This Miracle Collar is no miracle...

My horse is pretty much a die-hard cribber. Although he can't as much anymore because he has been moved to a farm with "hot ropes" on the top rail, but he still finds his ways. :roll: When I got him a year ago, his owner gave me her miracle collar telling me that he cribs, but not much. Wrong. He used to crib so much at the other farm.
So I use the miracle collar on him all the time. Its tight enough, I'm pretty sure of it. The thing that worries me is that he cribs just fine with it on... ? I know my barn owner wants me to keep it on. He gets really bad sores from it rubbing the hair off. The only time he's over shown pain while with me was while I was taking off the collar where he has a sore. I put ointment on it whenever I can.

What can I do?

Back when I still boarded my horses (in Los Angeles) one of the horses cribbed even with the Miracle Collar, so they put a wire cage muzzle on him and he stopped cribbing right away.

I have been fortunate enough to never own a cribber, or own a horse that ended up cribbing while in my care. So I don't endorse the wire cage muzzle, its just what I saw someone put on their horse. The horse had to keep a halter on 24/7 while stalled though.

It breaks my heart to see a horse crib.. it really does =/ And it makes me feel worse when I see the horses wearing the collars that are so tight they can't carry their head higher than their shoulders.. and muzzles that clink into things. It just makes a horse that was stressed enough to pick up a bad habit hopelessly depressed =/ (and im speaking from my own experience).

Best of luck hun =) Sorry I couldn't offer any advice :p

It breaks my heart every time I see him latch his teeth onto that wood and give it a suck. It makes me wonder what could have happened to him that he had to resort to something like that.
I've thought about the cage muzzle, but that would just break my heart ever more. My barnowner has a cribber or two, but I just can't stand it.

My horse cribs, and I use the old one-strap, 'nutcracker' styled strap with the metal at the bottom (not pointy or anything!).

I found that this works the absolute best for me and my horse. The 'miracle collar' would rub his skin raw and he had no forelock anymore, and the skin all where the strap was would get raw and bloody. I saw the nylon strap for 7 bucks in the tack store, so I got it and tried it.

He doesn't crib, I don't have to keep it on the tightest setting (It's really loose actually when you compare it to the M. Collar), and all of his mane and forelock grow. He has no problem with me putting it on and off. I absolutely love it, ESPECIALLY since I show and I can't have big hairless pieces on the sides of his neck (not to mention it hurt him!!).

Have you every tried one of these?

I owned a hard core cribber. The only set back was his teeth slightly worn down as he aged, and the damage in the few chosen areas he cribbed. I never had any health problems with him, and I never used a collar. It broke my heart to see him crib, but those contraptions made me even more sad.


Some of these horses have had a rough life, and they end up cribbing for the endorphins. That's the only good thing they have, and then they are stuck with the addiction when they meet us. (the good people)


I wouldn't worry too much about it if you don't stop him from cribbing. If he has just a few places that he does it, then make sure they are reinforced so damage is minimal. Some horses will do it with nothing to brace their teeth upon.

Wow Mayfield, i've never heard of those things working!! O.o!! Awesome!! I know exactly what you're talking about.

How does that collar work on the throat? Does it slip? I think i've had a big misconception on it, again, because of user error on the horse owner's part. The horse I knew that used one of those still cribbed like crazy

And every horse that wears the miracle collar gets the rubbed hair =/ Even if they use the fuzzies.

That's awesome that the original collars work so well!

It is really sad, and its sad that the horse will continue to crib even when in a good situation =/ Just be thankful that he's with you now, and the stressful parts of his life are over *hugs*

The one I have doesn't slip. It's this big old dirt encrusted nylon thing. I considered getting a nice leather one, but I figured why fix it if it ain't broke? Lool.

You can put holes in it if it's not tight enough, but ideally it shouldn't be tight enough to cause an indent about the strap, lol.


Absolutely do not ignore his cribbing. It can cause colic (like in my horse), very worn sometimes unfixable teeth, ulcers and weight loss.

Maybe I should restructure my original post.


I never said to ignore cribbing. But, if there is nothing you can do about it, then you can't do anything about it. Why make the poor creature more miserable just to ease your own mind. Make sure he can eat well, and that the stressors of his environment are low. I never put my gelding in a stall so he could spend his days cribbing. He always had free choice. I made sure there was no competition during feeding, and I NEVER showed him. He had enough of that.

Eventually, I had to sell him. (stoopid ex husbands request, as he was originally his horse) and he eventually died of old age in the care of a sweet and loving family.



Just make sure you make their life as comfortable as possible. Keep his environment safe from any damage he may cause from his cribbing. Make sure he can chew his feed well, has access to plenty of water, worming and dental care.

Sometimes, that's all we can do.

I actually thought about getting the nutcracker strap. I saw them on ebay for $3. Its worth the shot!
Drake doesn't crib as much anymore, like I had said, so its not really his whole life. I just see it every once in a while. His field has free choice hay and his eating is fine.

Have you discussed the possibility of ulcers with your vet?
Does he crib between bites of feed? Does he have free choice forage?