Treats=Crib biting?

[tolka]

The horse i share has a habit of crib biting when you feed him treats over the stable door and at no other time?Other than the obvious of not feeding treats over the stable door and ideas how to get him out of this habit or why he does it?

[Jenks]

I've never heard of it being related to treats. Are you sure it's only when you give him treats? Cribbing causes a release of endorphins in the brain to which they get addicted to. Think of why he would want that comfort to him at that moment. Your veterinarian could probably give you more facts. As far as wood chewing, there is boredom, lack of minerals and parasites which could all be causes.

[KarinUS]

Cribbing is often diet related (for example lots of horses crib at their worst right after they get their grain). I'd simply not feed him the treats if it causes him to crib.

[Lenvale]

Message deleted

[stormbreaker]

can you tell mw what the horse does when he "cribs" i get the feeling it might not be cribbing.

my boy cribs he does it as his safty blanket and around food it would seem when he was younger he wasnt fed and mistreated so he gets stressed about things he does it. his equivalant of sucking his thumb.

it can be diet related eg excess of stomach acid so i can imagine that only treats would caus ethis is it possible he does it all the time just no ones around to see it?

when a horse starts a vice as far as i know there no way of stoppi them unless its cause is medical in which cas if you can fix the under laying problem then the cribbing will stop

[aphagirlie05]

I own a cribber with a chronic problem, and he does tend to crib more often after he is fed his grain, however, I've remedied this problem by giving him more hay, which keeps him busy for a long period of time. He is an absolutely terrible cribber, and does it all the time. In fact, he's already broken out one of his teeth trying to crib on a t-post. Luckily, it's a baby tooth, and it will grow back soon.

However, can you describe what the horse is doing when it cribs? It may actually not be cribbing in the literal sense. My horse has a cribbing collar on, which sometimes helps and sometimes does not. It's on practically as tight as it can go, but I still have problems with him trying to crib all the time. I'm hoping to try and preserve his teeth with prevention methods.

[HappyHacker]

I've not heard of cribbing in relation to treats either.
I believe cribbing is due to stress, and not having access to food can be a cause of stress. Does your horse have adequate hay to munch on while in his stable? When a horse is in a stable, unless he has hay, he is not doing what he would naturally be doing, ie grazing. So, he could be getting annoyed when you stop giving him treats because he needs something to eat.
If it were me, I'd give less treats over the stable door and provide with an Equiball filled with nuts or similar so he can 'forage' for his own food.

[tolka]

He's always has hay ad-lib as he's 23 so eats little and often. With regards to what he's actually doing he grips the metal plate on the top of his door and kinda bears his teeth and mouths on it. Apparently he used to chew the wooden fencing in the summer but since he's changed yards he's only got electric fencing so thats stopped.

[aphagirlie05]

If your horse is truly cribbing, he will grab ahold of the stall edge firmly with top and bottom teeth, and lean back, putting all his weight on his hindquarters so he can arch his neck. You will hear a distintive grunt every time he sucks air in. Contrary to popular belief, cribbers are not more susceptable to colic because the air they suck in never reaches their stomach. The reason my baby does it is because of the manner he was weaned. He was separated from his mother at three months, and stuck in a stall all day with nothing to play with or do, so out of boredom, he picked up the habit. This is of course, why I got him for such a bargain, he was tearing down the breeder's barn! :p

To help a cribber you normally give them something entertaining to do, but all the toys in the world won't help my boy. :rolleyes: It may be possible that your horse is just "windsucking" which is somewhat like cribbing, but normally occurs without the grunting sound. My horse can windsuck on my shoulder with his cribbing collar on, and hardly makes a noise at all. Tells you how addicted he is as well!

[Lgd]

If he's just chewing or licking it is NOT cribbing. To crib they must gulp air as described above.

It is now quite well established that most horse crib and windsuck because of excess acid in the stomach and possibly stomach ulcers. There is quite a lot of good clinical data that shows treating these horses with Gastroguard (omeprazole) will reduce or abolish the problem.

Contrary to common opinion other horses will not 'copy' this behaviour UNLESS they have the same problem - if kept in the same conditions this is quite possible.

The problem can be minimised by having food available at all times, as much turnout as possible and adding one of the antacid type feed supplements to any hard feed (feedmark in the UK certainly market one). Antacids only act for a short time but are particularly useful for those who crib in relation to eating hard feed.

Cribbing collars do not stop the problem and some schools of thought are now coming to the conclusion that they may worsen the stress that is causing the problem in the first place.

Discussion with an enlightened equine vet is the first step to take in addressing a cribbing problem.