Cribbing--does it ever go away

[Countryclips]

Just for fun I always look at Craigslist and yesterday saw a Paso Fino for sale. I have all gaited horses so I read the ad. A mare that is 10 and not yet trained- light cribber only on metal. She looks sucked up in the flank and thin, very kind eye. The owner sent me a picture of her sitting on the horse and she is relaxed and resting a hind leg. I have never owned a cribber, and wonder if they will quit if no metal in pasture.

[Nezzy]

Cribber's Rarely if ever quit. That said, i always said i'd never own a cribber, and i own one now. B/c he is an amazing horse and i love riding him. If he is NOT bored, he cribs less. IMO- Cribbers are the work-a-holics of the horse world. Good luck deciding.

[Bluey]

You could look at her teeth and if they are very worn from cribbing, she is more than a light cribber and that may eventually affect her, or not.

Cribbing is considered an unsoundness and it is a very irritating vice, if you spend any time at all around your horse, other than just handling and riding it, when it doesn't crib.
I knew a mare that cribbed on the leadrope when tied and turned with others, if they let her, on their necks, or on top of a fence post.:eek:

If you take care of your own horses, spending time in the barn, it can get very annoying to hear that continuous noise.
Cribbing horses are best managed outside, not stalled.

Each one of us has a different threshold for stable vices, cribbing, weaving and such.

If you really like the horse...

[findeight]

NO. It's a liftime habit, think most that do it are hard wired from birth. Now, some of them will do it more when stalled and less when outside but that's just because they get bored and have a little more energy to burn inside.

Otherwise, if you like the horse and it suits? It is manageable, and, IME, others do not "catch" cribbing from a cribber. Think it annoys us more then it hurts them-although it is hard on their teeth.

If your pasture where she will live is free from anything she could get hung up on, a collar will help you out enormously. It's possible that the way she is being managed now (excercise schedual, work, feed etc) is part of her problem and some changes in that can minimize the cribbing.

But it won't ever disappear.

Not a deal breaker for myself and many others if the rest suits.

[Countryclips]

Thanks so much for the replies. Now the question is a horse that is not trained at the age of 10. I have a half Paso now that is super easy to work with I trained him at 3- I love his gaits and willingness to please me. I have yet to see this horse in person and believe me I do not need another horse, but this horse looks like it needs me. Don't they all when they are for sale and the owner does not have a clue how to train them. There are hundreds of great horses for sale now that do not have underlying problems, BUT this might just be a great horse when trained-- It is a Purebred Paso-- But it is a Mare-- I have the room, Hay, and like to train them.... She is a line back Dun.... :confused:
A few more opinions needed--

[saultgirl]

Maybe if she were free.

A horse like that is hard to sell to anyone, what if you need to sell her down the road?

[LOVE*MY*NAGS]

Maybe if she were free.

A horse like that is hard to sell to anyone, what if you need to sell her down the road?

OK ~ that comment got me goin. I own a cribber. I BOUGHT (as in far from free) him. Of course, if I had a choice, I would prefer he didn't crib, but it was far from a deal breaker ~ he's a great, great horse, love him to death. When he's inside (nightly) he wears a collar, does not crib. No big deal.
Don't write her off because she cribs.

[LauraKY]

Depends on how strong a cribbing instinct they have. We had a mare (boarder) who was uncontrollable. We put on a cribbing collar in the pasture after she destroyed a couple of fence boards; then 24/7 after she started to crib on anything in her stall including her bucket and she became very difficult to handle It's a form of obsessive/compulsive behavior, so very difficult to control. I would never intentionally purchase a cribber...too hard to sell and it must be disclosed.

[Bluey]

A tendency to be a cribber seems to be inherited, at least in some lines it is, so you would not want to use a cribbing mare as a broodmare.

[soccermom711]

Maybe if she were free.

A horse like that is hard to sell to anyone, what if you need to sell her down the road?

