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Days in Horse Country – Cribbing
Cribbing is
one of the most distasteful of equine behaviours, and horses with this habit
are often ruled out when prospective owners are looking for a horse to buy.
When a horse cribs, it gasps its front teeth on a horizontal object, tightens its neck muscles, and sucks in air with a grunt. A horse that cribs will usually do it anywhere, and on any horizontal object it can hang its teeth on. This habit can wear down a horse’s front teeth and drive its owner to distraction.
Recent research has shown that there may be a link between digestive problems and cribbing. Evidence shows that a high carbohydrate diet can make a horse predisposed to developing the habit. Pain in the gut may also be a motivator, caused by high acid levels in the stomach.
Once a horse starts to crib, it’s almost impossible to break it of the habit. Owners of cribbing horses will oftentimes put an anti-cribbing collar on their horse’s neck in an effort to make the behaviour uncomfortable. Some will even fit the horse with a muzzle to stop it from latching its teeth onto available surfaces. Other will hot-wire the horse’s paddock to keep it away from fence rails as well.
The best way to prevent cribbing is to give your horse plenty of roughage to eat, exercise, and companionship. Horses who are bored and stressed, and not getting enough hay seem to be most prone to developing the habit.
Michael