Cribbing!

Hi everyone! I'm new... I do have this cribbing issue - I have a 6 year old Thoroughbred who cribbs so much it makes his back sore. I have tried the "wonder collar" - you can almost pinch his head off and he still cribs through it. Recently, I bought him a cribing muzzle - he looks like Hannible Lecter - and believe it or not he still manages to get his teeth on things! He will leave his food to crib. While the other horses are grazing........... he's cribbing - non stop. My last resort is to put a grazing muzzle on him. My barn manager is not so happy about this as she would need to bring him in to feed him morning and evening. Please help - any other ideas?

What are you feeding and how often is he worked and turned out?

HOTWIRE the fences. SOLAR charger, so no electric bills, and take off the collar. Don't give sweetfeed, give pellets instead, without molasses, have him checked for ulcers.

Oh, by the way I have a part time cribber and all this worked for mine. Feed tubs on the floor of the stall, water bucket lowered, no dutch door to crib on, use bars.

Heard about this, thought I would mention it. I have no experience with this as my girl doesn't crib.

Cribbing rings. They are brass rings that the vet places between the 4 front upper teeth. They make it very uncomfortable for the horse to crib. A light sedation is used, and the vet places the rings, there is a little bit of blood, but it is stopped in about 1 minuted. As soon as the sedation wore off, this lady's horse went back to eating hay without any problems. She said the horse tried to crib but found it unpleasant and stopped. One month later he still is not cribbing. Has no difficulty eating or anything.

Just thought I would share.

You could try supplements like no chew... I haven't used it but its worth a try!

The supplement is called Quitt, and it's only for horses who seem to need a wood fiber in their diet. For wood chewers, but it won't help Cribbers.

No Chew is a paint on topical that is supposed to taste terrible, but my horse actually does not mind the taste of it, or Cayenne pepper OR Irish Spring soap for that matter. The best thing we did was unhook the corner feeder and give him a rubber bowl to eat on the ground level.

I have heard (though never tried... thankfully never met a cribber) that placing something that really does not taste nice on any cribbing surface can help to discourage them although it may not work on the established case. I think there are things on the market specifically for the purpose.
However, I would first try to establish what the cause is as if the cause is boredom then he will probably just turn to some other vice instead that doesn't involve surfaces e.g weaving.

A girl at my barn has a 14yo Saddlebred and she cribs from morning until night...She's tried EVERYTHING on the fence and the cribbing collars have done nothing to stop her...I too, am interested in the different answers...
K

Hopefully the hot wire and nasty tasting stuff works, but if a horse is a hard-core cribber then you might end up having to talk to your vet about trying something more drastic. I used to board at a barn with one horse that cribbed so bad that when every other option was taken away from her, she would put one leg forward and crib on her knee. I'd really look hard at what your horse is eating and how often he's getting worked. It may be a simple case of boredom that has become habit. A feed change and increased workouts might help.

I boarded once at a stable where there was this cute pony who would crib like crazy. He would put his head straight up in the air like I've never seen another horse do, and crib on nothing at all! I have a TB who cribs, and my last TB cribbed as well, but that pony was just insane! My horses seem fine with the collars, just make sure you take it off while grooming and give 'em a rest from it. Good luck!