Why Is My Horse Chewing Wood? Causes, Risks and How to Stop It

By Dr Duncan Houston

A horse chewing a fence rail may be exploring, seeking more chewing time or responding to a management problem. A horse gripping that rail, arching the neck and making a characteristic grunt is doing something different: crib-biting.

The distinction matters because wood chewing and crib-biting do not have exactly the same causes, health implications or management plan.

Wood chewing is not automatically a nutritional deficiency, and crib-biting is not simply a bad habit copied from another horse. The first step is identifying exactly what your horse is doing and whether anything else has changed.

Quick Answer

Wood chewing means the horse gnaws, strips or sometimes swallows wood. It may reflect exploration, restricted foraging opportunities, prolonged confinement, limited social contact or an unsuitable feeding routine, although occasional wood chewing can also occur in otherwise healthy horses.

Crib-biting is a separate stereotypic behaviour in which the horse grips a fixed object, contracts the neck and usually makes a grunt. It is associated with an increased risk of colic, but the relationship is more complicated than simply swallowing air.

A new, rapidly increasing or physically damaging behaviour should prompt a veterinary, dental and management review.

Wood Chewing, Cribbing and Windsucking: What Is the Difference?

Behaviour	What it looks like	Is it a stereotypy?	Main concern
Wood chewing	The horse bites, strips, gnaws or consumes wooden fencing, trees or stable surfaces	Not necessarily	Foraging frustration, exploration, dental damage, unsafe wood or property damage
Crib-biting or cribbing	The horse grips a fixed object with the incisors, pulls backwards, flexes the lower neck and usually grunts	Yes	Established stereotypy, dental wear and increased colic risk
Windsucking	The horse performs a similar neck-flexing and air-engulfing movement without gripping an object	Yes	Similar concerns to crib-biting
Pica	The horse repeatedly eats non-food material such as soil, bedding, sand or other objects	Not automatically	Dietary imbalance, medical disease, gastrointestinal discomfort or abnormal feeding behaviour
Normal browsing	The horse samples bark, twigs, leaves or shrubs while foraging	Usually no	Plant safety and whether the behaviour becomes excessive

Wood chewing, crib-biting, weaving and box-walking were treated as separate outcomes in a four-year prospective study of young horses. This is important because one behaviour should not automatically be used to diagnose the other. (Beva)

Is Wood Chewing Always Abnormal?

No.

Wood chewing can form part of normal investigation and browsing, particularly in young horses. A 2025 observational study followed 31 mares and their foals living at pasture. Wood chewing was seen in 28 of 31 foals and 17 of 31 mares, with foals performing it much more frequently. The researchers suggested that the foal behaviour appeared more closely associated with developmental exploration than with frustrated access to forage, although further experimental work is needed. (PubMed)

This means a foal briefly nibbling a fence or branch is not automatically displaying a behavioural disorder.

The behaviour becomes more concerning when the horse:

• Chews wood for prolonged periods

• Strips large sections of fencing or trees

• Swallows substantial quantities

• Damages the mouth or teeth

• Has limited forage available

• Spends long periods confined

• Is losing weight

• Shows colic, ulcer or dental signs

• Progresses from chewing into crib-biting

• Begins the behaviour suddenly as an adult

The frequency, intensity and surrounding management conditions matter more than one isolated bite mark.

What Does Crib-Biting Look Like?

During crib-biting, the horse typically:

1. Grasps a solid edge with the upper incisors

2. Pulls backwards against the object

3. Contracts the muscles underneath the neck

4. Produces a characteristic grunting or gulping sound

5. Repeats the sequence, sometimes many times in succession

Windsucking involves a similar posture and sound but does not require the horse to grip a surface.

Some horses perform the behaviour mainly:

• Immediately after concentrate meals

• While waiting to be fed

• During confinement

• After other horses leave

• Around competition or transport

• During other periods of heightened arousal

Research examining feeding-related hormones found that crib-biting intensity increased immediately after concentrate feeding in the affected horses studied. (PubMed)

Why Do Horses Chew Wood?

There is rarely one universal cause.

