Have you ever seen a horse seeming to eat or horse chewing wood of his stall, or on the fencing in his pasture? Ever wonder if he’s actually trying to eat the wood, or if this behavior could be something else?
Essentially, cribbing is when a horse clamps onto wood with his teeth and pulls upwards abruptly, sucking in air and making a guttural, grunting sound.
There are two reasons for cribbing that I feel are most important to address, due to the fact that, if true, your horse could be suffering. These are that horses crib out of anxiety or out of stomach/gastric pain.
So, there are ways to encourage horses to stop cribbing! Cribbing can be a nasty habit and, though I didn’t get into it during this article, it can have negative effects on your horse’s health. So, it’s worth your while as a horse owner to encourage your horse to drop the bad habit.