Cribbing is a self-soothing behavior that involves a horse grasping a solid object, such as a fence rail, with his incisor teeth, arching his neck, and contracting his lower neck muscles while sucking in air with a grunt.
Cribbing is considered a vice, as it can be destructive to property, wear down the horse’s incisors, develop undesirable under-neck muscles, and reduce the value of your horse.
Cribbing is often mitigated by collars, sprays, electric fence wires, and sometimes by reducing stomach acid. Collars may need to be so tight to work that they potentially cause damage to the skin, nerves and airflow.
Reducing stomach acid may temporarily decrease cribbing, but it may also be contrary to the needs of some horses.
Common causes of cribbing are understood to be boredom, stress, anxiety, diet and habit. Below we’ll bring to light another cause, and a remedy for it.
Three Cribbers, Two Solutions
Over a couple of decades, I have had three cribbers—all off-track Thoroughbreds (OTTBs). The first two horses completely stopped cribbing with diet and lifestyle changes that effectively removed the physical, mental, and emotional discomforts that caused their anxiety and addressed boredom. (Those specific changes are highlighted later in this article.)
A third cribber presented a greater challenge. The diet and lifestyle changes that worked for the others were not quite enough to address his issues of discomfort. I noticed that certain foods and treats caused immediate cribbing, so I eliminated some of the triggers. Basically, any treats (apples, carrots, cookies, et cetera), complete feeds, and ration balancers all caused immediate cribbing.
Wrong Answers
I begrudgingly put a collar on him. The collar worked initially—until it didn’t. I tightened it. It worked a little longer and then it didn’t. I tightened it once more with the same result.
When swelling under the horse’s jaw began, I removed the collar and let him crib at will. Electric fence was used in places to avoid him self-soothing in those locations.
It was clear this horse was cribbing to seek comfort. The question was, why?
I tried reducing his stomach acid by using Omeprazole, a proton pump inhibitor (PPI). It reduced the cribbing to some degree, but is not a good long-term solution for physiological and financial reasons.
Light Bulb Moment
One day, my sister was talking about her heartburn and how her throat was on fire and that sucking air in helped cool it, if only for a moment.
I immediately thought, “My horse has GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease) and is trying to alleviate a burning in his throat.”
Heartburn, or GERD, is the result of stomach acid ascending into the esophagus, resulting in pain or a burning feeling. Heartburn usually occurs after eating. If your horse always cribs during and/or after eating, this may be his problem, too.
Stomach acid gets up into the esophagus because the lower esophageal sphincter (LES) does not close properly. The common cause of this malfunction is low stomach acid. Therefore PPIs like Omeprazole or antacids like Tums and even baking soda being given to lower stomach acid may contribute to cribbing or windsucking. Long-term use of stomach acid suppressors may make it more challenging to recover proper function of the LES.
While some publications found online will indicate PPIs as appropriate for the treatment of GERD, other online articles and videos implicate low stomach acid in reflux. The latter anecdotally proved true in my barn.
The Solution
My horse’s cribbing has been reduced by well over 90 percent by addressing the discomfort he was experiencing with GERD, along with the diet and lifestyle changes that resulted in stopping the other two other horses’ cribbing.
The GERD discomfort was mitigated by adding three dietary ingredients mixed into his feed to coat his throat and esophagus. Those ingredients (listed below) were all organic; however, non-organic might work as well. Initially, this was done twice per day, and eventually added to just one feeding per day.
NOTE: Competitive riders should check with their sport’s governing bodies to ensure all things ingested by their horse are permitted, or if a period of withdrawal is needed for any single ingredient.
These are the dietary and lifestyle changes that helped conquer cribbing in my barn.
Dietary Changes for Cribbing
First, I provided three kinds of quality hay, as horses eat more with variety. Each horse always has access to hay and/or grass. Hay kept on hand usually consists of one first cutting and two second-cutting grass hays.
Next, I cut sugars and other unwanted ingredients proven to trigger cribbing from the horses’ diets. Thus far, I have only found one feed (Cavalor Strucomix Senior) that doesn’t induce cribbing, and unfortunately it’s cost prohibitive. So, I am still mixing my own feed daily. Of course, trial and error of individual ingredients for cribbing reactions followed by formulating and mixing feeds to ensure a diet complete in all nutrients is time consuming and not feasible for most people.
Finally, I began adding 1 teaspoon each of licorice root powder, marshmallow root powder, and slippery elm bark powder mixed into feed. (This step is likely only effective for some horses that crib during and/or directly after feeding.)
Lifestyle Changes for Cribbing
As mentioned before, lifestyle changes alone were enough to stop cribbing in two of the three horses. Here are the changes I made to their management:
1. Ensure as much freedom and movement as possible. All are afforded freedom to walk out of their stalls at any time and into paddocks as weather permits. The only time they choose to stay inside is during bug season.
2. Maximize turnout with at least one well-suited pasture mate. Having horses across the fence during turnout will not suffice for some horses.
Not every horse owner will be able to implement all the changes outlined here due to their facilities or other constraints. Not every horse will need them all. And still others may have an unknown discomfort that needs to be addressed.
If your cribber is most active during and/or after eating, that may be a clue of discomfort caused by GERD. Addressing physical, mental, and emotional discomfort and boredom may eliminate cribbing or at least greatly reduce it.
This article about cribbing appeared in the June 2024 issue of Horse Illustrated magazine. Click here to subscribe!