Restricted Foraging and Insufficient Chewing Time

Horses are strongly motivated to forage and chew. A ration may technically meet energy and nutrient requirements while still giving the horse relatively little time engaged in eating.

The physical form of forage matters. In a crossover study involving six horses, feeding the same weight of forage cubes rather than long-stem hay reduced eating time by approximately 24% and total chewing activity by approximately 26%. (PubMed)

This does not mean forage cubes are inherently harmful. They may be extremely useful for horses with dental disease or difficulty eating long forage. It means that a fully processed ration may not satisfy chewing and foraging behaviour in the same way as suitable long-stem forage.

Wood chewing may therefore become more likely when the horse:

• Finishes meals quickly

• Has long periods without forage

• Receives mainly pellets or cubes

• Has insufficient forage for their needs

• Cannot access shared forage safely

• Has limited opportunities to browse or explore

• Is confined in an environment containing little else to manipulate

Concentrate Feeding

The strongest dietary evidence relates to concentrate feeding and restricted forage, not to dietary fat itself.

In the prospective young-horse study, feeding concentrates after weaning was associated with approximately four times the rate of crib-biting development. The same study found that wood chewing developed more commonly in horses kept in barns or stables after weaning than in those kept at grass. (Beva)

Concentrate does not automatically cause crib-biting. It may contribute when combined with:

• Abrupt weaning

• Confinement

• Reduced forage

• Limited social contact

• Large or rapidly consumed meals

• A susceptible individual horse

The practical response is not to remove every concentrate immediately. It is to determine whether the horse actually needs the current quantity and whether a forage-based alternative could provide the required nutrition.

Stable Confinement

Time spent stabled has repeatedly been associated with abnormal oral and locomotor behaviour.

A survey of 1,750 dressage, eventing and endurance horses found that increasing time in the stable was associated with a higher prevalence of abnormal behaviour in the dressage and eventing populations studied. (PubMed)

Another population study identified daily pasture access, free movement, substantial roughage intake and tactile contact with other horses as important targets for preventing crib-biting, weaving and box-walking. (PubMed)

A stable itself is not cruel, and many horses require stabling for medical care, feeding or safety. The concern is the entire management package:

• How many hours is the horse confined?

• Can the horse see and safely touch another horse?

• How long is the horse without forage?

• Is the horse able to lie down comfortably?

• Does the horse receive daily voluntary movement?

• Is the environment predictable but not frustrating?

Limited Social Contact

A horse that can see another horse through a solid partition may still have little opportunity for meaningful social interaction.

Purpose-designed social boxes that allowed greater physical contact increased positive interactions between neighbouring stallions substantially without causing serious injuries in the study population. (PubMed)

Not every horse can safely live in a group, particularly during quarantine, treatment or rehabilitation. However, the safest achievable form of social contact should be considered rather than assuming that individual isolation is behaviourally neutral.

Options may include:

• Compatible pair or group turnout

• Adjacent turnout

• Safe tactile contact through suitable partitions

• A calm stable neighbour

• Stable windows allowing horses to observe normal activity

• Preserving familiar social groups

The horse should not be moved into an unsafe herd merely because social contact is desirable. Persistent chasing and resource exclusion are not therapeutic.

Weaning and Early Development

The way a foal is weaned can influence later behaviour.

In the four-year prospective study:

• Stable or barn weaning increased the overall rate of abnormal behaviour compared with paddock weaning

• Continued barn housing after weaning increased the rate further

• Wood chewing began at a median age of approximately 30 weeks

• Crib-biting began earlier, at a median age of approximately 20 weeks

• Concentrate feeding was associated with a marked increase in crib-biting development (Beva)

These results do not mean that a foal must never enter a stable or eat concentrate. They support avoiding abrupt social isolation, major dietary changes and prolonged confinement occurring at the same time.

Gastrointestinal Discomfort

Gastrointestinal discomfort may be involved in some horses, particularly when crib-biting begins at a young age.

