Does Cribbing or Windsucking Cause Colic in Horses?

By Dr Duncan Houston

Cribbing and windsucking are often treated as irritating stable habits. The damage to doors and fences is obvious, but the more important concern is what these behaviours may mean for the horse’s health.

Research has consistently found an association between cribbing or windsucking and colic. The strongest reported link is with epiploic foramen entrapment, a potentially life-threatening form of strangulating small-intestinal colic that usually requires surgery.

However, the explanation is not as simple as a horse swallowing excessive air. The relationship probably involves a combination of gastrointestinal physiology, individual susceptibility, feeding, confinement and the circumstances that contributed to the behaviour developing.

Quick Answer

Horses that crib or windsuck appear to have a higher risk of colic, recurrent colic and certain surgical intestinal lesions, particularly epiploic foramen entrapment.

This does not prove that cribbing directly causes every colic episode. Research indicates that relatively little air is actually swallowed during the behaviour, so the traditional theory that the intestine simply fills with air is inadequate. Any cribbing horse showing reduced appetite, pawing, rolling, flank-watching, sweating or reduced manure should be treated as a possible colic case and assessed promptly by a veterinarian. (Springer)

What Is the Difference Between Cribbing and Windsucking?

The terms are often used together, but the behaviours are slightly different.

Behaviour	What the horse does
Cribbing or crib-biting	The horse grips a fixed object with the incisors, pulls backwards, contracts the lower neck muscles and usually makes a characteristic grunting sound
Windsucking	The horse performs a similar neck-flexing and air-engulfing movement without needing to grip a fixed object
Wood-chewing	The horse bites, strips or consumes wood without performing the characteristic neck movement and grunt

Cribbing and windsucking are classified as oral stereotypies. They are repetitive, relatively fixed behaviours without an obvious immediate goal. They are not usually deliberate disobedience, and wood-chewing should not automatically be assumed to be the same behaviour. (Springer)

Does Cribbing Actually Cause Colic?

The most accurate answer is:

Cribbing and windsucking are important colic risk markers, but a direct cause-and-effect relationship has not yet been proven.

A horse can crib throughout life without experiencing colic. A horse that has never cribbed can still develop severe colic. However, multiple studies have found that cribbing and windsucking occur more commonly in horses with a history of colic than in comparable horses without colic.

A retrospective referral-hospital study found a significant association between cribbing or windsucking and colic, although the behaviour was not linked to one general category or severity of colic over another. The study also found that simply describing the horse as anxious did not explain the association. (PubMed)

A UK questionnaire study collected information on 367 cribbing or windsucking horses. Of these:

• 35.4% had experienced at least one reported colic episode while under the respondent’s care

• 20.2% had experienced colic during the preceding 12 months

• Owners reported 672 colic episodes in total

• 13 episodes required surgery

The researchers estimated 38 reported colic episodes per 100 horse-years, including 20 veterinary-attended episodes per 100 horse-years. However, this was a self-selected population of cribbing horses without a matched non-cribbing control group, so the figures cannot be treated as the absolute annual risk for every cribber. Recall and selection bias may also have influenced the results. (Springer)

What Does the Research Show?

Research finding	What it means
Cribbing or windsucking was significantly associated with a previous history of colic	The behaviour can help identify a horse requiring closer gastrointestinal monitoring
Cribbing or windsucking was associated with recurrent colic, with an odds ratio of 10.1 in one UK study	A horse that cribs and has already colicked deserves a particularly careful prevention plan
The behaviour has been associated with simple colonic obstruction and distension	Not every affected horse develops small-intestinal disease
The strongest association is with epiploic foramen entrapment	Severe or persistent pain in a cribber must never be dismissed as ordinary gas
Greater owner-reported cribbing frequency was associated with colic during the previous year	A meaningful increase in frequency may deserve investigation, although it does not diagnose colic

These studies demonstrate association rather than proof of causation. They do not show that suppressing the visible behaviour will necessarily reduce colic risk. (PubMed)

What Is Epiploic Foramen Entrapment?

Epiploic foramen entrapment occurs when a segment of small intestine passes through a natural opening within the upper abdomen and becomes trapped.

The bowel may become obstructed and strangulated, meaning that its blood supply is compromised. This can rapidly lead to intestinal injury, shock and the need for emergency abdominal surgery.

Cribbing and windsucking have an unusually strong association with this particular lesion.

