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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 1062
 
Location: Probably On the Road to the Next Barrel Race! | |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1062
Location: Probably On the Road to the Next Barrel Race! | bump |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 503
| Cribbing is when a horse places it's teeth on an object and sucks air in. It doesn't bother some people but it bugs the crap out of me, probably because we had one destroy many of our fence posts. In my experience, some of these horses aren't integrated as much with the herd and get beat up on because they spend most of their time cribbing, but that's also a pretty severe case. Cribbing has also been said to be linked to stomach ulcers. So for me, it would devalue a horse and I would have to really like the horse for me to put up with them. |
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 Not Afraid to Work
Posts: 4717
 
| It is a vice which depending on the person it can decrease the value since its just something to deal with. Cribbing basically is when a horse chews on things, typically fencing and stalls. It causes damage to property. Some can be difused with collars, some they dont seem to phase. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 927
Location: Iowa | Research the old threads on this. There will be a variety of opinions. I own a cribber and I can deal with it. |
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 Toy Story Fanatic
Posts: 4148
Location: Oregon | As said above...there are a variety of opinions. My mare in my avatar cribbed after I retired her. Never did before that. I hated it and she knew she shouldn't. All I had to do was say her name and she would stop. It will destroy your barn. NOT because they chew but because when they latch on to suck air it gradually destroys the wood. Also, I have 2 more in my barn. They did not pick up that habit. She lived 28 yrs and luckily she never coliced because of her cribbing..which is a possibility I have heard. |
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 Expert
Posts: 1229
Location: Royal J Performance Horses, AZ | destruction of property, high chance of colic, ulcers, annoying, can some times teach other horses, can usually only be stopped with a collar or electric fence.
Yeah i'd say it devalues one... I wont have one in my barn, you couldn't pay me to keep one. |
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Sock Snob
Posts: 3021
| I have a retired mare who is about 20 cribbed for 17 years not bad, but i did find out by accident it was ulcers. So i feed her an ulcer diet and she cribbs very lightly. She does not cribb much at all very seldon in the barn. Her baby does not. I would say depend on how bad cribbing was. I would treat for ulcers see if it would help. |
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The Advice Guru
Posts: 6419
| Unless the horse is winning everything, yes it devalues the horse. There are many horses available without problems, I would not buy a cribber. |
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 You get what you give
Posts: 13030
Location: Texas | wood chewing and cribbing are different. i find wood chewing to be way more destructive than cribbing. my cribber cribs on one spot on his stall.. my wood chewer eats wood everywhere.
It has made it harder to sell my gelding because he's a cribber, some people don't want to deal with it. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 582
| Do cribbers get a "high" from this behavior or is it something they do as a nervous habit, like chewing your fingernails? Just curious. |
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 I Chore in Chucks
Posts: 2882
Location: MD | I have a wood chewer and have dealt with severe cribbers. I'll deal with a chewer any day vs a cribber. The sound is disgusting and if they do it constantly it would drive me crazy. my chewer bites the posts around his stall when I'm coming in to feed him and that's pretty much it, yes it looks bad but I keep him in the same stall and same paddock so it doesn't destroy everything.
so IMO I would never buy a cribber, a chewer wouldn't bother me. |
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 Expert
Posts: 1898
| Wind sucking is thought to release endorphins into the blood stream leaving the horse with a brief since of euphoria.
For many years it was thought that cribbing caused pot bellys and skinny horses because the air fills the stomach and gut leaving the horse feeling full. It is now understood that both physical appearances are directly related to ulcers rather than air.
My sister has a gelding that was a terrible cribber, we started to treat him for ulcers and now he has almost completely stopped, almost.
Cribbers tend to be creatures of habit and will usually suck off of the same spot in their stall, corral or pen. They are not overly destructive unless the fencing is unstable and the horse is able to pull down railings and posts.
Chronic cribbers will wear their front teeth down causing dental problems if their dental needs are neglected. |
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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 422
Location: Fort Bragg North Carolina | personally YES absolutely |
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 Chasin my Dream
Posts: 13651
Location: Alberta | I think all depends on person buying and the horse, you wont find a discipline (I guarantee that doesnt have horses that crib due to whatever) ....for example race horses! I heard of people curing it and others just managing it...so... |
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 Pork Fat is my Favorite
Posts: 3791
Location: The Oklahoma plains. | Yes it is a deal breaker for many- it does devalue them overall in the horse industry.
I do think it is a combo of habit and a high- like smoking cigarettes.
I have owned two and do not like having a cribber but neither ever coliced and neither taught the other horses to do it. |
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 Famous for Not Complaining
Posts: 8848
Location: Broxton, Ga | If they cut the clock off.......and don't crib around the barrel.........I don't care.........I own 2 and sometimes my mare will get a crib in right before we run if she has a chance........lol!
If cribbing caused colic all cribber would be dead..........
Both of mine are controlled with a collar............
Woodchewing by far does more damage. |
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 Expert
Posts: 4625
Location: Desert Land | The act of cribbing does bother me. However, I have owned several and have been able to successfully "cure" their cribbing when treating them for ulcers and keeping hay in front of them 24/7. As one posted above said...they think others will learn to do it too...I have literally NEVER experienced another horse start doing it as a result of picking up on it from another horse. Every cribber I have ever owned came to me as a cribber already (all but 1 had disclosed this to me at time of purchase). I have owned several and they are mostly all kept in a herd environment - broodmares, their babies and older horses. One of my broodmares had been a cribber and none of her foals ever imitated the behavior.
I have never de-valued a horse because of it's cribbing. If someone wanted to buy a horse from me and expected a discount because it had been a cribber in the past, I would keep the horse. I've sold 2 that cribbed with no issues and I have one that some people are interested in buying (despite her cribbing) should I decide to sell. |
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Expert
Posts: 4625
Location: Desert Land | CJE - 2014-03-19 7:39 AM If they cut the clock off.......and don't crib around the barrel.........I don't care.........I own 2 and sometimes my mare will get a crib in right before we run if she has a chance........lol!
If cribbing caused colic all cribber would be dead..........
Both of mine are controlled with a collar............
Woodchewing by far does more damage.
Cribbing can cause gas colic. When I first got one of my broodmares and didn't know the was a cribber - I had her turned out and never seen her do it and seller didn't tell me...well when I sent her to the ranch to be bred and they had her up in a pen, she went crib crazy and had to be treated for gas colic twice. Of course it's not to say all cribbing all the time WILL cause it, but it CAN cause it. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 1056
| most serious consequence of cribbing is the wearing of their front teeth which they need for pulling grass which affects their foraging ability which affects nutrition/health. teeth can be completely worn down to nubs. Do whatever it takes to discourage it. all American tack sells the best cribbing collar. |
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