A study compared 19 young horses that had recently begun crib-biting with 16 non-crib-biting horses. At the beginning of the trial, the crib-biting horses had significantly more gastric inflammation and ulceration. An antacid diet improved the gastric findings, although crib-biting declined in many foals regardless of which diet they received. (PubMed)

This shows an association. It does not prove that:

• Gastric ulcers cause every case of crib-biting

• Crib-biting causes every gastric ulcer

• Treating ulcers will stop an established cribber

• Every horse that chews wood requires omeprazole

Gastroscopy should be considered when the behaviour occurs alongside clinical reasons to suspect gastric disease, including:

• Reduced appetite

• Weight loss

• Recurrent mild colic

• Deterioration in performance

• Feeding-related discomfort

• Behavioural change around girthing

• A high-risk training, transport or feeding program

Individual and Genetic Susceptibility

Not every horse exposed to the same management develops a stereotypy.

A US survey reported an overall crib-biting prevalence of 4.4%, while Thoroughbreds had a reported prevalence of 13.3%. This suggests that breed or inherited susceptibility may contribute alongside management. (Beva)

However, investigations of selected candidate genes have not identified one major gene responsible for crib-biting. The behaviour is more likely to result from a complex interaction between individual sensitivity, development, environment and learning. (PubMed)

A predisposed horse still needs an environmental trigger. Genetics should not become an excuse to ignore forage, turnout or social management.

Do Horses Copy Cribbing From Each Other?

There is little evidence that crib-biting spreads through simple observation.

In the US survey, almost half of owners believed horses learned crib-biting by watching another horse. However, only approximately 1% of affected horses were reported to have started after exposure to a crib-biter, and the amount of contact with affected horses was not associated with risk. (Beva)

Several horses on the same property may crib because they share:

• Similar genetics

• The same feeding routine

• The same long fasting periods

• The same confinement

• Limited turnout

• Similar weaning history

• The same social restrictions

Isolating a crib-biting horse to protect others may therefore reduce that horse’s social contact without meaningfully preventing the behaviour.

Horses can certainly learn by observing other horses in some situations. The evidence simply does not support treating crib-biting as contagious.

Does Spring Grass Make Horses Chew Wood?

This explanation is commonly repeated, but the evidence is not strong enough to make it a universal rule.

Young, rapidly growing grass can provide plenty of moisture and energy while offering a different structural chewing experience from mature long-stem forage. Wood chewing may also become more noticeable at certain times of year because horses spend more time outside near trees and fencing.

However, the 2025 mare-and-foal study found wood chewing to be common even among horses already living at pasture and suggested that much of the behaviour in foals reflected exploration rather than simple forage frustration. (PubMed)

Do not assume that seasonal wood chewing proves the pasture is deficient. Review the entire diet and environment.

Does Wood Chewing Mean a Mineral Deficiency?

Not by itself.

Wood chewing is not a specific diagnostic sign of magnesium, B-vitamin or another single nutrient deficiency. Blindly adding supplements may create excesses or imbalances without addressing the real cause.

Pica is broader than wood chewing and may occasionally be associated with nutritional abnormalities. One small study involving 15 horses with pica found lower serum iron and copper concentrations than in 15 controls. However, that study did not establish that ordinary wood chewing is caused by iron or copper deficiency, nor that every affected horse should automatically be supplemented. (PubMed)

A better first step is to review:

• Forage analysis

• Total dry matter intake

• Current concentrate or balancer

• Salt intake

• Existing supplements

• Body condition

• Growth stage

• Workload

• Pregnancy or lactation

• Signs of anaemia or systemic disease

Supplement according to the complete ration, not according to which fence panel looks the least enthusiastic.

Myth Versus Reality

Common belief	What the evidence suggests
Wood chewing and cribbing are the same behaviour	They are distinct. Wood chewing does not include the characteristic neck contraction and grunt.
Cribbing horses swallow huge amounts of air and develop gas colic	Cribbing is associated with colic, but the causal pathway remains uncertain and cannot be explained confidently by swallowed air alone.
Horses learn cribbing by watching each other	Evidence for observational transmission is weak. Shared management and susceptibility are more plausible explanations.
Every cribber has gastric ulcers	Ulcers and crib-biting can occur together, especially in young horses, but one does not diagnose the other.
Magnesium or B vitamins will stop wood chewing	Wood chewing is not a specific sign of either deficiency. The full diet should be assessed first.
A cribbing collar cures the problem	It may suppress the visible behaviour but does not necessarily remove the motivation or underlying management factors.
Punishment will stop the habit	Punishment can increase fear and does not correct forage restriction, isolation, pain or gastrointestinal disease.

