Cribbing/ Grazing Muzzles

[MinisOutWest]

I am looking for a grazing/ cribbing muzzle. Any pictures of what you have or use? and where did you buy them from? the nylon ones do not work, horse cannot eat/ drink and sleep in it. He can also still crib thru the nylon one. But need to see what you use. Also have tried all the neck straps, they do not work either. Please help with pictures and suggestions. Thanks

 

[albahurst]

Is your horse sucking on air or just chewing on wood? If your horse is eating wood, I would treat for ulcers asap with Gastro Gard and put him on Neigh Lox daily while the show season is going on, if he is a show horse. Maybe treating for ulcers would at least be a start while you are looking for a collar.

Good luck.

Edited to add- I would probably treat for ulcers, too, even though he is sucking air. Minis are very prone to ulcers- esp when under any type of 'stressful' situation, such as weaning, transporting, showing...

 

[~Lisa~]

I have had several cribbers and to be honest I didnt have them wear anything- a lot of cribbers do have ulcers so you can try and treat for that but I would have to really caution against using anything to stop them -

 

[Riverdance]

I have had several cribbers and to be honest I didnt have them wear anything- a lot of cribbers do have ulcers so you can try and treat for that but I would have to really caution against using anything to stop them -

Just out of curiosity. Do your horses grab wood with their front teeth and suck back air? As that is cribbing.

Chewing wood is not cribbing. I have never seen or heard of a Mini sucking air as it is something that large horses learn to do from each other when they are confined to stalls all day, every day, and are bored.

Just curios to see if there really are some Minis out there doing that.

 

[MinisOutWest]

I know what a cribber is. He is a true air sucker, this is what he does 24/7 now, just started last week. so trying to get control of it , sometimes you can break them of it , but it can take up to 6 mos or a year. He does it even when he eats, he is grabbing his feed bucket, agh. wish he only chewed wood, I would cut down trees for him to chew if he wanted. He is turned out 9 hours of the day, toys are changed daily, he's out grabbing the fence, grabbing water buckets, even tried grabbing the yearling.... I just figured out this Best Friends Cribbing Muzzle(just got it today) works great, a bit big, but they sent me they wrong size, they sent a Cob size, not the pony size.

Cribbing or Free-to-Eat Muzzle - $42.95

The ultra-lightweight aluminum grill, nylon webbing and padded noseband make Best Friend® Cribbing/Free-to-Eat Muzzle a gentle and humane alternative for curbing cribbing. The muzzle limits unwanted behavior, such as cribbing and biting while it allows eating and drinking. The four-point attachment system prevents pivoting and rotating.

I have had LOTS of big horses do this, no biggie, we use the straps, the muzzles, just hard to find the right, lightweight kind for minis.

 

[Margo_C-T]

Minis Out West, where did you get that 'Best Friends' muzzle?

I have a 13 YO Miniature gelding, born and raised here, who is a 'true' cribber/wind sucker; has been since very early in his life. He has never been confined to a stall, has a roomy stall w/ attached run, gets turned out in the arena or very large pen, etc., etc.--he just had the kind of personality to do such a thing, IMO (he is very sensitive to things around him, in every way, and reactive.)

I have his run set up so that there is only one 'opportunity' to crib, and there, it is on a panel bar that is covered w/ a piece of semi-rigid black poly pipe. It is the best 'answer' I've come up with...but even so, he has managed to wear his upper incisors down. He is indeed prone to ulcers; is currently undergoing a course of treatment. I am trying to get him 'used' to accepting U Gard over his concentrate feed-he is a VERY 'selective' eater, so it is hard to introduce anything new...but I've been VERY gradually increasing the U Gard, so hopefully, I can have him on it daily in future, to lessen the likelihood of a reoccurance of the 'fullblown' ulcers. So far, so good.

I tried the Weaver collar,and it did work, but eventually, rubbed him, and he looked totally miserable, so I gave it up. That muzzle looks as if it might be a better option!

Miniatures ARE horses, after all, and 'some' are going to be prone to occasional undesirable 'horsey' behaviors.

Margo

 

[~Lisa~]

Yes I know what cribbing is like I said I have had several cribbers large and small over the years. I have not found it to be a learned behavior it is something that seems to go wtih the personality of the horse the more A type personalities at least in my barn. It is also not true it happens to horses stalled 24/7 who are bored. I have had horses who are not stalled more then a few hours a day crib. I have had these horses over different periods of times so it is not a learned behavior spreading like wildfire thru the barn.

