Learn About Horse Cribbers

While it used to be believed that horses learn cribbing from others, that doesn't seem to be the case. Before you buy a horse, foal, donkey, or mule that cribs, make sure you are willing to deal with the damage to fences, trees, and stables and cope with some health risks that may come with cribbing.

What Is Cribbing?

Cribbing is characterized by a horse grabbing a horizontal object with its upper incisors and pulling against the object with an arched neck. Then the horse sucks in a large amount of air and makes a characteristic grunting sound.

Interestingly, cribbing is not a habit seen in wild horses. The thinking is that cribbing has a lot to do with how a horse is maintained. Boredom, temperament, stress, diet, and genetics may play a part in developing the vice.1

Cribbing seems to start mostly in younger horses about several months old or so. To reduce the risk of cribbing, you can make sure the young horse spends as much time as possible on pasture and has a lot of social contact with other horses. There is some evidence to suggest that certain grain diets may increase the risk of this habit developing.

Can Cribbing Hurt the Horse?

There is no doubt that cribbing can have a negative impact on a horse's health. It can increase a horse's risk of getting colic or stomach ulcers.2 Also, excessive tooth wear may also affect the ability of older cribbers to eat properly. Cribbing may also result in weight loss; some horses may prefer to crib than eat. Alternatively, it is thought that excess air in the stomach from cribbing may decrease a horse's appetite.3