Cribbing (wood chewing) Help - Great tip to stop it! :)

[WallTenters]

I'm sure a ton of people ask this, because, well, lots of horses crib.

The best way to stop cribbing is Irish Springs bar soap. Yep, it really works. Just take a bar of it and spread it anywhere your horse is cribbing. It's like magic, and the best part is it eventually washes off when you're done using it.

Some friends also put one of those bird seed balls up for their young horses stuck in the barn during bad weather. They play and play with it, trying to get some nibbles off.

 

[ducks4you]

Thanks! Is there something unique about "Irish Spring," or are you their spokesman?!?!?

 

[WallTenters]

Lol.. No, I'm not... I should be though, I sell enough of the stuff to people with this problem!

No, I just heard about it years ago and had a friend with a chronic cribber (OTTB). Stopped it in its tracks.

I train young horses, and I ride with a very large email group of women, so I meet and ride with a lot of people, and every time someone brings this up I always recommend the IS to them and it's worked for every one (so far!).

I don't know why - they just hate the taste or the smell? I don't know if other soaps will work, but this is the one I was told to try years ago and the one I've always used since.

 

[mully]

Think it would work for goats ?? I am going to try it out. I can just see them blowing bubbles in the pasture and making a game out of it

 

[greenfamilyfarms]

I've seen people pour used motor oil over the wood, but that seems like it would be a fire hazard. Plus it looks and smells really bad.

 

[big brown horse]

Not to mention toxic.

Hey thanks! I have an old rescued horse that cribs when she eats. She was put through hell during her life and I just don't want to collar her. (Everyone has atleast one vice, right?) Just today I mentioned she is worth her weight in gold, b/c she makes a grand kid horse.

I'm off to buy Irish Springs tomorrow!

 

[lupinfarm]

Cribbing is not wood chewing though, cribbing is a horse grabbing a hold of something and sucking in air. It gives them a high kind of, but still Not the same thing at all. My pony turns into a beaver in the boring winter months and chews, but shes not a cribber at all.

But anyway, Irish Spring does work. I worked at a barn that had a cribber and we coated his entire stall with irish spring lol. He should have been able to be on turnout, it was being in a stall half his life that started the cribbing. Poor dude.

My girls just pick at the wood, unlike some horses who will take huge chunks so putting no chew on theirs seems to work pretty good. Our dogs used to chew wood so when we painted our trim we mixed in some of the no chew dog stuff in the paint and they tried it, never touched it again. Apparently it works, so I'm going to try it out when I paint my corral fence.

 

[dianneS]

I'm going to give it a try. My mare does chew wood when she's bored, but she's a chronic cribber. I've coated fence rails with manure and she won't crib on them at first, but after it dries up or wears off, she's back at it again. I've used chew stop in her stall and she does avoid cribbing or chewing, but once again, when it wears off, she's back at it again.

If the Irish Spring soap prevents her from chewing, that would be a help, but if it stops the cribbing, that would be a downright miracle!

My mare is an OTTB too, and she's 17, I don't know if I could ever completely stop her cribbing. She knows when she's got her collar on and when she doesn't and she even knows what parts of her stall or what fence posts have been treated with chew stop or something else and she seeks out places where she can still crib.

I take her collar off of her to ride or work her at all, of course and as soon as I remove her bridle she swings her head around and tries to find something to crib on quick to get her "fix". Sometimes I forget to put her collar back on right after a ride, so the second she's turned out after a ride, the first thing she does is head for a fence rail to suck some air! Even if she is wearing her collar, she will sometimes give it a try just to be sure. Her collar seems to be the only thing that stops it. I really hate that thing too. I wish I didn't have to put it on her. She's even cribbed on metal gates.

I will give the I.S. a try though, like I said, if it works its a miracle.

 

[WallTenters]

It would be interesting to hear if it worked with goats as well!

 

[Royd Wood]

Our horse cribs along the backs of our cows The cows love it