Miracle Collar

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Charlie77

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Do they work? any thoughts? my old by never cribed till he was at a livey yard about the same time he developed an arthritc foot, aged about 14 / 15, so wound down to semi retired Happy hacker @ first he didnt do it v much but 2 years on he is standing out in the field doing it on the posts, trouble is now he is home with my 2 younger ponies an i just dont want them to start, obviously im about to electric fence in side the current fence but what do i do?
 
I have only seen one used once and it was not very effective. They need to be left on 24/7 so I would not want to use one especially on a turned out horse - what if it got caught on something. Have you considered the cause of his cribbing? Sometimes it is due to stomach ulcers and other discomfort so it might be better to address the cause? TBH I do not believe other horses copy these kinds of behaviours much anyway.
 
IME no they dont work on cribbers and only sometimes on windsuckers. If the cribbing/sucking is a psychological response then I feel its much kinder to allow the horse to continue to do it. If its a response to something like ulcers thaen that is what needs addressing. I have never ever come across a horse who has picked up cribbing from another horse, they may have the odd nibble to see what its about but if the diet is good theres no reason for them to hang on the fence. Your electric tape should stop any thoughts in that direction.
 
Thanks he is due his jabs next month so ill bring it up again with the vet. he was taken out of propper work due to his foot, he thrived on work i just always felt it was more lack of work now semi retired and being stabled next door to a constant cribber, i have had him all his life so know he never used to do it, Did mention this to the vet last year but he just seemed to brush it off, hes a happy horse as in ears always forward hes not the grumpy faced ears flat back type i would have thought came with ulcers?? but ill definatly make more of a point of getting him sorted x
 
My horse has cribbed since he was a youngster and hell would freeze over before I ever put a collar on him. I just accept it is a part of who he is and protect fences, etc with electric fencing. He has specific posts concreted in for him where he can safely crib.

In the five years I have owned him, he has shared his field/ stables with a number of horses, including a youngster who was basically his shadow for a year and not one of them has tried to copy him.

He has (when on a livery yard that stressed him out) had a couple of bouts of gassy colic so he is on Feedmark's Settlex but that is more as a preventative measure, rather than to try and control his cribbing. Touch wood, in the two years he has been away from the yard he has never colic-ed so I and his vet think that was due to stress more than his cribbing tbh.

IMO, I think horses have to be either pre-disposed to it or there is an underlying problem, be it ulcers or the stable management routine on yards where several horses start to crib.
 
Cribbing - do try to investigate why he is doing that as the cribbing is obviously a reaction to something. However, there is no definative cause or reason or - sadly - an outright cure.. Hopefully you could get lucky and find that it is something you can address but with a lot of cribbers, you never get to the bottom of it - I know I had one and tried everything to stop him. I did end up using a miracle collar having seen first hand 2 other cribbers (who were as bad as him) who both ended up with colic. I found it better, however, to line mine with the remnants of a faux sheepskin girth cover. The collar was really a last resort. I would have much preferred to have found another way of managing it as I was always well aware that all I was doing was stopping the behaviour and not the cause.

Things I tried - obviously changing food, low sugar, checked for ulcers, something similiar to settlers, constant hay (and I mean constant), even moving him onto a straw bed. Nothing worked but in my horses case, having him out a LOT really did cut down on his cribbing so I felt his was partly due to being stabled. I ended up having him live out, no collar and he did well - very occasional crib on a post on the field but behaviour sharply reduced. But did I solve his problem? no! And the horse - county show delicate TB x (think prob WB) who from the looks of him should have been wrapped up in cotton wool but was much happier being out as much as possible. Now my two irish horses, look like they could live out and yet hate being out for more than 4 hours at a stretch. Go figure!
 
well as i said i had him from birth so know he never used to do this, he has as much hay as he can eat, dad is a farmer so more than he can eat, the only change was his work load and location, i have never even changed his diet, i guess you could argue quality of grass, never had colic in 17 years fingers crossed! oh this also started a good 18months after a break in his back leg when he was on box rest for 4 /5 months, at that point he was in dads barn so not at a yard back then, so i guess if its bordem it should have started then? because he has the arthritic foot his is out 247 from april ish round to december ish? and out with out fail every day what ever the weather. i will have the vet investigate further hes due next month so only a couple of weeks, ill be sure to let you know what he comes back with x
 
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