A two-centre study found that:

• At one hospital, 13 of 19 horses with epiploic foramen entrapment had a history of cribbing, compared with 2 of 34 horses with other strangulating small-intestinal lesions

• At another hospital, 24 of 49 affected horses had a history of cribbing, compared with 72 of 687 horses undergoing surgery for other colic lesions

The corresponding odds ratios were 34.7 and 8.2 in the two hospital populations. (PubMed)

A later international matched case-control study involving 109 affected horses and 310 controls found an odds ratio of 67.3 for epiploic foramen entrapment in horses displaying cribbing or windsucking. The confidence interval was extremely wide, from 15.3 to 296.5, reflecting uncertainty around the exact size of the association. (PubMed)

What Does an Odds Ratio of 67.3 Mean?

It does not mean that a cribbing horse has a 67% chance of developing epiploic foramen entrapment. It also does not mean that every cribber is likely to require colic surgery.

An odds ratio compares how commonly a particular exposure appears among affected horses and controls. It shows a strong association, but it does not provide the horse’s absolute lifetime risk.

Epiploic foramen entrapment remains far less common than uncomplicated forms of colic. The clinical lesson is not to panic whenever a horse cribs. It is to act promptly when a known cribber begins showing abdominal pain.

Is Colic Caused by Swallowed Air?

Probably not in the way traditionally believed.

The old explanation was that cribbing or windsucking caused the horse to swallow large volumes of air, which then accumulated in the intestine and caused gas colic.

Imaging and behavioural work indicate that only limited aerophagia occurs. Much of the air enters the upper oesophagus and is subsequently expelled through the mouth rather than being swallowed into the stomach. Some air may pass farther down the gastrointestinal tract during normal swallowing, but excessive air ingestion is not considered sufficient to explain the strong colic association. (Springer)

Myth Versus Reality

Common belief	What the evidence suggests
The horse fills its stomach with air every time it cribs	Much of the air remains in the upper oesophagus and is expelled
Cribbing always produces gas colic	Cribbers can develop different medical and surgical colic lesions
Preventing air intake should prevent colic	This has not been demonstrated
A cribbing collar treats the underlying intestinal problem	It may suppress the movement but does not correct a proven cause
Every cribbing horse will colic	Many cribbing horses never develop recognised colic

The name “windsucking” unfortunately makes the air theory sound more convincing than the evidence allows.

Why Might Cribbing and Colic Be Connected?

There is no single confirmed mechanism. Several explanations may overlap.

Shared Management Risk Factors

Some of the circumstances associated with the development of cribbing are also relevant to gastrointestinal health.

Research has associated stereotypy development with:

• Concentrate feeding

• Limited forage opportunities

• Stable confinement

• Reduced pasture access

• Limited physical social contact

• Abrupt or restrictive weaning systems

A four-year prospective study found that stable or barn weaning increased the rate of abnormal behaviour compared with paddock weaning. Feeding concentrates after weaning was associated with an approximately fourfold increase in the rate at which crib-biting developed. (PubMed)

A separate Swiss study found increased odds of stereotypic behaviour among reactive Warmbloods and Thoroughbreds without daily pasture access. The researchers recommended greater access to roughage, free movement and tactile contact with other horses while limiting unnecessary concentrate feeding. (PubMed)

These studies do not prove that every cribbing horse has been managed poorly. They suggest that feeding, social and housing conditions may contribute to both the development of the behaviour and gastrointestinal risk.

Differences in Gastrointestinal Physiology

Cribbing horses may have physiological differences that affect both their behaviour and gastrointestinal function.

In one short-term experiment, preventing cribbing while also preventing feeding was associated with relative stasis of foregut motility. The findings suggest that established cribbers may not respond to behavioural suppression in the same way as non-cribbing horses. (PubMed)

This does not prove that collars cause colic. It does show why physically stopping the behaviour should not be assumed to correct the gastrointestinal risk.

Researchers have proposed a complex relationship between the brain, behaviour and intestinal physiology. It is possible that cribbing and colic are partly different expressions of an underlying susceptibility rather than one straightforwardly causing the other. (Springer)

Gastric Discomfort

A study of 19 young horses that had recently started crib-biting found that their stomachs were more inflamed and ulcerated than those of 16 non-cribbing horses. The cribbing horses also had a lower faecal pH. An antacid diet improved gastric findings, although cribbing decreased in many of the young horses regardless of which diet they received. (PubMed)

This suggests a relationship between gastrointestinal discomfort and the early development of cribbing in some young horses.