You really need to keep these things in perspective.......it's too easy to generalize. There are degrees of cribbing. We have a retired OTTB that cribs, but has never damaged ANYTHING. I suppose that must mean he's mild, as cribbers go. The noise he makes while cribbing is very minor - I yell at him if I hear it, but more often than not, it goes unnoticed. I just saw an ad for a new "miracle" collar and I think we'll try that just for the heck of it. He's been pastured and stabled with weanlings, yearlings, etc. Not one has ever picked up the habit - which leads me to believe it's more nature than nurture. However, I believe there may be barns that would discriminate against a cribber, which you may need to keep in mind.

That being said - I think you should know, when considering this purchase - that mild cribbing is not a deal breaker for alot of people. If they love the horse, they will purchase him/her. Our cribber is such a wonderful, smart, kind, handsome, talented gentleman that we have had multiple offers but will not part with him. We are saving him for my daughter to use in Pony Club. He's a great horse in every other way, except for the cribbing, which has no bearing on whether we keep him or not.

I'd say - go meet her. Check her teeth. Check everything else out and if it all works and the cribbing is manageable, then don't let it be a deal breaker. Good luck!

[TrotTrotPumpkn]

I've noticed the genetic aspect of it as well.

I paid quite a bit of money for my cribber! Of course I bought him for his movement, jump, experience and training. He will crib on anything, he'll even try to crib on the leadrope. He's like a crack addict. That said I've had trainers comment that except for the tell-tale rub from the collar, you'd never notice it (some horses develop bad muscles in the neck--he has a nice neck).

He's fine with a miracle collar on (tight). None of the other collars have ever worked. He's also turned out 24 hours a day and that seems to have made the collar work--i.e. pasture and constant hay is your friend.

He's never coliced and he's 15, btw.

[Swampskeeter]

I do not like cribbers, BUT I own one. Got him as a weanling, he started cribbing out of the blue as a 6 yr old. Only in his stall. Does not crib with a collar on, very easy to manage. Does not crib in pasture or when turned out in metal round pen. Does not crib on feed tub (it is rubber) Or on water buckets. Just cribs on metal that is on stall door between the bars. So it all depends on the individual.

[Renn/aissance]

Depends on how strong a cribbing instinct they have.

This. Also, depends why they crib.

My horse John was a habitual cribber. He would crib off the wall, off his buckets, off his stall guard. He was a good learner and figured out quickly that when he cribbed, someone would throw him a flake of hay to keep him off the wood (he tended to lose his collar in the field.) Once we extinguished that response and put him in a field with a line of electric so he didn't need to wear and lose his collar in turnout, he got much better, and when the response was completely gone and his ulcers were treated, he cribbed less. About a year after I got him, he did not need to wear his Miracle Collar very often and barely cribbed at all.

On the other hand my sister's horse Amigo is an incorrigible cribber who lives in a nutcracker strap, which he loses as often as he possibly can. For him it is a nervous habit. We have treated his ulcers, we have tried to suit his environment to his neuroses, we have given him hay to try to distract him, but he prefers the endorphin response of cribbing to the hay and he just won't quit.

And for the record, both of them are/were worth good money, especially the incorrigible cribber, who is quite fancy. It is not a deal breaker for me so long as they can be controlled with a collar. Go see the mare and evaluate her, and if everything looks good except the cribbing, if it were me I would buy her!

[katarine]

I passed over a confirmed cribber who is:

a 9 YO mare
who lives outside in a heavenly environment with two other mares and has for 2 years
lives in 24/7 turnout and run in shed
enjoys excellent care
hasn't been ridden in 4 years.

and she is a CRIBBIN' SOMEBODY.

No thanks, honestly.

[MoonPie730]

One of my horses was put into a stall at a young age. Ended up learning to crib. We turned her out for a couple of years, brought her back to a stall. At first she was cribbing but after putting a cribbing collar back on her, she stopped cribbing whether the collar is on or off. It's weird bc the collar didn't make a difference when she was younger. She would still constantly try, even if she couldn't suck the air in. Now however, she doesn't even bother. So I am a believer that horses can stop. MOST horses don't and I am not saying that my mare will never try again, I am not around her 24-7, but I haven't seen her do it since the collar was put back on her.

