really good things about settlex and I swear by Pink Powder. We also fed adlib hay and a straightforward feed (Alfa/Fibre Nuts only). Our TB didn't have ulcers and seemed to crib more before a feed or when stressed. We had to paint the fence posts and automatic water feeder to stop him from cribbing on there.

He was prone to colic so did wear a collar when in his stable, as we found there was a direct collelation between him cribbing and getting displacement colic. Which led to a colic op and several very expensive hospital stays. Unfortunately we lost him to impaction colic this month :( but taking the measures above seemed to decrease the cribbing to being very few and bar between.

Good luck I hope you can find out whats causing it.
 
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