Does Cribbing Cause Colic?

Crib-biting and windsucking are consistently associated with a greater history of colic, but direct causation has not been proved.

A retrospective study found that cribbing or windsucking was significantly associated with colic, although it was not linked to one general type or severity of colic. No other repetitive behaviour in that study had the same association. (PubMed)

The most striking association is with epiploic foramen entrapment, a strangulating small-intestinal obstruction that usually requires emergency surgery.

In one international study, crib-biting or windsucking was strongly associated with epiploic foramen entrapment. The reported odds ratio was 67.3, although the confidence interval was very wide, meaning the exact size of the association remains uncertain. (PubMed)

Another two-centre study found that:

• 68% of affected horses at one hospital had a cribbing history, compared with 6% of horses with other strangulating small-intestinal lesions

• 49% of affected horses at the second hospital cribbed, compared with 10.5% of horses undergoing surgery for other colic lesions (PubMed)

What Does This Mean for the Individual Horse?

It does not mean that most cribbing horses will develop epiploic foramen entrapment.

An odds ratio does not provide the horse’s absolute lifetime risk. The condition remains much less common than many other forms of colic.

The clinical message is:

A cribbing horse showing abdominal pain deserves prompt veterinary assessment. Do not dismiss the episode as simple gas or ordinary behaviour.

Can Wood Chewing Damage the Horse?

Occasional browsing is unlikely to cause major harm. Persistent chewing can create several problems.

Dental Wear and Oral Injury

Repeated gripping or gnawing may contribute to:

• Uneven incisor wear

• Incisor fractures

• Gum or lip injury

• Splinters in the mouth

• Difficulty grasping forage

• Oral pain

Check the complete mouth, not only the visible front teeth. An unrelated cheek-tooth problem may affect how the horse eats and redirects oral behaviour.

Contact your veterinarian if the horse develops:

• Quidding or dropping feed

• Slow or one-sided chewing

• Blood in the mouth

• Facial swelling

• Bad oral odour

• Difficulty grasping forage

• Unexplained weight loss

Unsafe Wood Exposure

Prevent access to:

• Splintered boards

• Painted or chemically treated timber

• Creosote-treated surfaces

• Unknown tree species

• Rotten fencing containing nails or wire

• Recently broken branches with sharp points

A horse eating bark or wood from an unknown plant may face a toxicology problem that has nothing to do with stereotypic behaviour.

Property and Fencing Damage

A damaged fence can become a far greater welfare risk than the original chewing.

Inspect for:

• Exposed nails

• Broken rails

• Sharp edges

• Weak gates

• Escape routes

• Electrical wiring

• Loose metal coverings

Protecting the structure is appropriate, but it should occur alongside management changes rather than becoming the entire treatment plan.

How Worried Should You Be?

Lower Risk

The horse:

• Occasionally samples wood

• Is young and otherwise behaving normally

• Has adequate forage

• Maintains normal weight

• Has no oral injury

• Is not performing the cribbing neck movement or grunt

• Has no colic or gastrointestinal signs

Action: Monitor the frequency and ensure the wood and surrounding plants are safe.

Moderate Risk

The horse:

• Chews fencing daily

• Has long gaps without forage

• Spends substantial time confined

• Has limited social contact

• Damages stable surfaces

• Has begun showing mild incisor wear

• Chews most intensely before feeding

Action: Review forage, concentrate, turnout, social contact and feeding intervals. Arrange dental or veterinary review if the behaviour persists.

High Risk

The horse:

• Has newly started crib-biting

• Shows a rapid increase in established cribbing

• Is losing weight

• Has recurrent mild colic

• Eats less or produces less manure

• Has oral pain or significant dental wear

• Is swallowing substantial quantities of wood

• Has become withdrawn or unusually agitated

• Began the behaviour suddenly as an adult

Action: Arrange prompt veterinary examination and a full dietary and management review.

