How Do Cribbing Collars Work?

How Do Cribbing Collars Work?

Stable owners and people who love and own horses have many ways of dealing with a horse that cribs. Unfortunately, most of these methods in dealing with horse cribbing have produced mixed results.

What exactly is “cribbing”? Cribbing is when a horse swallows air, also often referred to as “wind sucking”. Some horses crib by grasping an object, such as a fence post or board with their upper teeth, then arching their necks and pulling usually making a gasping sound or grunting noise. Cribbing or wind sucking is a vice and it can be a very hard habit to break.

There are many reasons for horses to crib: boredom, stress, and a lack of exercise are the most common reasons to date. Horses that are kept in a stall for any length of time are more likely to pick up this habit than horses raised in a pasture.

As much as possible, let your horse out to pasture with as much acreage as you can afford. If you have just one horse, you may want to consider getting another horse for a companion. Goats often make great companions and are less expensive.

Another popular method is to use a “cribbing collar” or strap. You can find these at your local feed store or where you buy gear for your horses. The cribbing collar is a leather strap that fits around your horse’s neck with a Y shaped metal plate, which covers the bottom of his neck. The cribbing collar constrains the neck muscles each time your horse attempts to crib. Several stable owners have reported that it actually deters the cribbing behavior in most of their horses.

A cribbing collar works in preventing your horse from expanding his neck muscles, which he needs for cribbing. It also restrains your horse from breathing in very deeply, so he can no longer get the pleasure-producing effect he seeks whenever he cribs. When he finds that there’s no way to get “high” (an effect produced from the release of endorphins), he’ll stop chewing.

Unfortunately, it is doubtful whether it will also work for “wood chewing”, which is another undesirable behavior of horses. Horses don’t have to expand their muscles to chew wood. So it’s doubtful whether you’ll have much success with a cribbing collar.

Related posts:

1. Do cribbing sprays work?
2. What is the Best Anti-Cribbing Collar?
3. Are There Any Horse Cribbing Home Remedies?
4. Do Cribbing Collars Work?