It does not prove that:

• Gastric ulcers cause every case of cribbing

• Cribbing always causes ulcers

• Treating ulcers will stop an established cribber

• Every cribbing horse needs automatic ulcer medication

Gastroscopy remains necessary when a definitive diagnosis of equine gastric ulcer syndrome is required. Poor appetite, weight loss, recurrent low-grade colic, girthiness or deterioration in performance make gastric investigation more reasonable than cribbing alone. (Center for Equine Health)

An Individual Anatomical or Behavioural Predisposition

The international epiploic foramen study also found that greater height and a previous history of colic were associated with increased risk. Several behavioural features were associated with altered risk as well.

This raises the possibility that a subgroup of horses has a combination of anatomy, intestinal function and behavioural physiology that predisposes them to both cribbing and particular intestinal lesions. The exact causal pathway remains unknown. (PubMed)

Does More Frequent Cribbing Mean More Colic Risk?

Possibly, but this must be interpreted carefully.

In the UK survey of cribbing horses, increasing owner-perceived frequency or severity of cribbing was associated with colic during the previous 12 months. Horses that cribbed more frequently while eating forage also had a higher reported lifetime history of colic. (Springer)

A sudden increase in cribbing frequency may reflect:

• A change in feeding

• More time stabled

• Social separation

• Anticipation around meals

• Gastric discomfort

• General abdominal discomfort

• A stressful management change

• Increasing establishment of the stereotypy

The change is worth recording, but it does not diagnose colic by itself.

What matters most is whether it occurs alongside changes in appetite, manure, water intake, posture, movement or demeanour.

How Worried Should You Be?

Lower Risk

The horse:

• Has displayed stable, long-standing cribbing behaviour

• Has no known history of colic

• Maintains normal appetite and body condition

• Drinks and passes manure normally

• Has regular turnout and forage access

• Shows no recent change in behaviour

Action: Continue routine monitoring and review the horse’s diet, dental health, parasite-control plan and management with your veterinarian.

Moderate Risk

The horse:

• Is cribbing more frequently

• Has recently had a diet, forage, stable or exercise change

• Is spending substantially more time confined

• Has occasional mild abdominal discomfort

• Has mild weight loss or inconsistent appetite

• Produces smaller or drier manure than usual

Action: Arrange a veterinary review rather than waiting for a severe episode. Record cribbing frequency, appetite, manure, water intake and recent management changes.

High Risk

The horse has:

• Recurrent colic

• A previous abdominal surgery

• A previous intestinal obstruction

• Frequent or severe cribbing

• Progressive weight loss

• Repeated low-grade abdominal pain

• Reduced appetite or manure

• A substantial increase in behaviour around feeding

• Pain that returns after medication

Action: Develop an individual gastrointestinal investigation and prevention plan with the veterinarian. Referral diagnostics may be appropriate when episodes remain unexplained.

Critical

The horse currently has:

• Repeated rolling or attempts to lie down

• Pawing and flank-watching

• Sweating without exercise

• Persistent restlessness

• Rapid or increasingly violent pain

• Little or no manure

• Abdominal distension

• Refusal to eat

• Dullness, weakness or collapse

• Rapid breathing or an increasing heart rate

• Dark, pale or otherwise abnormal gums

Action: Call a veterinarian immediately. Do not assume the horse is merely cribbing more because they are bored.

What Does Colic Look Like in a Cribbing Horse?

Colic signs are the same as in other horses, but the existing repetitive behaviour can make the early change more difficult to recognise.

Watch for:

• Cribbing much more or much less than normal

• Walking away from feed

• Repeatedly starting and stopping eating

• Pawing

• Looking at the flank

• Kicking at the abdomen

• Stretching as though attempting to urinate

• Repeated lying down and getting up

• Rolling

• Sweating

• Reduced or absent manure

• Loose, unusually dry or mucus-covered manure

• Reduced drinking

• Dullness or withdrawal

• Rapid breathing

• Increasing heart rate

• Changes in gum colour

A horse with an established stereotypy should have an individual baseline. The change from that baseline is often more informative than the behaviour’s presence alone. (horsereport.vetmed.ucdavis.edu)

When Is This an Emergency?

Every suspected colic episode deserves prompt veterinary contact because outward signs do not reliably reveal which intestinal lesion is present.