Critical

The horse has:

• Repeated rolling

• Severe pawing or flank-watching

• Sweating without exercise

• Abdominal distension

• Little or no manure

• Collapse or weakness

• Choke or difficulty swallowing

• Heavy oral bleeding

• A penetrating mouth injury

• Sudden neurological abnormalities

• Suspected ingestion of toxic wood or plant material

Action: Treat this as an emergency.

When Is This an Emergency?

Cribbing or wood chewing is rarely an emergency by itself. The physical signs accompanying it may be.

Contact a veterinarian immediately if the horse develops:

• Repeated lying down or rolling

• Pawing with reduced appetite

• Looking at or kicking the abdomen

• Rapidly increasing pain

• Abdominal distension

• Little or no manure

• Sweating, weakness or collapse

• Feed or saliva coming from the nostrils

• Repeated coughing or unsuccessful swallowing

• Severe mouth bleeding

• A visible oral foreign body

• Sudden severe facial swelling

• Incoordination, seizures or abnormal awareness

• Suspected access to a poisonous plant or treated timber

Do not wait for a cribbing horse’s colic to become dramatic. The behaviour’s association with surgical intestinal disease makes early examination particularly important. (PubMed)

What Should You Do Right Now?

1. Identify the Exact Behaviour

Watch from a distance or record a video.

Ask:

• Is the horse merely gnawing?

• Are pieces of wood being swallowed?

• Does the horse grip the surface and pull backwards?

• Is there a grunt?

• Does the behaviour occur without an object?

• Is it related to feeding, isolation or confinement?

• Does it stop during turnout?

A clear video may prevent an entire management plan being built around the wrong diagnosis.

2. Check the Horse’s Physical Health

Assess:

• Appetite

• Water intake

• Manure production

• Body weight

• Body condition

• Oral comfort

• Ability to chew

• Temperature

• Gait

• Signs of colic

• Recent medical or management changes

New behaviour in an adult horse is more medically concerning than a long-standing stable pattern.

3. Inspect the Environment

Immediately remove or repair:

• Sharp splinters

• Nails

• Broken rails

• Exposed wires

• Toxic plants

• Treated or painted surfaces

• Unstable fencing

Do not apply a bitter chemical unless the product is confirmed safe for horses and for the material being treated.

4. Review the Horse’s Feeding Day

Write down the actual times when forage is available and when it is finished.

Also record:

• Type and weight of forage

• Whether forage is long-stem, chopped, cubed or pelleted

• Concentrate type and amount

• Meal frequency

• Time spent grazing

• Whether another horse blocks access

• Whether the horse requires weight control

• Existing supplements

The important number is not only how much forage is offered. It is how long the horse can actually access and consume it.

5. Arrange Veterinary or Dental Assessment When Needed

A veterinary examination is particularly important when the behaviour:

• Is new

• Is increasing

• Is associated with weight loss

• Is accompanied by recurrent colic

• Interferes with normal eating

• Causes mouth injury

• Occurs with other behavioural changes

• Does not improve after sensible management changes

Gastroscopy is appropriate only when the history and clinical signs justify investigating gastric disease.

A Practical Management Plan

Step 1: Increase Suitable Foraging Time

The aim is to reduce unnecessary fasting while keeping the ration safe for the individual horse.

Options include:

• More frequent forage provision

• Appropriately designed slow feeders

• Several feeding locations

• Long-stem forage where dentally appropriate

• Feeding forage before concentrate

• Lower-energy forage for horses requiring calorie control

• A combination of hay and approved safe browse

• Ensuring subordinate horses can access forage

A slow feeder must not create frustration, trap teeth or limbs, or restrict intake so severely that the horse remains hungry.

For horses with obesity, insulin dysregulation or previous laminitis, “more foraging time” should come from a controlled low-sugar, appropriately portioned plan rather than unrestricted rich pasture.

Step 2: Reduce Unnecessary Concentrate

Determine whether the horse needs the current amount of concentrate.

