A friend of mine has a nice gray gilding around 6yrs old.
The horse cribs.
I have never dealt with it & wanted to see what I could learn.
Seems some think it's from boredom & others a digestive problem.
What say you?

I believe it's mostly boredom.
I have seen the habit picked by other horses up when a cribber was brought in to rhe mix.
Some horses can be broke of this habbit by use of a e-collar.

Boredom and habit forming..but its a health hazard for sure as the horse injests splinters into his lungs..

They make a product that you can paint your corrals with that will usually stop cribbing. The old timers used pitch pine tar and other prevention goo to the same effect. A cribbing collar is another option, may or may not work. I have heard of a dog shock collar working, but wouldn't know..If I bought a cribber, I would take it back to the guy I bought if from and demand and get a refund.

Bottom line is horses like humans need space, and not confined to a jail cell type existence, and in the horses case even an acre of pasture will save you a bunch of grief...

quote:

Bottom line is horses like humans need space, and not confined to a jail cell type existence, and in the horses case even an acre of pasture will save you a bunch of grief

He's got 80 acres to roam & 4 other horses to keep him company.

That's half the battle, now paint your corrals and pens, stalls etc with that no crib stuff you can get at most feed stores. It works well.

First thing is if the horse is a true cribber, or a wood chewer. Boredom can start either.. A cribber will hook teeth on any hard surface, arch neck and suck air. This actually releases endorphins, so the horse gets a high. It can become addictive and difficult to break. Other horses are just wood chewers and seem to be part beaver. Some cribbers respond to being turned out. Others a cribbing strap/collar. A number of other things have been tried with variable success. It can be a real pita.

It's expensive but it does work in a stall environment to do a test trial and that is smearing Green Bag Balm over the rails. You will have to watch closely and the horse won't rub it eyes on the rail. I doubt it will work for wind suckers. Electric shock collars sounds like a good idea though.

Wind suckers are a pain. Unless the horse has some sort of outstanding quality/ability, I would get rid of it. I have seen really bad ones that the owners used a muzzle cage on and they still managed to wiggle something through the side of the cage to hook onto......... the endorphins give them a rush and they are equine junkies.

It seems to be more common with some breeds than others. American Saddlebreds for one.

I had one that I was riding for a neighbor making him a rope horse and he was a real stump sucker..I ran a low hot wire along the top of my corrals and that worked perfect. It lighted him up a couple of times and he stopped cribbing....Sent him home and he has never cribbed since I'm told..

Caused by a lack of-------Brains. Apparently causes a pleasurable sensation, releases endorphins and some horse get so wound up in it they lose weight. Started by confinement and lack of chew time.

Grizz

quote:

Started by confinement and lack of chew time.

I totally agree and most race horse breeder's or trainer are very well aware of this and do nothing about it because it all boils down to $$$$$$$$$$$$$$

It ain't the horses fault, people seems to forget that horses are grazing animals like cattle. I personally think wind sucking help the horses with gastro pains due to lack of feeding.
Have you ever seen a fat drug addict in Texas?

http://www.parelli.com/horse-cribbing.html

The problem is if they crib on wood, they get splinters in the lungs, and intestines..

I have had a couple of stump suckers, and never noticed it was such a big deal to break them of the habit. seems to be a lot to do about nothing to me... Collars, paint the wood with a commercial product for cribbing, and the hot wire..they learn not to crib..I don't see it as a big deal so far, maybe there are more severe cases than I've dealt with, dunno?

It is a very BIG deal, talk about expensive vet bills that could've been prevented.
I wouldn't take this lightly.

Like I said........ unless the individual horse has some outstanding traits you need to keep......... get rid of it. Total pain in the ass and most of us do not have time to babysit one horse and keep it from causing more problems.

Too many good horses in the world to waste time and money on one that is just a pain in the ass.

Just my 2 cents.

Norsky,
You misread my meaning in that I said its no BIG deal if you fix the problem before it gets out of control..

