Causes of cribbing

Thank you very much for “New Thinking About Cribbing” (EQUUS 487), which explains that cribbing is a coping mechanism some horses use to deal with less-than-optimal management conditions. As an animal behaviorist, I have worked with cribbing horses. I find it useful to distinguish between the reasons why horses might start cribbing (“initiating factors”) and why they might

continue once they have started (“maintaining factors”).

As your article explained, cribbing is a way of coping with chronic stress, and we as humans force several huge life changes on horses that cause both acute and chronic stress---weaning foals, sending young horses away for training, rehousing them after a sale, etc.---especially when we do not allow them to engage in natural behaviors, such as grazing and socializing with a herd.

For example, consider the newly weaned foal who may be kept alone in a stall and fed hay and concentrates on a human schedule. The foal misses his mother and the continuous source of food and company she offers. After an initial acute stress reaction (calling for her), the foal may start to soothe himself by walking around the box and finding things to nibble on, such as the stall door. These may develop into the stereotypic behaviors of stall walking, weaving and cribbing.

As owners, we might not see the foal behaving this way because he stops as soon as we show up. When the foal is turned out with other horses, the stressrelated behavior will stop. Later, if a horse is subjected to new stresses--confinement to a stall in isolation, training, feed changes, movement to a new home, etc.---he may again display stress-related behaviors. And if he is placed in a living situation that creates chronic stress---confined in a stall with little or no turnout where he might not be able to even see his neighbors, fed only a few times a day with little hay--the stress-related behaviors, such as cribbing, may become chronic as well. Even after the living situation is improved, a horse who has learned to crib to cope with stress may continue the behavior.

So how can we minimize the initiating factors and thus prevent a horse learning to crib? We can improve the weaning, training and housing of horses with more respect for their natural behavioral needs. For example, when a foal and his mother are separated, place the foal in a herd with other foals as well as at least one familiar, friendly older companion. When stabling a horse, give him the opportunity to see and touch other horses.

I have seen a lot of dedicated cribbers who stopped completely or almost completely when given free access to hay, companions and turnout. Margriet Dijkstra, MSc, PGDip, AAB Lienden, The Netherlands

I enjoyed the article on cribbing. I have had a few horses in my barn over the years and find that the habit has never caused any harm except to my barn and fences.

However, I did have an over-20 gelding pick up the habit from a new pony to the barn. They became buddies, and when the pony was cribbing on something, the older gelding would stand next to him and gulp air without putting his mouth on anything. I’d had the gelding for years before the pony arrived, and he had never cribbed.

I also had an Anglo mare start cribbing after she turned 3 years old. Her sire, a Thoroughbred, cribbed constantly, and at that time he was the only horse in the barn who did. The mare and her sire were never in close proximity to each other. I think that cribbing can be genetically linked, but to my knowledge none of this stallion’s other offspring picked up the habit. Louise H. Lester Raymond, Maine