Crib biting

[Yann]

I recently visited a yard where a couple of horses were nibbling their stable doors to the extent that they'd chewed them down a fair bit. Otherwise, the horses seemed healthy and well cared for. What causes them to behave like this? Is it a big problem?

Yann

[Wally]

Crib biting is a sign of a severly disturbed horse. He is bored out of his tree!
What he needs is 24 hour turnout and to be left in peace!

Just because a horse is spotlessly clean and is well covered and has a lovelly clean, deep bed doesn't mean his mental well being has been considered!

The natural state for a horse is dusty and muddy! He will have played with his field companions, he will have rolled in the same dust bath as them and been allowed unlimited access to equine contact! Horses are tactile creatures.

To put a horse into solitary confinement, in limited space is cruel, no matter how clean, horses do not appreciate clean, they want and need space and equine contact. 90% of all equine problems could be solved with more turn out and less messing from people!

[KarlR]

My wife's horse Charlie cribbed when we bought him. Initially he was at a stable where he was only turned out for a few hours and his cribbing became very bad.

We then moved him to a stable where he was turned out all day and this helped a lot. At one point he was out 24 hours and despite cribbing on everything he could find for a week or so, he then stopped cribbing altogether.

Now he's back to a "nights in, days out" routine (because he gets too fat and we can't keep a grazing muzzle on him!) and he cribs occasionally after meals. He isn't allowed treats which would make him worse. Amusing though he only cribs when we can see him - I've tested this a few times by walking of out of sight and listening quietly - after a minute he stops, only to start again when he hears your footsteps. Very funny.

Long term cribbers can be a major problem though and whilst more turnout is helpful a cure is rarely found. As always prevention is better than cure.

The worst problem with bad cribbers is that they can become undernourished and long term noticeable damage occurs to the front teeth. As Wally says though it's a problem of boredom and that should be addressed before further "vices" develop.

[ros]

Yeah, I hate seeing any sort of box "vice". My friend had a nice old TB who was once a hunt horse. He windsucked constantly, even out in the field in summer when he was out with others full time. Mostly he wore a collar, which made his neck raw at times; if it was taken off he just carried on windsucking and losing condition. He was a nice horse who'd been overworked and over-confined, and I felt so sorry for him. All these damn problems are man-made.

[Wally]

Yes!

[Yann]

What is windsucking? I haven't heard that term before.

Yann

[ros]

Windsucking is where the horse habitually and frequently gulps in air. Usually he has to grab hold of something such as a stable door or fence with his teeth to enable him to do it, but some horses can do it out in the middle of the field without holding onto anything. My friend's horse was one of these. It's a horrible habit because the stomach fills with air, which impedes normal feeding and leads to loss of condition. If it's a long-standing habit there isn't much you can do to stop it other than full time turnout and, in Hobo's case, a collar around the top of the neck which stops the horse from tucking his head in which is what he has to do to take in air. The collar itself is often as much of a problem as the actual condition, because if it has to be kept on all the time (except during exercise) as Hobo's had to be, it can rub very badly. His collar had to be taken off from time to time to allow his neck to heal, and he would lose weight very quickly during those periods even when out at grass, as I mentioned previously.