# Crib-proofing a pasture



## Burning Down the House (Aug 6, 2012)

Our new horse is a bit of a cribber. I'm trying to make a pasture that he cannot crib in. I've raised the canopy of the trees so he cannot reach them. The pasture is ribbon fenced with mostly flexible poles just pushed in the ground, but there are also PVC pipe poles for stability and they are at a perfect height for him to crib on. I was thinking of making those poles too tall for him to crib on (6 feet maybe). I don't know what would be left for him to crib on in there so, unless he started wind-sucking we should be able to turn him out without a collar and without worrying about him cribbing. 

Whatcha think?


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## Janna (Apr 19, 2012)

Burning Down the House said:


> Our new horse is a bit of a cribber. I'm trying to make a pasture that he cannot crib in. I've raised the canopy of the trees so he cannot reach them. The pasture is ribbon fenced with mostly flexible poles just pushed in the ground, but there are also PVC pipe poles for stability and they are at a perfect height for him to crib on. I was thinking of making those poles too tall for him to crib on (6 feet maybe). I don't know what would be left for him to crib on in there so, unless he started wind-sucking we should be able to turn him out without a collar and without worrying about him cribbing.
> 
> Whatcha think?


Electric fence? 

bet he won't try that again. Haha


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## DancingArabian (Jul 15, 2011)

You'd be surprised. I know one horse who breaks the electrical tape and intentionally holds it in his mouth and gets zapped each time it pulses.
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## DrumRunner (Jan 26, 2011)

Personally I have a cribber/wind sucker and I've talked to my vet many times about it and she's just told me as long as it's not hurting my horse or her health to not really worry about it much just keep an eye on it. Nothing works for my mare - collars, supplements, sprays.. nothing.. So I just let her do it and she has two spots on our wooden posts..One where she eats and another odd post she likes to sit at.. I just watch her and make sure her health stays the same and she maintains a good weight without any problems.. I've had her 3 years now and I've never had a single problem with it. We have electric tape fencing with insulators on the wooden posts.


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## Janna (Apr 19, 2012)

Maybe grazing muzzle?


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## Janna (Apr 19, 2012)

Well not to keep it from eating. 
Maybe not.24/7 but on and off so the horse has to have beaks


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

Unfortunately, if the horse is set on cribbing, there will be absolutely nothing you can do to stop them. That's one reason why I'd never knowingly buy a cribber.


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## Foxhunter (Feb 5, 2012)

No matter how high you fix the rails he will still crib on the lower ones.

A horse cribs for a reason and that is usually from stomach ulcers. Get him scoped and treat the ulcers and the cribbing will lessen. 

I had a yearling start to crib - he was out 24/7 with others of his age and he started and became one of the worse cribbers ever. When I did stop him from doing it he went into terrible depression. He would actually try to crib off his own knee. (It was before the ulcers were known about) and so I let him do it. 
He never suffered ill effects from it at all. He looked well, never had colic and was a 'normal' horse when allowed to go it.

Years ago I recall reading about a horse that was stopped from cribbing for five years. When given a chance to do it he immediately started again.


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## MHFoundation Quarters (Feb 23, 2011)

I have one. She fits the description of drumrunner's mare to a t. Vet has been seing her for the last 20 years, no physical causes like ulcers (though she does get scoped every so often as ulcers are also often a result of cribbing), she gets plenty of exercise, is never stalled, lives in a large pasture with several horses including a lifelong buddy. She is also one who doesn't respond to any of the collars on the market, I've painted posts with many things over the years none of which stopped her. I have given up trying to "fix" her. She has a few favorite posts and at this point and her age, she can have her few pacifier spots and I will replace them when she is gone. I love her to pieces, I've had 25 years with her but she will without a doubt be the last cribber to call my farm home.
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