When additional energy or nutrients are required:

• Divide feed into smaller meals

• Avoid abrupt changes

• Select a lower-starch option where appropriate

• Use a ration balancer when calories are not required

• Match intake to body condition and workload

• Have the total ration reviewed by a veterinarian or qualified equine nutrition professional

Do not remove concentrate suddenly from a horse with substantial energy requirements or a medical feeding plan.

Step 3: Increase Movement

Where medically appropriate, provide:

• More turnout

• A larger safe area

• Voluntary walking

• Varied but safe terrain

• Regular low-stress exercise

• Reduced unnecessary confinement

For a horse undergoing rehabilitation, movement must remain within the veterinary plan. A healing tendon does not become exempt from biology because the horse has started dismantling the stable.

Step 4: Improve Social Contact

Consider whether the horse can have:

• Compatible group turnout

• Pair turnout

• A stable neighbour

• Safe physical contact

• Adjacent paddocks

• A familiar companion during transport or relocation

Complete infectious-disease quarantine before introducing direct contact with new horses.

Step 5: Provide Safe Enrichment

Enrichment can include:

• Several forage locations

• Approved safe browse

• A scratching post

• Stable windows

• Rotating safe objects

• Food-search opportunities

• Changes in turnout location

Enrichment should supplement forage, movement and social contact. A hanging ball cannot carry the entire welfare plan, although it may give the ball an impressive sense of responsibility.

Step 6: Protect the Structures

Once the horse’s needs are being addressed, protect frequently damaged surfaces using:

• Smooth metal capping

• Safe physical barriers

• Electric offset fencing installed correctly

• Replacement of splintered timber

• Relocation of feeders that create a convenient cribbing edge

Make sure any covering does not create sharp edges or allow a leg, lip or halter to become trapped.

Step 7: Monitor for Two to Four Weeks

Record:

• Frequency of wood chewing or cribbing

• Time of day

• Relationship to meals

• Forage availability

• Turnout

• Social contact

• Body weight

• Appetite

• Manure

• Oral injury

• Colic signs

A reduction is useful progress. Complete disappearance may not occur, especially when crib-biting is already well established.

Should You Use a Cribbing Collar or Muzzle?

Anti-cribbing collars and muzzles can reduce the visible behaviour.

A randomised crossover study involving eight established crib-biting horses found that two collars and a muzzle all significantly reduced crib-biting during use. The study did not detect clear evidence of substantial distress from those devices over the short treatment periods. Surgically implanted gingival rings were only temporarily effective and were considered painful. (PubMed)

However, another experiment found increased crib-biting immediately after a 24-hour prevention period in some horses, suggesting that suppressing the behaviour may leave the underlying motivation intact. (PubMed)

My Practical View

A collar or muzzle may be reasonable when:

• The horse is injuring the mouth

• A medical or surgical situation requires temporary suppression

• An essential structure is being destroyed

• There is an immediate safety concern

• Management improvements are being implemented at the same time

The device must:

• Fit correctly

• Allow normal breathing

• Allow adequate forage and water intake

• Avoid skin or jaw injury

• Be checked frequently

• Be removed if eating, swallowing or behaviour deteriorates

A quieter stable does not necessarily mean the original problem has been treated.

Should You Treat Every Cribbing Horse for Gastric Ulcers?

No.

Crib-biting and gastric disease can occur together, but the behaviour alone does not diagnose equine gastric ulcer syndrome.

Consider gastroscopy when there are additional signs such as:

• Poor appetite

• Weight loss

• Recurrent low-grade colic

• Reduced performance

• Behaviour associated with meals

• Deterioration after transport or competition

• Unexplained body-condition loss

Empirical medication may conceal other problems and does not guarantee that an established stereotypy will disappear.

Can Wood Chewing or Cribbing Be Cured?

Wood chewing may decrease substantially when forage, turnout, social contact or the physical environment improves.

Established crib-biting is often managed rather than cured. Once the behaviour has become deeply rehearsed, it may persist even after the conditions associated with its development are corrected.

That does not make management changes pointless.