Treat the situation as particularly urgent when:

• Pain is moderate to severe

• The horse is repeatedly or violently rolling

• The horse cannot remain standing comfortably

• Pain persists or returns after analgesia

• The heart rate is rapidly increasing

• The gums are dark, pale, purple or tacky

• The abdomen is visibly distended

• Manure production has stopped

• The horse is becoming weak or depressed

• The horse has a history of recurrent colic or abdominal surgery

• Transport to a referral hospital may be needed

A cribbing horse’s increased risk of epiploic foramen entrapment means that persistent pain should never be dismissed as a simple gas episode without examination. (PubMed)

What Should You Do Right Now?

1. Call Your Veterinarian

Describe:

• The behaviour you are seeing

• When it began

• When the horse last ate and drank

• The last observed manure

• Previous colic episodes or surgery

• Current medication

• Recent feed, hay, turnout, exercise or housing changes

• Whether the horse normally cribs and whether the frequency has changed

Do not wait for the horse to begin violently rolling before making the call.

2. Remove Feed

Remove hay, concentrate and pasture access until the veterinarian advises otherwise.

Small amounts of water are usually acceptable while waiting, but follow the veterinarian’s instructions for the individual horse. (horsereport.vetmed.ucdavis.edu)

3. Keep the Horse and Yourself Safe

Move the horse to a safer area when necessary. Remove objects that may cause injury if the horse lies down or rolls.

Do not stand immediately beside a rolling or striking horse. Human safety remains the priority.

4. Walk Only Briefly and Safely

Brief walking may help keep a mildly uncomfortable horse from becoming cast, but continuous forced walking is unnecessary and can exhaust both horse and handler.

Stop if the horse is weak, lame, neurologically abnormal or appears more painful while moving. (horsereport.vetmed.ucdavis.edu)

5. Do Not Give Medication Unless Directed

Do not automatically administer flunixin, phenylbutazone, sedatives, mineral oil or ulcer medication.

Medication may alter the horse’s signs, complicate assessment or delay referral. When your veterinarian directs medication, record the exact drug, dose, route and time. (horsereport.vetmed.ucdavis.edu)

6. Record What You Can Safely Measure

Useful information includes:

• Heart rate

• Respiratory rate

• Rectal temperature

• Gum colour and moisture

• Capillary refill time

• Manure production

• Water intake

• Pain frequency

• Videos of the behaviour

Do not put yourself in danger to obtain a complete set of numbers.

7. Prepare for Transport

Confirm that the tow vehicle and trailer are available, and locate the nearest suitable referral hospital.

Do this while the veterinarian is travelling rather than after the decision for referral has already been made. (horsereport.vetmed.ucdavis.edu)

How Can You Reduce Colic Risk in a Cribbing Horse?

No management plan can guarantee that colic will never occur. The goal is to remove avoidable gastrointestinal risks and recognise problems earlier.

Provide Consistent Forage Access

Long periods without forage should be minimised.

Depending on the horse’s nutritional requirements, options include:

• More frequent forage provision

• Several forage locations

• Appropriately fitted slow feeders

• Lower-energy forage for overweight horses

• Feeding forage before concentrate

• Preserving a consistent forage type and batch where possible

Horses with obesity, insulin dysregulation or previous laminitis still need a controlled feeding plan. “More forage access” does not mean unrestricted high-sugar grass or unlimited unsuitable hay.

Reduce Unnecessary Concentrates

Review whether the horse genuinely requires its current grain, sweet feed or concentrate ration.

Concentrate feeding has been associated with the development and increased expression of crib-biting, particularly after weaning and immediately after concentrate meals. (PubMed)

When concentrate is required:

• Use the minimum amount needed to meet nutritional requirements

• Divide it into smaller meals

• Avoid abrupt product or quantity changes

• Feed according to actual workload and body condition

• Balance the complete diet rather than adding several overlapping products

Make Every Dietary Change Gradually

Changes in hay, pasture, concentrate, feeding frequency and water source should be introduced progressively whenever possible.

Horses should be watched especially closely during the first couple of weeks following changes in feed, exercise or housing because management transitions are established colic-risk periods. (extension.umn.edu)

Maintain Water Intake

Provide continuously available fresh, clean water and check that automatic systems are working.

Pay particular attention during:

• Cold weather

• Travel

• Competition

• Hot weather

• Changes from pasture to dry forage

• Illness

• Relocation

Reduced water intake contributes to dry intestinal contents and impaction risk. (extension.umn.edu)

Increase Safe Turnout and Movement

Daily turnout and voluntary movement can help reduce confinement-related frustration and may support gastrointestinal function.

