Cribbing

Cribbing—swallowing air into the stomach—is generally believed to be a reaction to stress. Swallowing air releases endorphins in a horse’s brain, which enables the horse to tolerate stress more readily. But it’s a nasty habit that can disrupt digestion and contribute to the formation of ulcers. It also can seriously damage farm structures.

Natural Plan Stomach Soother™ calms and comforts most cribbing horses.

Indicators of Cribbing:

• When people think of cribbing, most picture a horse biting down on a horizontal surface such as a stall door or fence board.
• Some people believe that cribbing starts when a horse with a dry esophagus tries to create more mucus by swallowing.
• But some horses are capable of swallowing air without relying on a biting action.

Stress May Bring It On

Horses are sensitive creatures. They feel stressed by most changes, but among the most difficult periods are:

• Weaning
• Intense training
• Separation from herd mates
• Long periods of stall restriction, without turnouts

Natural Plan Stomach Soother helps stop cribbing two ways:

For some horses, it has a temperament-calming effect. We speculate that the papain enzyme in Stomach Soother makes the horse’s stomach more comfortable which, in turn, makes for a calmer horse. A lower stress level means the horse doesn’t need to crib.

Without cribbing there’s less air in the stomach, so there’s room for food. The horse eats, feels good and continues to eat rather than gulp air, and a whole new cycle of normal behavior begins.

Since the papain enzyme in Stomach Soother increases the mucus of the esophagus, horses that crib because of a dry throat may no longer need to.

Note: Not all horses respond to Stomach Soother the same way. Some stop cribbing altogether, others reduce the intensity of their cribbing habit, while a small portion don’t change their cribbing at all.