AppyButt wrote:
He will crib until the end of his days. You can attempt to thwart it, impede it, or reduce it, but all will fail. Put him in a pen that he can't destroy (no wood!) and just let him do it. Unless he shows signs of colic, I wouldn't bother with a cribbing collar.

A confirmed cribber will crib even when out on acres and acres of grass. It's a behavior they learn to do (generally while confined on a high grain diet) and if they get to do it long enough, it becomes crystallized and there's not much you can do about it. It's a soothing behavior, and those are the hardest to break b/c the animal LIKES doing it and gets upset when he cannot do it. It's like nail-biting, hair twirling, jewelry twisting (I can't leave my rings alone) or any other little bad habit a person develops.

Horses can and do gain weight even though they crib. Turning him out in a big paddock or pasture with lots of good hay can help decrease the frequency. If his mouth is busy munching hay it's hard to crib. If he's running around and playing with his buddies it's hard to crib. But you won't ever totally eliminate it.

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I very much agree with AppyButt. I have a Thoroughbred that cribs, and he has never colicked on me. His front teeth have worn down to little stubs at his old age (he's 20), but he is still able to grass and is in good weight. I know some horses that do colic from cribbing, and if that is the case I support trying cribbing collars and other deterrents. If he's like my boy, and you don't mind the silly noise and the marks it leaves on the wood, then I don't really see a problem with letting him crib. There are many who disagree with me (my own trainer included), but that's my opinion.

Oh, and for the record, cribbing has NOT spread to my other horses in my barn. They have been turned out all day with him for 2 1/2 years now and I have never seen my 3 other horses try to crib.

From what I have been told, cribbing is not great for show horses because it develops an "unattractive" neck muscle, which is true.. you can easily spot a big cribber by looking at the top of its neck. But I don't know if judges really use that against you in hunter classes, equitation, etc. I have also been told that this muscle "makes it harder for the horse to bend at the poll and collect" .. but I'm not convinced. My horse does not seem to have any trouble.

Here is the thread on my Thoroughbred - you can see he is in decent weight and you can try to spot the muscling I was talking about, although it might be hard in these pictures!
http://fhotd64476.yuku.com/topic/13952

Good for you for taking in a cribber! Welcome to the club :-)