Learning to crib?

[RachelB]

My horse has been underworked recently due to lameness, and she's only allowed out for 4-5 hours a day due to the fields being pure mud (can't wait 'til we get new fields next winter and longer turnout!)
Anyway there's a new horse on the yard, ex-racer, incurable cribber. Well occasionally he windsucks too. He has a collar on which he takes no notice of (can't be done up any tighter or he'll lose circulation to his head!) and he doesn't mind all the foul smelly goos and gunks we can find to put onto his stable door, he just keeps going. My horse is stabled opposite and I'm a bit worried that she may have started picking up on it... it's only ever at feed times, but she will sometimes grab hold of her stable chain. That's all she'll do with it, but tonight she got hold of her feed bucket (rubber tyre one) and grabbed it and made a noise (possibly windsucking noise, I'm not sure). She sometimes grabs her other bucket (normal one with a ridge on the edge) and sort of chews it and holds it in her mouth too. Does this sound like she's starting to pick up on the ex-racer's cribbing and starting to copy? I'm really worried she will start doing it properly, has anyone got any tips to prevent this? (Apart from the obvious longer turnout as I can't move yards and from May they get all night turnout, then next winter we have these new fields anyway.)

 

[Tia]

Well.......I am a HUGE cynic of the trail of thought that these things can't be learned.

I have a silly horse who arrived here last year. Her habit is pawing at the ground and tipping her feed bucket over....every single day she does this!

None of my horses have ever done this in the years I have owned them.....however 3 of them have recently started this clever little trick!!

 

[RachelB]

Oh I definately believe it can be learned... we have just got rid of a pony off our yard that scraped and scraped and banged her door, it took a day for another (slightly dim) pony to learn to scrape! YO stuck an anti-bark dog collar on her and zapped her every time she did it, she soon learnt not to! I jus think that may be a little drastic in my case!

 

[Tia]

With the mare at my farm, if I stand by her and say "no" she stops......so she knows that this is not good manners. They may not be super-intelligent but they are smart enough to understand they are doing things which they shouldn't be.

 

[Christmas_Kate]

yes, they can learn. Try occupying her time with lots of stable toys etc, or ask that she is moved to where she can't see this horse directly.

 

[sallyf]

We have one mare who windsucks but i have to say non of the other 3 mares she has lived with constantly for the last 6 years lor any of her foals have done it.
So i think to learn it a horse has to have a pre disposition to want to.

 

[Scarlett1980]

sometimes they crib and windsuck to relieve the pain of a gastric ulcer causes by lack of fibre/chewing. I'm not saying yours has one but the other horse might.

They can only produce saliva when they chew so do it to neutralise the ph in their stomach. Does the other horse have enough hay/haylage? Maybe make sure both that one and yours has plenty to much on just to make sure?

 

[RachelB]

Oh I wouldn't be at all surprised if he does have ulcers. Either that or he learnt it from the other racers while he was racing and it's just habit now. He always has loads of hay and has a tubtrug full of dried grass, plus he's out 8am-12pm.
Mine is definately just copying, she has lived out all her life until she came to me and now she is out 8am-12pm and has almost constant access to hay whenever she's in. She does sometimes run out but it's hard to tell how much she'll eat on any given day! I'm thinking about putting her on NAF pink powder just until they start going out at night, hopefully if she does have an upset stomach due to all this stress of being underworked and kept in more then this should help. She can't be moved as our yard is a horseshoe shape so the horses can all see eachother no matter where they are. Other than that I am going to give her more hay and see what happens!
Thanks for the advice guys!

 

[Scarlett1980]

or if not the pink powder, have a look at the new winergy equilibrium feeds (i feel like i'm going on about these a bit too much!!) but they have been proven to help horses with digestive disturbances such as ulcers, colic, loose droppings etc but also have shown to have positive effects on stressed behaviour.

they've worked a treat on mine which is why i go on about them all the time.

they let you try a bag free which has got to be worth a call. their number is 01908 226626 or you can email them on winergy.equilibrium@effem-equine.com

 

[landf]

Im sorry, but horses do not learn to crib from seeing other horses crib. The ex -racehorse probably picked it up when it was in training due to the general stable routine of racehorse i.e, they are stabled for prolonged periods of time and are fed on high cereal diets - studies show that 80% of racehorses in training suffer from ulcers. Once this habit is established it is very hard to break - I'm really against collars etc. It's a form of stress release or a sign of discomort in the stomach - preventing them doing it is like making a drug addict go cold turkey or taking a heavy smokers cigarettes away!
Your horse is probably picking up"similar" habits due to your stable routine - especially if it is used to living out 24/7! Rather than wasting money on supplements why not have her scoped to eliminate any digestive upset and if she has the all clear then I would suggest moving somewhere that does not have such restrictive routines. Giving her more hay during the day will help but horses are roamers - they don't stand and eat in one spot in the wild!