ridecamp@endurance.net: cribbing

cribbing

Victoria A Thompson (toriandsteve@juno.com)
Tue, 25 Mar 1997 22:40:45 EST

Susan,

My QH mare is a cribber too, and I knew it when I bought her. Before I
moved her to my new barn you could completely control her cribbing with a
piece of string around her neck. No more. The mare in the stall next to
her is a notorious cribber and got my mare back into the habit. The only
crib collar she can't get out of is the Miracle Collar, but I had to make
it so tight to prevent her from cribbing it wore huge gouges out of her
jowls. So, I had to take other measures. I electrified the top rail of
her paddock, wrapped wire between the top and second rail, blocked off
access to the edge of her feeder with buckets, put more wire across the
top of her feeder, made a wire "gate" to go across the top of her stall
door when I leave the top half open so she can socialize. Every time I
block access to one crib spot she finds another. All because of the mare
next door. The owner of the mare next door does nothing to check her
horses cribbing, and doesn't believe cribbing will lead to colic or
damage teeth. I, on the other hand, do believe. Crib collars do work,
but you have to keep looking until you find the right one for your horse.

With all the trouble I've gone through to prevent Taffy from cribbing
(and I'm still working on it), I'd definitely buy her all over again. If
I ever come across a horse that is perfect for me in every way, but
cribs, I'll buy the horse and deal with the habit. Buy the horse, crib
proof her stall, and give her lots of toys to play with. The more
exercise and attention my mare gets the less she cribs. It's kind of a
pain in the rear at first, but once you find all of crib spots and
"de-crib" them it's not a problem. Cribbers also tend to be wood chewers
too, so if you have wood fences you'll need to either wrap them in hog
wire or electrify them.

The mare next to Taffy is 14 years old and has never coliced, so it isn't
necessarily true that your horse will colic if it cribs. Any habit can
be dealt with as long as this horse is really the one that is right for
you, or should I say your child and hubby. By the way, those spray-on
stop chewing/cribbing products are worthless (even the ones made with
cayenne pepper).

Let us know what you decide.

Tori

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