and the stress of horse ownership begins - re ebony's cribbing

[raggydoll]

Ebony arrived this afternoon, doped up to the eyeballs (see previous post) as the sedative wore of she became more alert. Went to feed her this evening and found her cribbing. Fed her in the shelter and she stopped for a few cribbing breaks (makes mental note not to feed a cribber in wood heaven in future :rolleyes: ) left her kind of thinking about grazing but opting for cribbing, went back just now and shes still cribbing. Shes chosen the part of the field furthest away from bim. She'll stop for some fuss but goes straight back to it. Now i know this is to be expected, shes a known cribber and shes stressed, i have a cribbing collar but took the decision before she arrived not to use it. So im really just looking for some reassurance. I feel terrible leaving her out there doing it, and im really worried shes just going to stand there all night doing that and not grazing. Ive left a horslyx out as a distraction but its not as appealing it seems. Any tips or suggestions or even comforting words?? :o

Just to add other than the cribbing she has been an absolute angel so far but is very disinterested in bim, whenever she tries to sniff her she backs away. No hooleying around (well not from ebony ;)), squeals or kicks though. good first day i think. Hoping to have a plod out on her tomorrow :)

[eml]

Try not to worry. I bought a cribber I decided to take the collar off and the first two weeks he hardly stopped, mouthful of feed, crib, groom, crib etc. Yes he lost weight initially but then the cribbing gradually reduced and now is confined to either in the stable just before turn out time or in the field just before in time

[No_Angel]

do you have any hay? my lot are always distracted by hay, and it keeps them busy:)

[Guest]

Ebony arrived this afternoon, doped up to the eyeballs (see previous post) as the sedative wore of she became more alert. Went to feed her this evening and found her cribbing. Fed her in the shelter and she stopped for a few cribbing breaks (makes mental note not to feed a cribber in wood heaven in future :rolleyes: ) left her kind of thinking about grazing but opting for cribbing, went back just now and shes still cribbing. Shes chosen the part of the field furthest away from bim. She'll stop for some fuss but goes straight back to it. Now i know this is to be expected, shes a known cribber and shes stressed, i have a cribbing collar but took the decision before she arrived not to use it. So im really just looking for some reassurance. I feel terrible leaving her out there doing it, and im really worried shes just going to stand there all night doing that and not grazing. Ive left a horslyx out as a distraction but its not as appealing it seems. Any tips or suggestions or even comforting words?? :o

Just to add other than the cribbing she has been an absolute angel so far but is very disinterested in bim, whenever she tries to sniff her she backs away. No hooleying around (well not from ebony ;)), squeals or kicks though. good first day i think. Hoping to have a plod out on her tomorrow :)

I'm sure she's just unsettled and feeling a bit weary from the sedative still.

I'm sure she'll improve over the next few days and be more interested in Bim (who couldn't be)

[julia gulia]

Just give her some time to settle in...moving is very stressful for horses anyway. I wouldn't have put the collar on either (just my opinion) I think that for most horses, it just increases their anxiety. Leave her be..she has a friend, she has grass and she has a caring mum;)

By the way, at our barn in Connecticut we had a serious cribber...she is still going strong at twenty nine years old and has never had a sick day;)

[capalldubh]

That does sound stressful, I know I would find it difficult to decide what to do.

I suppose it's worth thinking about how any horse would cope with being moved to a new strange place with new "friends".

My share mare was moved a couple of weeks ago. She doesn't crib, but I know her well enough to know that she still hasn't laid down in the field for any length of time, hasn't been sleeping well, hasn't been rolling much and her poos (TMI) are still quite often sloppy - so I know she's stressed. She just doesn't deal with it by cribbing - she must have some other way of coming to terms with it. Just because it isn't something I can see, doesn't mean it's good - I can see from the hoofprints that she's been pacing up and down the fence line, for example.

So I think although the cribbing is upsetting to watch, because it's so obvious, if she's as stressed by the move as Shannon was by hers, she would find some other way of dealing with the stress hormones, even with a collar on.

Stick it out as best you can - and if her tummy's upset by the stress, she won't feel much like eating anyway - just keep a close eye on her and make sure that some food is getting in from time to time. If she didn't crib, she might still spend the night without eating - it's just that you wouldn't have worried enough to check - do you see what I mean?

[raggydoll]

Thankyou - i knew i could rely on my nr chums for some reassurance :)

I do have some hay perhaps if shes the same tomorrow i'll try that.

Shes not actually poo'd since she got here either - im presuming thats stress too. Apart from the cribbing shes very laid back for a stressed horse though, but then so was bim, i didnt even realise it at the time but i can see it now in hind sight.

[Jessey]

I think you have to let her do it, if you were to prevent her it would only increase her stress levels and could make her feel worse.
I would perhaps try giving her a probiotic in her feed for a couple of weeks, making sure everything is good in her belly (cribbing and lack of grazing coudd unbalance things) will help her feel more comfortable.
I would also give her rescue remedy for a few days, it should help her deal with all the change thats happened, reducing her stress levels and hopefully the cribbing along with it.

J x