My horse is an 8 yr old Irish Sport Horse x Connemara. I ride him 5x a week and he gets adequate turn out. He chews on everything!!! Cross-ties is the worse, lead rope as well and even on the reins. Basically, anything he can get a hold on to he will chew it. Very annoying.
Note: I do not feed him treats on the cross-ties.
I never feed treats. Iām pretty sure his prior ownerās kids did all the time. He came to me pretty mouthy. No treats ever. He does not need them. Minimize his chances to chew on reins or rope.
Snap a little piece of chain on to his halter, let him chew on that 
and maybe hope he outgrows it!
I have a similar horse, although not a cribber. For him it is a game - can I grab it while she isnāt looking? - kind of thing. He only does it when I am nearby. Walk away and he leaves everything alone! Carrying a dressage whip and giving him a tap on the leg grabs something will get him to give up the game, but he knows when I put the whip down. He also likes to hold his lead rope in his mouth while walking in hand. He doesnāt do anything with it, just holds it in his teeth if I let him. I donāt because I worry if he pulls back suddenly, but heāll occasionally pick it up.
No treats in the cross-ties either. My guy is young, so he might outgrow it, but I doubt it. :rolleyes::rolleyes: I sometimes think he needs a playmate like a goat or something.
I am with Fragglerock, provide a chew toy he can mouth. We have had a couple that NEEDED chewy things while standing. They stood quiet, never bothered other stuff when they had a chewy item provided. Two horses we went with loose jaw bits, they lifted and dropped the mouthpiece to keep busy while standing quite still, attentive before competition. The other horse we gave a short curb chain to gnaw on, left his driving partner and the reins alone while hitching! He was attentive in work, not playing.
These 3 did not outgrow it. None were cribbers or wood chewers. Just part of their makeup, need to chew when being handled, waiting around to go to work. All good workers, brave and forward in work. 2 geldings, one mare.
Being in control of his chewing makes it less frustrating! Husband says āBetter this outlet than head throwing, pawing, moving back and forth in the crossties!ā Horse can ALWAYS be worse!! Be glad this is his ābadā thing, you can work with it.
You could try spraying your crossties, lead rope, and reins with something he thinks tastes icky. That would help to deter him from chewing on them. I doubt he would continuously chew on something that tastes bad to him. I have heard of some people even slathering hot sauce on things as a deterrent. This kind of positive punishment (think psychology) usually helps deter unwanted behavior. I think it may be worth a try!
Some horses just like to put everything in their mouths. I doubt he will grow out of it especially since he is 18 
Keep stuff out of reach and spraying something bad tasting on the cross ties might be helpful.
You can do various things to discourses chewing on ropes or fences but you canāt change the basic tendency of the horse when you are not present. Giving him stall toys to play with might help. Or hay in hay nets to last longer.
This. I have a new guy (7 y/o Holsteiner) who does what the OPās horse does and also gets nippy (not mean) with me and I posed this question gto someone who had worked with a lot of OTTBs. She said long chain over the nose and leave a 2ā length of lead rope hanging when in the cross ties. So you have your horse in the cross ties and this nose chain/ short lead hanging is in addition to the cross ties. For my guy, if he wants to mouth his cross ties, Iām fine with it. If it makes him feel better, great. He will sometimes hold the cross tie in his mouth and look at me like a puppy. But when his mouthyness contacts me, one quick jerk on the chain and he is learning quickly I am not a chew toy.
I will not tolerate horse grabbing my leather reins to chew on them. He knows when he has a halter & rope onā¦ tied up he better keep his mouth off stuff.
I catch him mouthing stuff I give him a good hard whack. Nothing more annoying then a mouthy, got chew on everything horse. All I do now is show him the whip, and he knows I mean business.
He can chew mouth stuff on his own time not when I have him to saddle up. Or groom or whatever Iām doing with him.
