| Create a crib-free stall: Ten tips for horse owners Posted: 06 Apr 2010 01:33 PM PDT Here's a weird thing -- Riley has stopped cribbing (knock on wood, knock on wood!). Now, I'm not recommending six months of stall rest in a stall devoid of cribbing surfaces as a cure for cribbing, but... In my case, that and a jar of Cribox just may have worked. The crib-free stall? Well, you may or may not be in a barn that has such a stall, but here are a few stall design/modification tips for owners in the same boat.... - Start with a stall that is made up of flat surfaces -- no protruding or graspable surfaces. If you have cribbable surfaces...
- Crib caps can be placed over stall walls and some other stall surfaces (expensive solution, I didn't try).
- Aluminum strips can also help but cribbers are good a grasping and ripping things off (ask me how I know).
- Irish Spring soap and Dawn soap work; reapply as necessary. Cribox works too, but it's more expensive.
- If those things don't work, bring out the big guns -- Raplast. A coat of that will keep them away, but it has to be re-applied periodically, and it is like handling mace.
- Got dutch doors? Think about getting one of those v-neck door guards.
- Remove feed buckets attached to the wall and salt block holders, if necessary.
- Smear Cribox on the rim of the water buckets. Cribox is great stuff -- the odor is distinctive but not absolutely awful. It did not deter Riley from drinking, but watch your horse carefully if you think the smell might prevent your horse from drinking.
- Do what you can to get your horse a nice, big, open stall. I attribute Riley's reformed ways largely to the barn's open stall design that includes grates between stalls for socializing. Riley's stall is a pleasure to work in, with super lighting and air-flow too.
- Arrange for access to lots of hay (I had to pay for extra, but it was worth it).
- Hang a Jolly ball that is very inflated (horse can crib on partially deflated ball).
Okay, here are two non-stall-related tips... - Do what you can to get your horse into a pasture with electrified fencing. If you have the stall set up to prevent cribbing, your horse has to go cold-turkey.
- What's left? Cross ties. See this blog entry for one approach to discouraging cribbing on cross ties.
Here's to hoping Riley stays "on the wagon."  |
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