Horse cribbing is a repetitive action of the horse biting at hard objects, such as the stable walls,
fences and trees. He then arches his neck, sucks in air and grunts. This is very hard on teeth, wearing them down prematurely.
Gulping in air leads to digestive problems and colic which is a serious condition with no known cure. Cribbing also destroys
the objects on which he chews .
There doesn’t seem to be any one thing that can be done for cribbing, but there
are a few things that are tried. Since the action is done repetitively, there are some who think it might be evidence of
obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). There are some drugs that are used for humans that have been used for animals called psychopharmaceuticals which are used
for psychological disorders.
Prozac is one of the most common of these drugs used for animals. They have found that they are efficacious for the repetitive
disorder,
cribbing in horses. There are those that don’t agree with this theory, and that there are alternatives
that can be tried. When you buy
horse tack you may want to try a
cribbing collar. It goes around the neck and when the horse starts to crib the collar and
straps exert pressure on his neck which he finds annoying and makes him uncomfortable. However, they don’t get in the
way of breathing or eating. One of the things to be aware of is possible sores from wearing the collar. However, the
“Miracle
Collar”, which we carry, wears well and does not cause sores. There are cribbing straps which are more severe and
that have metal attached that actually pinch the neck of the horse, This is unnecessarily mean and not not generally advised.
Another type of deterrent is to spray his environment with liquid that keeps the horse from biting in the first place. There
are problems with this idea: the liquid wears off and the items need to be continually sprayed and you have to make sure you
spray all surfaces. A
cribbing horse could be trained out of the habit, but unless you are there with the horse continually,
day and night, there will be times that the
horse can crib when you’re not around, thus undermining the training
you do. It is interesting that cribbing is rarely found in wild horses who have access to pastureland all the time. With this
in mind, there are those that believe that cribbing behavior can be alleviated by giving the horse more access to pasture.
It's believed that long stabling encourages cribbing habits. Another opinion is that wild horses tend to eat in such a way
that they never have empty stomachs, whereas stabled horses can go a hours with empty stomachs. Perhaps feeding it more can
help. The most severe of possible answers to cribbing is surgery. It is generally not recommended however, in that it’s
severe and maiming.
When you buy
horse supply, you may want to invest in a horse
toy. Like cats and dogs, horses and
ponies like
toys. Part of your
horse equipment should include the popular ball, the Jolly ball, that we offer here. They love to roll it around, nose it and try to
bite it. The balls are made of durable rubber and can withstand a lot of use from the horse.