No I wouldn't normally buy a cribber, but any horse can start cribbing at any time, and that's the time to go to work and fix the problem as I suggested...It usually works and its no big deal..

I had a great rope horse that cribbed, and I wasn't aware of it until I bought him, the previous owner said "oh yeah, I forgot about that as I thought it was fixed" and I have no reason to doubt him...I painted my wood with the commercial cribbing paint, he lent me a coller, an in a week he quit cribbing..In other words I removed him from that inviorment, he had no place to crib and forgot a bad habit..

Mostly its an easy fix, but on occasions it apparently cannot be fixed or so Im told.

This little horse is very gentle & rides very well. Anybody can ride him & he has a great personality.
I could have traded a saddle for him, but with all I have read & videos I have watched, I think I'm going to pass.
Durn shame, because he really is a nice horse.

Take him on consignment for a couple of weeks if they will allow it on the preface that you can stop the cribbing..Thats what I do when I buy " finished rope horse" as my idea of finished is much different that that of a lot or folks, if they refuse, you probably got your answer..

Always keep in mind that there will ALWAYS be another horse and probably a better horse down the rode, that applies to about everything, getting in a rush to buy is always a mistake on guns, horses and real estate..

I have cut down from 18 to 6 horses and will confirm a horse is strong and if it has bad vises, it can be extremely destructive and negates the pleasure of owning them. There are a lot of horse out there. There is no reason to put up with any vises.
I had an Appy. mix gelding who was relentless. He would get hold of a top rail of a pipe corral, pull with his full body weight and work it until he broke it, then start on the second rail. Non chew paint is becoming more restrictive in certain areas due to OSHA laws. Restrictive collars and hot wire works on minute sum.
Other horses in the herd imitate others and due pick up bad vises. That is the last thing you want.
Never buy a horse on impulse, always have a grace trial period. Spend some time evaluating the horse before purchasing. A world champion good looking horse is worth zero to me if he sucks wind. A horse that causes you unnecessary grief is not worth owning.

make a mix of cayenne pepper and water and spray the stall that he is cribbing or the offending area. I would also take him back from where he was bought.

Every horse is different however, my daughter has a horse that is a cribber and he stopped when I bought a block of Iodine salt block. Sometimes it's something missing in their diet.

I use old motor oil on the wood, looks nice, water proofs the wood and stops the cribbing.
Just my .02 worth.

Steve

A lot of horses have problems, if you just ride for pleasure or have pasture pets then I wouldn't buy a cribber or any horse with a problem..

Im a roper, I like old horses to rope on, they are better at the game by far than young horse, therefore I forgive them and manage them, my goal is winning money on them and the older horses perform under pressure and take you to the pay window..Management is the clue, if Ihad a cribber I would use steel pens and use every trick in the book if he was a good horse..I have had a number of older navicular horses that I pay extra for shoeing, I medicate them daily and extra on a roping day..

Don't pass up a good horse that you can manage properly, it just takes a little extra effort, and the dividens can be worth the effort.

Almost every rope horse, dogging horse,and bucking horse at the National has some age on it and a few are past 20 and still winning lots of money, and would bring a ton of money if they were ever put on the market..They are all under strigent management/diet/treatment to make them last, its all but impossible to replace them. Many a world champion calf or team roper that loses his horse also loses his mojo and may go several years before he can win much and he is left with trying to find another horse that will fit him..Sometimes he never does.

With horses as with most things a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing. I see some advise on this boards that comes pretty close to that.

I ended up trading a saddle that I did not like for him.
I left him with my friend to care for. He likes him & takes good care of him.
Now I have a nice riding horse at my disposal and very little in him.
There's a 12yr old girl there that gets to ride him all she wants that can't afford a horse of her own, that's good enough for me.

Had a mare that started to crib cut some popple, aspen for you western folks scattered a few 6" lengths about that kept her busy a left everything else intact.
Good Luck

Cribber went to a new home today.
New owner is fully aware of his habit.
Wanted a good gentle horse for his wife, this one is.
Now he is about a half a mile from my house with some nice folks with several grandchildren that can enjoy him.