In a UK recurrent-colic study, cribbing or windsucking was associated with recurrence, while increasing pasture time was associated with a reduced likelihood of recurrence. This was observational evidence and does not prove that pasture prevents all colic, but it supports avoiding unnecessary continuous confinement. (PubMed)

Turnout must still account for:

• Pasture sugar

• Laminitis risk

• Social compatibility

• Safe fencing

• Injury or rehabilitation restrictions

• Weather and footing

Provide Meaningful Social Contact

Horses should have safe contact with compatible horses whenever their health and management permit it.

Social isolation may contribute to the conditions under which stereotypies develop or intensify. Isolating a cribbing horse because of fear that other horses will copy the behaviour is generally unjustified. (PubMed)

Maintain Dental Care

Check the incisors and the complete mouth regularly.

Cribbing can contribute to abnormal incisor wear, while unrelated dental disease may interfere with forage chewing and body condition. Report:

• Difficulty grasping forage

• Quidding

• Dropping feed

• Oral odour

• Facial swelling

• Progressive weight loss

• Uneven incisor wear

The dental interval should be based on the individual horse’s age, mouth and previous findings rather than one rigid schedule.

Use Evidence-Based Parasite Control

Work with your veterinarian to use faecal egg counts, appropriate baseline treatments and targeted deworming rather than blindly rotating products at fixed short intervals.

The AAEP recommends monitoring treatment efficacy and stratifying horses according to parasite shedding. (AAEP)

Investigate Recurrent Colic Properly

Repeatedly treating each episode without investigating the pattern can miss a manageable underlying problem.

Depending on the history, the veterinarian may consider:

• Dental examination

• Dietary assessment

• Faecal testing

• Gastroscopy

• Abdominal ultrasound

• Rectal examination

• Blood testing

• Sand assessment

• Review of previous surgical records

• Referral evaluation

The correct work-up depends on the horse’s age, episode pattern, severity and findings between attacks.

Should You Stop the Horse From Cribbing?

Suppressing the behaviour and treating the horse are not necessarily the same thing.

A randomised crossover study found that two cribbing collars and a muzzle significantly reduced cribbing during short treatment periods. The researchers did not identify clear evidence of substantial physiological distress from the devices, although surgically implanted gingival rings were only temporarily effective and were considered painful. The authors still emphasised improving the husbandry factors associated with stereotypy development. (PubMed)

A device may be considered when:

• The horse is damaging the teeth or mouth

• The behaviour presents an immediate safety problem

• The horse is destroying an essential structure

• Temporary suppression is required during medical treatment

• The device forms part of a broader management plan

Any collar or muzzle must:

• Fit correctly

• Permit normal swallowing

• Permit adequate forage and water intake

• Avoid skin pressure and rubbing

• Be checked frequently

• Be removed if respiratory, eating or behavioural problems develop

Will a Cribbing Collar Prevent Colic?

There is no reliable evidence that a collar prevents colic, recurrent colic or epiploic foramen entrapment.

The studies identifying cribbing as a risk factor specifically call for further research to determine whether changing the behaviour alters the intestinal risk. (PubMed)

A collar may make the stable quieter while leaving the important risk factors unchanged.

Should Every Cribbing Horse Be Treated for Ulcers?

No.

Cribbing alone is not a diagnosis of gastric ulceration. Treating every cribber with omeprazole without examination can waste money and miss another cause of poor condition or abdominal discomfort.

Gastric evaluation becomes more appropriate when cribbing occurs alongside:

• Recurrent low-grade colic

• Poor appetite

• Weight loss

• Poor body condition

• Girthiness

• Reduced performance

• Behaviour associated with eating

• Teeth grinding

• Recent transport, competition or intensive training

Gastroscopy is required to confirm the presence, location and severity of gastric ulceration. (PubMed)

Should You Buy a Horse That Cribs?

Cribbing is not automatically a reason to reject an otherwise suitable horse.

Before purchase, investigate:

• Previous colic episodes

• Whether referral or surgery was ever required

• Frequency and duration of cribbing

• Whether the behaviour changes with feeding or confinement

• Current diet and turnout

• Body condition

• Incisor and complete dental health

• Previous gastric-ulcer diagnosis

• Current use of a collar or muzzle

• Whether the horse can be managed appropriately at the intended property

A pre-purchase examination cannot guarantee that the horse will never colic. It can identify current health concerns and help you understand the management commitment.

The most important purchase decision is not whether the horse makes an unpleasant noise on the stable door. It is whether you can provide the forage, movement, social contact, monitoring and emergency planning that horse requires.