I don't really understand why people are so passionate about the cribbing issue. I think chewing is a much more destructive habit and the two don't always go hand and hand.

[katarine]

One of my horses was put into a stall at a young age. Ended up learning to crib. We turned her out for a couple of years, brought her back to a stall. At first she was cribbing but after putting a cribbing collar back on her, she stopped cribbing whether the collar is on or off. It's weird bc the collar didn't make a difference when she was younger. She would still constantly try, even if she couldn't suck the air in. Now however, she doesn't even bother. So I am a believer that horses can stop. MOST horses don't and I am not saying that my mare will never try again, I am not around her 24-7, but I haven't seen her do it since the collar was put back on her.

I don't really understand why people are so passionate about the cribbing issue. I think chewing is a much more destructive habit and the two don't always go hand and hand.

Because it can be maddeningly noisy and distracting. Want to hang out in the barn hall while horses munch hay? Enduring that nasty windsucking sound at the same time? for me, no. The mare I turned down had cribbing surgery for heaven's sake. she's addicted.

My boss picks at his cuticles during meetings. It's gross. When I can, I conference in from my desk. What I can't see, can't bother me in that case. With a cribber, I feel the same- I don't want to hear or see it, so I don't buy it ( my horses are at home).

[saultgirl]

OK ~ that comment got me goin. I own a cribber. I BOUGHT (as in far from free) him. Of course, if I had a choice, I would prefer he didn't crib, but it was far from a deal breaker ~ he's a great, great horse, love him to death. When he's inside (nightly) he wears a collar, does not crib. No big deal.
Don't write her off because she cribs.

Not just because she cribs -- 10yr old, not broke, cribber.

I know there are very expensive, fancy horses who crib!

[Meredith Clark]

My 10 year old Gelding "stopped" cribbing this summer. His cribbing was stress related and I moved him to a very quiet barn where he was out 24/7 with tons of grass. Even if he stood by the fence he wouldn't crib on it, he just sort of lost the urge. His teeth have even started to grow back ! (they were seriously nubbins)

However, I'd be willing to be a bundle that if I had to stall him, or if something stressful happened (like if one of his buddies moved fields) he'd fall off the wagon :lol:

For my horse it's all about management.

[egontoast]

A tendency to be a cribber seems to be inherited, at least in some lines it is, so you would not want to use a cribbing mare as a broodmare.

I don't think that is necessarily true. Sometimes cribbing is related to ulcers.

If you don't want a cribber, don't buy one hoping she will change.

[Mimi La Rue]

Most likely she will crib the rest of her life. I have never heard of a horse stop cribbing, but I am sure there are some who have. I think really it all comes down to your preference on cribbing. Some people hate it and would never buy a cribber, but some people realize that there are awesome horses that happen to crib. If you don't mind the cribbing, then I wouldn't worry too much about it. I haven't ever owned a cribber but I have looked at cribbers to buy in the past but ended up not buying them for reasons other than their cribbing habit.

A new horse just moved next to my horse that cribs. At first I was a little PO'ed thinking it would annoy me to no end, but I have gotten used to it and really don't even notice anymore. He also seems to crib only when I first come down or when my horse returns back to his stall. Once everything is settled down he will stop. They all seem to have their own reason on why they do it.

[findeight]

Honestly, the 10 year old, unbroke and, possibly, the fact it's a mare are much more of a yellow light then the fact it cribs. That will be the least of your challenges if you get this one.

[carrie_girl]

My guy is a confirmed cribber. It doesn't really bother me though because as long as he is wearing his Miracle Collar, he doesn't do it. He will crib right through nutcracker collars though, the Miracle is the only one that I've found to work. To me, cribbing is definitely not a deal breaker, and as others have mentioned there are other more destructive vices (stall walking, wood chewing, kicking, etc).