Are There Any Horse Cribbing Home Remedies?

Are There Any Home Remedies for Horse Cribbing

By nature, horses want to nibble and graze. In the wild, they keep themselves occupied by wandering and grazing. Unfortunately, the domesticated horse may be stabled most of the time, eating and drinking only when he’s fed or watered and exercising only when taken out of the stable. In such situations, the horse’s natural grazing instincts are somewhat satisfied by substitute behaviors, such as “cribbing” or “wind sucking”.

A cribbing horse will anchor his upper front teeth onto the stall door, partition or post. Then he tenses up his neck and facial muscles, retracts his larynx (voice box), and gulps down air. A wind sucker flexes his neck, gulps air, and emits a grunting sound.

According to equine veterinarians, cribbing is a horse’s way of managing his innate desire to nibble, after he’s already eaten his daily allotment of food. These experts contend that putting a horse on pellets, hay cubes or mostly grain can actually aggravate the situation. With this feeding method, the horse will be able to consume his food in a short amount of time. Unfortunately, this doesn’t satisfy his need to nibble.

Once a horse starts to crib or wind suck, he can become addicted to the behavior. This endorphin release is almost like getting a narcotic high and so the horse keeps going back for another dose. While factors such as diet or boredom can get a horse started, the behavior may persist when the horse experiences the endorphin release.

Most stable owners use restraining devices like a cribbing collar or strap to discourage their horses from cribbing or wind sucking. Others have resorted to surgery which produced only mixed results.

Other horse owners have used home remedies to treat cribbers and suckers. Most of these remedies are based on the premise that the horse is suffering from some kind of mineral deficiency. According to them, cribbing, wind sucking as well as wood chewing are symptoms of this mineral deficiency (usually copper).

Here are some of the known home remedies for cribbing and wind sucking:

1. Try giving your horses some salt and minerals in their diet or put a mineral and salt block in their stalls or pasture.
2. Try adding one to two teaspoons of copper sulphate to your horse’s feed each day.
3. Other supplements to give to your horse include: dolomite, seaweed meal, some garlic, a few drops of cod liver oil, some molasses, extra Vitamin A, and a small amount of slightly moist Lucerne chaff.
4. A popular home remedy is to add an ounce of apple cider vinegar to the horse’s grain to discourage cribbing and wind sucking as well as wood chewing.

Unfortunately, there are no scientific studies to support the efficacy of these home remedies. Their popularity has solely been based on testimonials posted by stable owners and horse enthusiasts on online forum sites or through word of mouth.

Related posts:

1. Why Do Horses Pass Out From Cribbing?
2. Are “wind sucking” and “cribbing” the same thing?
3. How do you prevent horses from cribbing?
4. Do Cribbing Collars Work?