serious cribbing problem

Poor guy seems really driven to do it.  I've never had a cribber but I have heard that some horses crib when they have ulcers because the air is soothing to the ulcers.  You might try a tube of Ulcerguard-expensive but if it works, cheaper than repainting your truck!  My horses don't crib but I could never leave them out with my car or anything else of value because they are curious and playful. 
 
Connie, one of our other members had a gelding who was a cribber and she used the cribbing collar and the ulcer treatment.  Maybe she'll chime in here.

Just talked about this yesterday. The vet tech bought a horse for $1. It was colic-ing repeatedly and was going to be put down. The owners never said it was a cribber.
She has been working on it.
She had hers scoped for ulcers. Changed feed. Added heavy probiotics. Makes sure the horse is turned out as much as possible. Sprays the horse with a hose if she catches it cribbing. Also redirects behavior with ground work etc...
My friends have a cribber we have been trying to figure out also. The cribbing collar has to be on pretty tight. So far they have tried Red Cell in case it is a mineral deficiency. (old timers said copper deficiency?) Next is ulcer stuff?

Shadrach was a cribber when he moved in.  He cribbed mostly in his stall (both on wood and metal) and on the tops of certain fence posts by the barn.  He hated creolin so spraying that on the posts and the other wood really helped, but this is pretty much a daily application.  I put a miracle collar on him and it stopped him as long as he wore it.  I fed him probiotics and  licorice flavored treats along with oats and he came around to the point that without the collar he did not crib at all except at stress times such as waiting for slow poke (me) to get the grain in his feed tub.  I used molasses to mix the probiotics with his feed.  He really showed a big improvement and gained a lot of weight in the 4 months he was here.....and he was not thin when he came, just seemed really stressed.  He also had a way of making a similar sound of wind intake when first being ridden.  He was shown a lot at one time and I rather think he was stressed a lot from the things done to him to make him show better.  Oh, he is a Morgan and was expected to show a lot of Pizazz when in the ring.

Hope this helps.  I doubt if there is any cure, but there are ways to curb the cribbing.  The miracle collar worked really well on him but it has to be on tight.  If you use one, please make sure your horse can open its mouth enough to eat at ground level.  If it is tight enough, eating at shoulder height is not apt to be an option.

Hope this helps.

thanks guys for the input and suggestions. guess difefrent horses crib for difefrent reasons. stress could be one although i dont think it is really the main reason. he is in a new pasture and has been taken away from his pasture mate. i have no other horses now and his closest company is cattle in the next pasture adjoining ours.
like i said he just seems to love the cribbing. i was watching him one day and he sidled over to the other side of the feed shed and backed up paralle to it with just his nose and eyes sticking out as if he was peering around the corner at me. i thought what the heck is he doing-went over to find a large portion of the feed shed door eaten away. he had been "working" on it. i am gonna give these suggestions some thought and maybe try some of  them or some others  i was thinking-i really hate to go the cribbing collar/harness route if i dont have to. so maybe i will check into the ulcer/minerals ect stuff first and stress and boredom too. then if all else fails perhaps the collar. i've heard its hard to keep weight on a cribber is this true?one other thing i considered trying a  spray  called deer rid-it is a concoction of nasty horrible predator scents and other nasty things  said to make deer leave certain plants, trees ect. alone. isnt suppoded to harm animals just repel them. any one ever try this?      wish me luck and any more info or suggestions are greatly appreicated. i love this forum and value your opinons and experiances too. nice to have some where to talk horses and horse problems. thanks guys.

There are two different things that some people call cribbing - wood chewing and actual cribbing, which is getting hold of something with the top incisors and arching his neck/pulling so that air goes down into the stomach. Wood chewing may be related to boredom or mineral deficiency. It has been thought that cribbing releases endorphins, thereby producing a 'pleasure' sensation in the horse. Cribbing is the harder of the two to treat. Painting or spraying or adding metal to the tops of fences, doors, etc. won't stop a cribber because they are only holding on in order to suck air in.

Both of them can be related to ulcers, but which came first - the cribbing/wood chewing or the ulcer? The cribbing collar is the only thing that will stop a cribber, and then only when they are wearing it. It's certainly worth a shot to buy the cribbing collar and also treat the ulcer/mineral component. If the horse also chews wood, you can treat the wood, too. See if your vet can do a blood test to see what the horse may be lacking. If you buy hay for an entire year at a time, see about having your hay tested. Also, I'd delete any grain ration as that is a 'sugary' food and can cause ulcers or prevent them from healing.

If you have a vet (and you should), ask what he/she recommends along the lines of feed and medication for your horse, too.

Good luck. True cribbing is really difficult to deal with.

On the UlcerGard website there's a case study.  A group (let's say 20) horses were at a barn and checked clear of ulcers.  10 of them were taken away for 3 days and used as if they were at a typical 3-day event show.  They were brought back and all 20 were checked for ulcers.  Not only did some of the ones taken have the start of ulcers but some of the ones left behild did, too, simply because herd dynamics had changed.  Horses can stress easily and can be really ulcer prone.  I'd just as soon shioot some Ulcer-gard in them before shipping.  Anywho...
 
Growing up there was a VERY old pony who was a cribber.  They called it windsucking so that's how I learned it.  The cribbing collar stopped her while she wore it.  It was very tight.  She ate in a bucket and it didn't seem too bad for her.  She was stalled most of the time.  She was a Welsh and was the Va State Champion Jumper in her day! []
 
Maybe a grazing muzzle would stop wood chewing. 

My horse is a serious cribber and also very smart. All of the topical treatments didn't even give him pause. With a run of the mill cribbing collar he just rolled around until he manuvured it until it was on the side of his neck instead of on his throat. With the Miracle Collar he just sorted out how to get it off. Then I tried a breakaway halter and cribbing muzzle. That actually worked for several months and I would recommend it to anyone. Just be aware that with it comes a steady cost of replacing the halter, cribbing muzzle, etc. as they do wear out. 

However now he can get off the halter with muzzle on it in less than a minute. Now I am considering putting a horse hood over the halter that is strapped behind his back legs so he can't pull off the halter over his ears.

My vet says they don't know if the cribbing creates ulcers or if it is the other way around. I have added Brewyer's Yeast to his diet as that is supposed to help with ulcers. She also warned me that the available cribbing surgery is not a slam dunk guarantee to stop the cribbing. it is a 50/50 chance it will work.

I have talked to several people and bottom line, you have to stop the behavior via training or apparatus on their head. If the wood tastes bad, they will just crib on other stuff. My horse cribs on metal. My farrier said he has seen horses crib on buckets and feeders. I don't recommend any of the flavoring stuff that you paint/spray on the wood. It is a waste of time and money.

My horse is not underweight at all and if anything we have to rein him in from getting fat. He has a very low stress life. Currently not showing, doesn't leave the property, is out to pasture 14+ hours a day and has a horse buddy. Cribbing can be caused by many things.... I am just posting my experiences to help debunk some of the myths or accepted reasons/excuses out there about cribbing.

thanks guys for all the messages and help. looks as if the cribbing collar maybe the way to go. he is a true cribber and sucks wind too. he is very dedicated to it also. i beleive has been indulging in his little vice for a long time now. so i beleive it to be a very  old habit. he has another annoying habit also. it doesnt harm him in any way but he does this constant pawing at the ground anytime  we feed him from a pan. if we put the corn ect. in a feed pan he paws theground between him and the pan  over and over while eating. as a deer will when its foraging. he has done this also since we got him and only when eating from a pan. guess all people and horses are different we all have our little habits. thanks agin i appreciate the help.