Cribbing is a vice where the horse will grasp a horizontal object with his teeth, tighten his neck muscles, and suck in air with a grunt. There are some that believe this causes an endorphin release in the horse and is a result of some sort of pain, nutritional deficiency, or digestive problems.

In order to prevent and help this vice it’s best to make sure your horse has ample and frequent roughage, doesn’t have stomach ulcers, has all his nutritional needs met by minerals and supplements, is not in any physical pain, and that mentally he is content with his environment and his job and there are no unnecessary stressors.

A lot of people say that once a horse starts cribbing there is no way to stop it. There are alternative methods to help the horse stop the vice such as cribbing collars, muzzles, or hot-wiring the horse’s paddock.

(photo By dora1977 - Self-photographed, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5...

~ Saddle Up