Can Other Horses Learn Cribbing by Watching?

Evidence suggests that cribbing is not generally contagious.

In a US survey, only around 1% of cribbing horses were reported to have started after exposure to another cribber, and the extent of contact with affected horses was not significantly related to risk. (beva.onlinelibrary.wiley.com)

Several horses on the same property may develop stereotypies because they share:

• The same feeding system

• Long periods without forage

• Similar confinement

• Limited turnout

• Similar genetics or breed predisposition

• The same stressful management transition

Separating the cribber may worsen social restriction without protecting the other horses.

Common Mistakes Owners Make

Assuming Swallowed Air Explains Everything

Only limited aerophagia occurs. The relationship with colic is more complex.

Ignoring Colic Signs Because the Horse “Always Does That”

A change in frequency, appetite, posture or manure can be the first indication that the situation is no longer behavioural.

Using a Collar as the Entire Treatment Plan

Suppressing the movement does not correct diet, confinement, gastrointestinal disease or social restriction.

Removing Forage to Stop the Horse Cribbing

Forage restriction may increase frustration and can worsen gastrointestinal risk.

Suddenly Changing Hay or Feed

A rapid management change may increase colic risk even when the new ration is theoretically better.

Automatically Treating for Gastric Ulcers

Cribbing and ulcers are associated in some horses, but gastroscopy is needed for a diagnosis.

Isolating the Horse to Protect Others

The behaviour is unlikely to spread simply through observation, while isolation may reduce welfare.

Waiting for Severe Rolling Before Calling

Early colic can begin with subtle appetite, manure or behavioural changes. Epiploic foramen entrapment cannot be recognised from the stable door.

Can Cribbing Be Prevented?

Prevention is most effective before the behaviour becomes established, particularly around weaning.

Useful strategies include:

• Social and gradual weaning

• Paddock rather than isolated stable weaning where appropriate

• Familiar companions

• Continuous suitable forage access

• Gradual dietary changes

• Avoiding unnecessary high-concentrate feeding

• Daily turnout

• Meaningful social contact

• Predictable management

• Early review of repetitive oral behaviour

In the prospective young-horse study, crib-biting began at a median age of approximately 20 weeks. Once established, it may persist even after the original management conditions improve. (PubMed)

Frequently Asked Questions

Does cribbing cause gas colic?

Cribbing is associated with colic, but excessive swallowed air is not considered an adequate explanation. Relatively little air passes into the gastrointestinal tract, and cribbing horses can develop several different intestinal lesions.

How likely is a cribbing horse to develop colic?

There is no single reliable percentage for an individual horse. Studies consistently show increased risk, but the actual risk depends on previous colic, management, diet, confinement, age and individual physiology.

Is epiploic foramen entrapment common in every cribber?

No. The behaviour is strongly associated with this lesion, but most cribbing horses will never be diagnosed with epiploic foramen entrapment. The association matters because affected horses can deteriorate rapidly and require surgery.

Can a cribbing collar reduce colic risk?

This has not been proven. Collars can reduce the visible behaviour, but research has not established that they prevent colic or epiploic foramen entrapment.

Should I call a veterinarian whenever my cribbing horse looks uncomfortable?

Yes. Call promptly when the horse shows pawing, flank-watching, lying down, rolling, sweating, reduced appetite, reduced manure or any meaningful change from normal. The behaviour history does not allow you to diagnose the type or severity of colic at home.

Final Thoughts

Cribbing and windsucking are more than cosmetic stable problems.

The evidence shows a consistent association with colic, recurrent colic and, most importantly, epiploic foramen entrapment. What the evidence does not show is that every cribber will colic or that the behaviour causes disease simply by filling the intestine with swallowed air.

The relationship is likely to involve several factors, including feeding, confinement, gastrointestinal physiology, individual susceptibility and the biological mechanisms underlying the stereotypy.

The safest approach is not to punish the horse or rely entirely on a collar. Improve forage access, movement and social contact, minimise unnecessary concentrate, introduce changes gradually and investigate recurrent gastrointestinal signs properly.

Above all, learn the horse’s normal pattern. When a cribbing horse stops eating, passes less manure, becomes restless or shows abdominal pain, treat the change as a possible colic emergency rather than another irritating behavioural episode.

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ASK A VET™ can help you record cribbing frequency, appetite, water intake, manure, dietary changes and previous colic episodes so that important patterns are easier to recognise and discuss with your veterinarian.