The horse may still benefit through:

• Better gastrointestinal health

• More normal feeding behaviour

• Greater social contact

• Reduced frustration

• Improved body condition

• Less physical damage

• Lower behaviour frequency

The goal is a healthier horse, not merely a perfectly untouched stable door.

Common Mistakes Owners Make

Treating Wood Chewing and Cribbing as the Same Problem

The first involves gnawing or eating wood. The second includes a specific gripping, neck-flexing and grunting sequence.

Assuming the Horse Needs Magnesium

Wood chewing does not diagnose a magnesium deficiency. Review the complete ration before adding supplements.

Removing Forage to Protect the Stable

This may increase hunger and foraging frustration while worsening the underlying management problem.

Isolating a Cribbing Horse

There is little evidence that horses simply catch crib-biting from one another. Isolation may create an additional social stressor. (Beva)

Using a Collar as the Only Treatment

A collar can suppress the movement without correcting forage restriction, confinement, pain or social isolation.

Automatically Treating Gastric Ulcers

The association is important, but gastroscopy is required to confirm gastric lesions and determine their location and severity.

Ignoring an Increase in Behaviour

A sudden increase may coincide with diet changes, confinement, gastric discomfort, pain or early colic.

Punishing the Horse

Punishment does not correct the biological or environmental motivation and may increase avoidance or anxiety.

How Can These Behaviours Be Prevented?

Prevention is most effective in young horses before the behaviour becomes established.

Focus on:

• Gradual, socially supported weaning

• Avoiding abrupt total isolation

• Maintaining familiar companions

• Providing suitable forage throughout the transition

• Introducing concentrate only when nutritionally necessary

• Avoiding multiple major management changes at once

• Providing daily movement

• Giving safe social contact

• Monitoring early repetitive oral behaviour

• Addressing gastrointestinal or dental signs promptly

The prospective evidence suggests that relatively simple changes to weaning, housing and feeding may reduce the development of abnormal behaviour in young horses. (Beva)

Frequently Asked Questions

Is wood chewing the same as cribbing?

No. A wood-chewing horse gnaws or eats the material. A crib-biting horse grips an object, pulls backwards, flexes the neck and usually makes a characteristic grunt.

Does cribbing cause colic?

Cribbing and windsucking are associated with increased colic risk, particularly epiploic foramen entrapment. Direct causation has not been proved, and the relationship is not adequately explained by swallowed air alone. (PubMed)

Will feeding more hay stop cribbing?

It may reduce feeding frustration and supports gastrointestinal health, but established crib-biting may continue. The type of forage, chewing time, concentrate intake, turnout and social environment should all be considered.

Do horses copy cribbing?

Research provides little evidence that crib-biting spreads through observation. Shared management and individual susceptibility are more likely explanations. (Beva)

Should I use a cribbing collar?

A properly fitted collar may temporarily reduce crib-biting when physical damage or safety is a concern. It should be monitored carefully and used alongside improvements in feeding, turnout, social contact and medical care.

Final Thoughts

Wood chewing and crib-biting may occur at the same fence, but they are not the same behaviour.

Wood chewing can be exploratory, particularly in young horses, but frequent or destructive chewing should trigger a review of forage, chewing time, confinement, social contact, oral health and the safety of the environment.

Crib-biting is an established stereotypy with a recognised association with colic. It should not be punished, treated as contagious or dismissed as a simple air-swallowing habit.

The most useful approach is to:

1. Identify the exact behaviour

2. Check for pain or disease

3. Review the entire diet

4. Increase suitable foraging time

5. Improve movement and social contact

6. Protect dangerous surfaces

7. Monitor whether the behaviour is changing

8. Seek veterinary care promptly if colic, weight loss or oral injury develops

The horse is not chewing your new fencing as a personal review of the construction budget. The behaviour is information. Your job is to determine what that information means for this particular horse.

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ASK A VET™ can help you organise behaviour videos, forage and concentrate details, feeding times, body-weight changes, dental findings and colic observations so that recurring wood chewing or crib-biting can be assessed in context. A horse with abdominal pain, difficulty swallowing, significant oral injury or sudden behavioural deterioration still requires direct veterinary examination.