I have a chewer and it drives me crazyā¦ he gets it from his sire (Iāve been told he chewed everything and so do many of his offspringā¦his full brother is just like him!). Iāve sprayed with all kinds of terrible tasting stuff, to no availeā¦he just keeps on chewing; Iāve even tried fruit roll ups for hunter jogs thinking heād focus on that instead of the reins (he sucks in reins so fast it makes your head spinā¦all I ended up with was a disgusting icky mess that he tried to chew more, I now just jog and ignore it). Now. For leading and standing I use a lead with a chain that attaches to the sides of his bit and just let him chew on that! (A whack with a cropā¦ doesnāt matter he just keeps on going ] i donāt hand feed ever as heās already mouthy and I do not need to encourage it more. heās otherwise very polite so I now ignore it and tell myself it could be worse, sighā¦
My young friend has a 5 y.o. mustang mare that likes to chew on stuff, like crossties. Weāve been working with her using a trick I picked up years ago from trainer John Lyons but never had a chance to try. We take the item out of her mouth and rub all over her muzzle until it relaxes. Weāre making progress because sheās not doing it so much. I donāt think whacking accomplishes much because Iām not sure they can actually connect the whack to the mouthiness. Itās like if theyāre girthy and turn their head to bite, keep your elbow out so they bang into it. You didnāt hit them, they hit you. The connection between the behavior and the consequence has to be lightening fast so the correction comes almost instantaneously because their attention span is so short.
They get it when they get whacked the instant horse grabs rope in mouth. One good whack in the mouth gets their attention fast.
Nope not all of them! Mine you can give a good whack too (more than once) and he will go right back to chewing after about 10 seconds, I think for a lot of these it all goes back to an ulcer issue (mine has bad ones) and/or itās a damn inherited trait! But by all means come on by and try to permanently stop it, bet you canātā¦many have tried lol
If he is chewing everything, the lead rope, the whip, your arm, it is a sign of ulcers. They are trying to relieve the pain in their stomach.
Give half a biscuit of lucerne (alfalfa) before riding and before floating (trailering). Lucerne is a buffer for the acid. Feed on the ground to promote saliva. Feed plenty of hay in their diet.
If it is a training issue. They usually take the whip in their mouth but donāt chew. In that case I tap their muzzle on the side with the top of my other whip until it is their decision to let it go and then they are praised. .
They are taught to stand still when I say halt. That means stand still without eating, without looking to be patted without chewing on anything, just stand there and donāt move.
I am not a fan of hitting a horse in the head ā any part of the head ā for any reason. The neck or body, OK, but never the head.
Goober is called Goober because he grabs everything within reach of his body (or his turnout friendās body). Poor Petey no longer has a neck warmer because Goober ruined it. Nothing can be left within striking distance of his mouth. If it is there, it is fair game. I just have to be very aware of putting grooming tools, blankets, etc at least 6ā away.
When I am interacting with him I reach a compromise which he understands. When putting on his halter, he has one āfreebieā that allows him to grab the nose piece as it starts over his mouth. I wiggle it back and forth until he drops it, Then he is perfect the 2nd try.
All those years when I would get after him for grabbing the noseband (nylon grooming halter) never made it better. But when I briefly āplay the gameā he is happy to let me do what I want after that.
This habit is more about training me, than training him.
My horse is a bit like this guy, although he hasnāt yet figured out how to do the Houdini part:
https://www.facebook.com/GlockHorsePerformanceCenter/videos/vb.288481221175192/1701025963254037/?type=2&theater&comment_id=1701338843222749¬if_t=comment_mention¬if_id=1516769620525797
I wasnāt a fan of hitting my horse in the mouth either. Until he destroyed a set of leather reins chewing them up while tied up. Doesnāt seem to make him head shy. Only once in a while now i actually have to hit him, i just show him the whip and he drops what heās grabbed. Heās gotten less mouthy since i got the old gelding,who gives him the run around at hay bale.
Really isnāt something i like. And donāt like when tack gets destroyed ,so iām not real nice when he gets mouthy. When riding if he tries to grab reins a swift jerk of the reins changes his mind. Heās the kind of horse give him an inch heāll take a mile.
Hm, I never encountered a horse who chewed on things like crazy while tied up until I moved to the US and encountered cross ties for the first time: a setup for restriction/head immobility, which can feel stressful to some horses, and no chance to āgraze.ā We always tied a horse straight, and 9 times out of 10 with a haynet in front of them. Horses are designed for constant eating. IOW donāt be annoyed if theyāre mouthy, just like some dogs need to chew. Just keep your stuff out of reach, and maybe clicker train standing still so thereās a positive reward for good behavior.
Hitting them in the head is the same as hitting them if they bite. To them it is a game. Watch them in the paddock. They will bite and bite and bite. If you hit them it is a bit like oooh you were quick that time. I will be quicker next time.
Which is why I do the tap tap and say no until they make the decision to open their mouth and let it go and then I praise. I want them to make the right decision not the wrong one.
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