Humane Miracle Collars - fitting query..

[LauraHi]

I have a miracle collar that I used on my TB a few years ago to get condition on her as she cribs/sucks all day and doesn't eat.
We haven't had to use it for a while as her weight was OK but I think she needs to go back in it again as even though she is in a field with loads of grass and gets fed 3 scoops of conditioning feed a day she is still what I would term "poor". (Have had her worm checked, teeth checked etc so I really think it is the cribbing.)
Only problem is I have long lost the instructions and can't remember if you should leave them on 24/7 - does anyone else use one and have the instructions around?
Thanks for any help!

 

[charlie76]

I leave mine on my horse but I have lots of fleece and padding on it to stop it rubbing her ears. I do ensure I take it off for at least an hour a day and I sometimes put the other type on to give her a rest.
I find they have to go quite tight for it to work!

 

[Shilasdair]

It is cruel to prevent a horse from crib-biting and windsucking through physical force, as it is now known that they do it to swallow saliva and thus neutralise burning stomach acid.
Perhaps you could try giving her some high fibre forage which will reduce the gut's acidity or speak to your vet. It could be that she has a gastric ulcer...which would account for the increased stereotypies, and also perhaps the weight loss.
Obvious question - but have you wormed her/tried her with a general vit/min supplement?
S

 

[Angua2]

[ QUOTE ]
It is cruel to prevent a horse from crib-biting and windsucking through physical force, as it is now known that they do it to swallow saliva and thus neutralise burning stomach acid.



[/ QUOTE ]


True, but sometime horses (and my boy is like this.... he would ignore the grass in a rather lush field to "suck" his favourite post all day.) they will crib in preference to eating full stop! so you have to be cruel to be kind

 

[LauraHi]

Quote "It is cruel to prevent a horse from crib-biting and windsucking through physical force, as it is now known that they do it to swallow saliva and thus neutralise burning stomach acid."

It agree it isn't the perfect answer - but she has been worm checked by my vet, she has had a Baileys Feed rep out to check her nutrional intake and she is fed Bailey's conditioning cubes at the amount recommended which contains all vits and mins she should need, she has access to a mineral lick,she won't eat oil added to her feed, I fed her a gastric ulcer supplement for a year which made no difference, she has turn out in various fields on old pasture land 24/7, all the fences have been covered in cribox etc etc.....
I'm afraid it is put a humane collar on her (which is very much padded) or watch her waste away.. unless anyone else has any suggestions?!?

 

[zigzag]

I agree with you Laura sometimes you do have to be cruel to be kind, we had a horse at livery who had every check goping and still cribbed, he was fed ad lib hay when in, lush grass when out and would even leave his feed to crib, always looked poor until we fitted a miracle collar, what a dofference! horse actually seemed happier spent his time eating and put on weight (looked fantastic in fact so good people didn't reconise him) he wore it all the time apart from being ridden

 

[Nari]

I agree that sometimes there is no choice so although I'm sure you mean well Shilasdair please don't be so judgemental. Cribbers can be difficult enough to manage without people making owners feel bad when they try to do what they believe is best.

LauraHi I don't know what supplement you tried but I've had a lot of success by feeding Equine America's U-Gard Plus to Jim. Other supplements had failed miserably & I was very cynical about trying this but my vet suggested it & I was desperate - he cribbed even with a normal collar on & while the miracle collar worked it seemed to be causing panic attacks in the field & he would literal collapse at a full gallop! Without a collar he was giving himself colic. I've taken him off all cereals too, if he needs hard feed he gets Saracen ReLeve, & he's very very rarely cribbing now even without a collar. The difference really is incredible because before he'd crib rather than graze or eat hay whereas now he either eats or plays or snoozes. If you haven't tried it I really would suggest giving it a try & also try cutting out cereals for a while to see if that helps (but I'd had him on a cereal free diet before the U-Gard & on it's own it hadn't been enough).

Good luck whatever you decide.

 

[Shilasdair]

I'm not being judgemental. It is just a statement of fact...that horses crib for a reason....it is well known...
Surely it is better to prevent the horse from needing to crib, than just to prevent the action itself?
I've managed some dedicated cribbers myself, and find that keeping them out in a settled herd environment, on long grass (less sugar), or feeding good hay/haylage and keeping hard feed to a minimum reduced the frequency of their cribbing. Oh, and dedicating a 'cribbing post' which should be soft wood or rubber coated to let them satisfy any need without damaging teeth etc.
Either way, I hope you solve your problems with your horses...and fatten them up nicely!
S