My horse is destroying fences and ignoring electric wire

[horsegirl0317]

My horse is a 4 year old OTTB that cribs like it is no one’s business. I have owned him since he was 3 and he has been cribbing since the moment I got him. He is a beautiful grey, quiet as can be, super friendly around others, and flats and jumps with no issues. His only vice is his cribbing.

We have moved his field so that he is in a field surrounded by electric wiring, but he walks right through it as if he were a cow and escapes. We have turned the voltage up so high it has left marks on him, yet he still walks through it and escapes the field as though he can’t feel it. If we put him out where the fencing is wood, he destroys it.

Another issue is he is somewhat skinny due to the amount of cribbing he is doing. If we put him outside with a muzzle, we fear that he will continue to lose weight instead of gain it.

We have even adjusted his feed, given him a slow feeding hay net, two salt licks, and a ball; none of which seem to please him like the cribbing does. He’s been on supplements to see if that would alleviate some of the cribbing as well which also did not work. He wears a collar all of the time but he cribs through that as well (he’s been through four of them). He doesn’t try to take the collar’s off, he just ignores them.

This horse is the calmest and most fearless horse I’ve ever seen in my life and I don’t want to lose him due to the property damage he is inflicting on my barn. Please leave advice below!!!

[mmeqcenter]

T-posts and no-climb fence, turned out 24/7 with a friend, free choice hay.
Have you treated for ulcers or checked for other sources of discomfort?
Replace grain with alfalfa pellets or beet pulp or the like. Or go to a low-NSC feed.
A free-to-eat cribbing muzzle allows them to eat while preventing cribbing.

[Wanderosa]

All animals must be trained to electric fencing for it to work. It’s a psychological deterent and not a physical one.

[JB]

What is the “electric wiring”, and what is the tested voltage on the fence?

[TCA_Arabians]

I agree with pipe corrals. I’d also check the voltage on your electric wire. Having hit our wire a number of times - the deterrent was the jolt I felt.

[Unfforgettable]

I agree with checking the voltage and fence material. Is he wearing a sheet or blanket?

[streamline]

My horse who use to be a horrible cribbed can’t be around pipe pens because it really triggers the cribbing. Took about a year and a half and 24/7 turn out etc to get him to not crib as much. As he’s relaxed and matured the cribbed has slowed down. He does still crib and that’s okay with me since I have my own place.

Also since I have my own place I witnessed all three of mine galloped right through hot wire.

I put up barbwire the next day and I have had 0 horse escapes, my husbands hony was army crawling under the fence til we did another strand.

The front 10 acres is fenced with no climb, t posts and two strands of barbwire on top.

I’ve really enjoyed the no climb fence. I would think it he’s a cribber the pipe panels/continuous panels wouldn’t help the cribbing but maybe he wouldn’t get out?

Also I’m aware barbwire and horses don’t mesh well but when you live in state that cows outnumber people it’s kinda the only fencing we have 😂

[AnotherRound]

@horsegirl0317

My horse is a 4 year old OTTB that cribs like it is no one’s business. I have owned him since he was 3 and he has been cribbing since the moment I got him. He is a beautiful grey, quiet as can be, super friendly around others, and flats and jumps with no issues. His only vice is his cribbing.

We have moved his field so that he is in a field surrounded by electric wiring, but he walks right through it as if he were a cow and escapes. We have turned the voltage up so high it has left marks on him, yet he still walks through it and escapes the field as though he can’t feel it. If we put him out where the fencing is wood, he destroys it.

Another issue is he is somewhat skinny due to the amount of cribbing he is doing. If we put him outside with a muzzle, we fear that he will continue to lose weight instead of gain it.

We have even adjusted his feed, given him a slow feeding hay net, two salt licks, and a ball; none of which seem to please him like the cribbing does. He’s been on supplements to see if that would alleviate some of the cribbing as well which also did not work. He wears a collar all of the time but he cribs through that as well (he’s been through four of them). He doesn’t try to take the collar’s off, he just ignores them.

This horse is the calmest and most fearless horse I’ve ever seen in my life and I don’t want to lose him due to the property damage he is inflicting on my barn. Please leave advice below!!!

I hate to be the old fusty musty lady, but this horse sounds like he has ulcers. Very often cribbing horses have ulcers. Please do give him a course or two of omeprazole and see is he does better. I believe he will start keeping his weight on and loose the cribbing.

But that’s waht I would do.

[hlra11]

This horse would be required to live in a metal cribbing muzzle if he lived with me. I have found nothing else to truly work in saving fences. I like the metal bar best friends brand personally. Does not slow them down eating one bit with just the bars on.

I do agree this horse most likely has ulcers as well, but it would not be worth the property damage to not muzzle in my opinion.

[SuzieQNutter]

@streamline

My horse who use to be a horrible cribbed can’t be around pipe pens because it really triggers the cribbing. Took about a year and a half and 24/7 turn out etc to get him to not crib as much. As he’s relaxed and matured the cribbed has slowed down. He does still crib and that’s okay with me since I have my own place.

Also since I have my own place I witnessed all three of mine galloped right through hot wire.

I put up barbwire the next day and I have had 0 horse escapes, my husbands hony was army crawling under the fence til we did another strand.

The front 10 acres is fenced with no climb, t posts and two strands of barbwire on top.

I’ve really enjoyed the no climb fence. I would think it he’s a cribber the pipe panels/continuous panels wouldn’t help the cribbing but maybe he wouldn’t get out?

Also I’m aware barbwire and horses don’t mesh well but when you live in state that cows outnumber people it’s kinda the only fencing we have 😂

Barbef wire usually causes a wound that looks nasty but will heal okay.

OTOH plain wire largely causes injuries that are career ending.

[streamline]

@SuzieQNutter

Barbef wire usually causes a wound that looks nasty but will heal okay.

OTOH plain wire largely causes injuries that are career ending.

Ooh yeah. I had an incident about 2 weeks ago with smooth wire. Horse had it wrapped so tightly around his hind fetlock. No cuts or anything but it was so tight it caused immediate damage and what we assume it swelling to his deep digital. He was on paddock rest for about a week with bute and I was wrapping everyday with sore no more. Not fun.

Horse still looks a bit off but I haven’t ridden him in a year or so because he rears up and over and I’m 8 months pregnant 😂.

The barb wire fixed the problem of my horses escaping, fixed most of my cribbing issues as well. If he truly wants to crib he just goes to on of the pipe gates. No biggie to me since it’s just my horses/place but when I was boarding him it was a pain to deal with.

[Bluey]

Our old vet used to say, pony wire, that is barbless wire, causes much worse injuries because horses don’t respect it and tend to tangle with it more.
Barbed wire causes terrible injuries, but horses respect it way more and just rarely will tangle with it.
Millions of horses are behind barbed wire in many places, by necessity and have been for over a century now and injuries are not that common with it, used properly, rare.

The worst and more numerous injuries I have seen have been with board fences in the East.
From splinters to horses bumping into them as they don’t respect them, to hitting them hard enough to go thru them and get seriously injured from it.

Any fence can cause injuries.
Most of that is less than ideal management, unsuitable horses behind them.
Or just plain bad luck, where any fence would have causes injuries as the wreck happened.