I liken it to smoking or even drinking some have one drink or ciggerette and it is all over they are addicted. Others have no problem being social or casual smokers and drinkers.

I never used straps I feel they are very dangerous being as they have to be tight to work. Ever try to cut one off a horse that was caught by it's strap on something that you never thought they would get caught on? NEarly impossible.

I have never found it to be an issue or a long term health issue either have most vets I have spoken with so I just let them crib. My t/b lived to be well over 20 cribbing his entire life with no ill effects other then being a bit of a hard keeper. I did treat long term for ulcers and for most that seemed to cut down a bit on the cribbing.

 

[MinisOutWest]

Best Friends Cribbing Muzzle website link

We used to do surgery on the big horses and cut throat muscles, some we just inserted teeth rings/ I hated that. But I think this cribbing muzzle will be great. Just wish I could see the older type cages people used to use. they just sold the last one on eBay, so I missed it, but I have a feeling it was very heavy because it was metal, not aluminum.

 

[Riverdance]

Well, I guess you learn something new every day,

When I was in my 20's I was into hunter/ jumpers. It was a large boarding stables where my horse was at, over 50 show horses. There was one barn that got a new horse in and he was a cribber. The first cribber I had been around. Soon after several other horses in that barn started to crib. The farm owner told me it was often a learned behavior.

Many years later, I was involved with Morgans and had one of my horses in another training barn. Over 55 horses in that place. Again there were a couple of cribbers who happen to be in the same isle. She too told me it is often a learned bahavior and can be hard to break.

I must say it is quite annoying!!! I have never had a cribber, but then all of my horses are outside 24/7 except the show horses and still they are out a good portion of almost every day. I was also told it was something that horses did when they were bored.

I have had Minis for over 10 years, Morgans for over 10 years before that and hunter jumpers before that. I guess I was just lucky!!

 

[rabbitsfizz]

Crib Biters are horses that grab hold and chew.

Wind Suckers are horses that grab hold and gulp air, often the two go hoof in hoof, but both are a true neurosis, very similar to stall walking and weaving.

I have never, ever heard of a horse being cured of this condition, I do know of a study done with a Shetland where it was kept in a stall that was crib proof, and given ample turn out, etc, and kept occupied, and this was kept up for four YEARS at the end of which it was turned back in an ordinary stall and was cribbing within five minutes.

Wind sucking can be detrimental to the horses health, but it would depend on how bad the horse was as to how much damage it would do.

I would be loathe to muzzle an animal that might need ulcer treatment because it was in pain, or might just be doing the horse equivalent of biting it's nails....surely there is some other way???

 

[ForMyACDs]

I bought the Cribbing Muzzle from Best Friends for a pony of ours. She doesn't crib, BUT she gorges on hay (grabbing giant mouthfuls). The grazing muzzles don't seem to work well for hay (our ponies are drylotted and so they're main source of food is hay) so I tried the Cribbing Muzzle and it works GREAT! She's still able to eat hay, but can't cram mouthfuls of it......it slows her down to a normal pace.

Anyway......just interrupting to say that these cribbing muzzles work great for other things too.

 

[Marty]

sometimes you can break them of it , but it can take up to 6 mos or a year.

Minisoutwest you are going to be a MILLIONAIRE because if you know a way to get a horse to stop cribbing a zillion people are going to want to know how to accomplished that. I have seen many windsuckers in my time and according to me, there is no way no how you can stop this behavior once it is learned.

Lisa and I have spoken on this subject many times over the years and if she says to use ulcer meds to slow it up, please do so! She was lucky as she hasn't had anyone in her barn pick it up from another horse but brother I have. I started with one and kaboom in record time there it went on down the line and I ended up with a pack of them. I will never have another one in my barn ever. Lisa is also correct on the dangers of using all these gadgets. The miracle collar, all sorts of collars and muzzles are a real danger if you are not standing right there to moniter your horse. They will get caught on anything. I would go with trying the ulcer meds and also keep your horse out as much as possible and when he's inside, keep a pile of hay in front of him and see if this helps anything.

Good luck and please keep us posted. I am very interested in any way of slowing or stopping this.

Any idea what could have set him off to start this behavior?