Cribbing - What Are the Causes?

The habit of cribbing is notoriously hard to breakthat cribbers will teach other horses to pick up
and can greatly reduce a horse's resale value.the habit: "Don't hide them in the back of the
Roughly 300,000 horses in the U.S. are cribbers,barn....you'll just make them miserable in isolation
among them 2.5 percent of all Thoroughbreds.and probably make the situation worse."
Research as to the reasons why horses crib isMy own experience supports this. Rubesca was
ongoing.the only one of my four horses who cribbed. Her
DefinitionThoroughbred colt never picked up the habit, and
The term 'cribbing' (or 'crib-biting') is loosely usedhe was with her 24/7 (excluding his weaning
to cover two distinct behaviors -- namely the realperiod) together with the other two geldings. All
thing and a separate habit, windsucking. Whenfour horses formed a tightly knit family for eight
cribbing a horse grabs a solid object such as ayears-- both in the stall and in the field. None of
fence rail or stable door between his incisors,the other three ever exhibited the slightest
depresses his tongue and swallows air.interest in cribbing.
'Windsucking' doesn't involve grasping anything inGenetic Predisposition
order to swallow air. The horse closes its mouth,Research suggests some horses have a
arches its neck and forces air down thehereditary component which predisposes them to
esophagus with a gulping sound. For the purposeschronic stress, and as a result to cribbing.
if this article I shall use the term 'cribbing' to coverThis explains to me why so many Thoroughbreds
both behaviors.contract the habit, as they tend to be highly
Boredom and Stressstrung. Many owners of cribbers in forums I
There is continuing research into the causes ofvisited had what are known as 'OTTB's or 'Off
cribbing, but boredom and stress are accepted asthe Track Thoroughbreds.' During his career a
major contributing factors. I can testify to thisracehorse spends almost all his time in the stall, a
with my own Thoroughbred mare. At ageperfect environment for boredom and stress.
fourteen she injured a tendon with her previousOne owner discovered his cribber came from a
owners and was turned out for two years. Duringfamily of cribbers. Several among the progeny of
that time her field buddies were brought inhis horse's sire cribbed, as did the sire's full
overnight, leaving her alone -- bored and stressed.brother. This does suggest there may be some
Before long she became an inveterate cribber.truth to the hereditary argument.
Gastric AcidityWhat Can Be Done to Help?
Some research suggests that cribbers have aAs Dr. Houpt says, it would be so much better
high acid level in their stomachs and attempt tofor the horse if we determined the cause of the
neutralize it with an additional flow of alkaline saliva.cribbing and 'removed the stimulus rather than
Another theory associates cribbing with feedingpunish the horse.' Crib collars have varied success
concentrate rations. According to Katherine A.in preventing the behavior. They never worked
Houpt, director of Cornell's Animal Behavior Clinic,with Rubesca: she cribbed whatever she had on -
high-concentrate diets may cause increased acid inMiracle collar included. From what I've read, she
the horse's stomach and/or large intestine.was not unusual in this.
Cribbing may be a response to the resulting pain.Mechanical methods don't stop a horse from
Dr. Houpt thinks an added culprit could be thewanting to crib and many of them cause more
sweet taste of the feed, leading to a release ofpain. I eventually took the collar off my
opiates which induce cribbing.Thoroughbred and let her crib to her heart's
My Thoroughbred would crib immediately aftercontent. She was so fantastic in every other way
eating concentrates and I've read of other horsesthat I felt she deserved the right to her 'vice.' Dr.
which do the same. This supports Dr. Houpt's ideaArcher advocates turning a cribber out as much
and she is currently investigating an easy-to-followas possible and keeping forage in front of them
dietary treatment for cribbing horses which wouldto "reduce their overall stress."
still be high-performance. Meanwhile she suggestsThere is no proof that cribbing causes colic.
feeding lots of hay and oats rather than sweetWould You Buy A Horse That Cribs?
feed.When selling a horse to a friend who worked for
Note: I also read of one instance where the horsea well-known Dutch inventor, I felt compelled to
cribbed because of stomach ulcers, so it's worthbe honest and confess to the famous man that
investigating this cause, too.my horse would weave through anxiety for the
Learned Behavior?first few days, then stop.
When looking for a boarding barn for my horses IHe laughed. "If you could see the vices some of
faced strong prejudice against cribbers. Besidesmy horses have! All I care about is how they
destruction of their property, owners were afraidbehave under saddle. If they're good, the rest
my mare would teach the habit to otherdoesn't matter."
boarders. One barn owner alleged that his horsesHaving owned a chronic cribber, I concur. The
learned the vice within two weeks of a cribbersame friends who warned me against taking a
arriving.horse with this vice soon changed their tune when
An article in Equus, September 2008, mentionsthey watched Rubesca win one-day-event after
research by Debra Archer, BVMS, PhD, of theanother and almost all her dressage classes, right
University of Liverpool in England. In a studyuntil her death at age twenty-six. They said they
published in Equine Veterinary Journal, May 2008,would never let the fact that a horse cribs put
Dr. Archer states there's no scientific evidencethem off, if it were good in every other way.