I bought a cribber for our daughter. He was 15, she was 12. He was one of the best horses I ever knew. His cribbing was managed by a collar at a boarding stable. Once I moved to my own place I didn’t notice him cribbing except occasionally at mealtime.
He died at 27. I never regretted buying him. None of my other horses started cribbing after we bought him. If he was one of those horses that totally zone out out as they crib I’d probably feel differently.
If I was buying to resell or had to board, I would pass on a cribbed.
For my own farm, I not looking to buy a cribber, but it’s not a deal breaker.
If you asked me 15 years ago, no. If you ask me now, it depends. My 18 yo started cribbing when he was about 4ish (I got him at 3). I still remember going to a show and one of the people who rode with my trainer was freaking out about it and trying to demand I get him a collar.
He has never worn a collar. But, he’s also not a super aggressive cribber…he only does it after eating grain or after getting a treat (he will even crib on the cross ties but only after a treat). Times with no grain/treats there is zero cribbing. When I he had a corner feeder he was worse about cribbing while eating…he’s been using a ground bucket which does cut down on the cribbing while eating. In the 15 years I’ve had him, it’s never gotten worse, and none of my other horses have ever picked up the habit.
I’ve owned 2 cribbers. I’m not going to say I wouldn’t buy another horse that cribs, because I might, if the horse ticked all my boxes. However, there’s cribbing, and then there’s 
cribbing .
I once bought an old show horse. He had spent many years in a high pressure show barn. He didn’t just crib, he “OMG! CRIBBED! OMG!” It was awful to watch him. He would take breaks while eating his grain to crib. He would stand at the pasture gate for hours cribbing on the one short section of wood fence that didn’t have electric wire. And if he couldn’t crib, like in a bare stall where he couldn’t hook his front teeth on anything, he would put his teeth up against the wall and repetitively scrape the surface with his bottom teeth. I will never again knowingly purchase a horse that is a hardcore dedicated long-term cribber like that.
The other cribber I owned was an OTTB. He was not hardcore or dedicated. He was more of what you might call a recreational cribber. 
Yes, he would crib some in the stall, especially if he was out of hay, but when he was in the pasture, he cribbed very little. He might periodically walk up to the fence, crib a little bit, then go back to grazing, but that was about it. That kind of cribber I might consider buying.
Same. A recreational cribber feels manageable to me. The self destructive will crib over eating beautiful hay type would stress me out to the point I’d want to crib
I bought a cribber. He really only cribbed on his feed bucket, and pretty much only after eating grain. It was loud and annoying, but since it was only after feed, I didn’t make much of it. He came with a collar, but it didn’t help any, so I quit using it. He eventually stopped cribbing, and to tell the truth, because I pretty much ignored it, it took awhile for me to realize he had stopped. He’s now 29, and I’ve had him 15 years. He still has his incisors, but the upper middles are more worn than the others.
Doesn’t bother me and hasn’t bothered the owners/trainers at either of the last two barns I’ve boarded at. I have one at the moment who I’ve watched drastically reduce the habit now that there’s good forage, better gut health and turnout, etc. It’s a very manageable “vice.”
Curious which horse — DM me if you like! — as I was just at the Makeover. There were some lovely ones.
I adopted an OTTB who cribbed and weaved. He was a terrific horse who was my first flight foxhunter. I retired him last year at 23. He wore a cribbing collar and had to live outside 24/7 with a run in shed. He never stopped cribbing but his other OCD behaviors were handled with turnout and a low starch diet.
Cribbing is an issue for boarding. Many barns didn’t want him. He would latch onto fencing and pull on it. I even tried putting in a cribbing post but he ignored it. When I retired him I was finally able to move my mare to a place nearby that I’d eyed for years but which had a no cribbing policy. Even the retirement farm had only limited spots for cribbers
In a barn in Europe, decades ago, we had a five year old that had never cribbed with us.
He sold to customer, that took him home.
They brought him back, saying he cribbed.
The University veterinary clinic was conducting a study on cutting certain muscles/nerves high up in the neck and that stopped cribbing.
He was signed into that study and came back with a small, maybe 4" long scar on the side on his neck higher up and had quit cribbing.
I don’t know why that is not an option today, guess that it didn’t help enough horses, or not for long enough, or horses started other, like stall walking or weaving.
Cribbing won’t be a deal breaker for me, though it depends (like anything with horses really).
The barn I started out at had a ton of cribbers + wood chewers (the facility had no turnout options so horses were in their stalls for 20+ hours daily). The stalls were mostly pipe so the cribbing didn’t really damage anything. Some did it regularly, some only once in a while. I can’t remember them having any particular issues from it.
Cribbing wouldn’t bother me if otherwise, the horse is fine and I have options to minimize the cribbing (lots of outside time). It can just be a little quirk they have. However, I would probably not have the same opinion at a different stable setup, where cribbing could actually cause some damage.
Cribbing can be an issue if you are planning on resale, or if you board somewhere that doesn’t allow / like cribbers.
I used to have a cribber. he did very little damage (unlike my wood chewer), was an easy keeper, anxious to please, had pretty good teeth, and lived to be 36 years old. I have no regrets about buying him.
Nope. Would never knowingly buy one, and it is one of my initial questions asked when shopping.
Out of a dozen homebreds I’ve had two become cribbers. Both did it at about 2-3 years of age, both had great turnout and “horse company” in the barn. The filly was about 40 years ago, and I never knew why she started. The gelding started a few years ago when we had 100 inches of snow: turnout was in very tiny cleared areas with no sight lines to other horses.
Both of them were/are the most mellow sweet horses. I read somewhere that cribbing stops when horses are given Narcan (opiate receptor blocker) so I’ve always joked that they’re mellow because they’re a little high.
Based on these experiences, I just bought an OTTB that cribs. He’s pretty mellow too. I have to figure out how to keep him from crabbing on his water bucket though, as he spills water everywhere. I don’t much like that.
And I agree that they do it after eating. Must be like the cigarette smoker who lights up after dinner. 
More:
Good thing my 29-year-old cribber can’t read!
My girl, too! I owned her from the time she came off the track at four until I had to euthanize her at 19 when she developed chronic cellulitis in a second leg. She colicked exactly once and that was immediately after we gave too many vaccinations at one time.
My 23-y-o non-cribber is the gassy one that has the vet out at least once or twice a year. 
It does damage surfaces unless it is a hard surface that them pressing will not cause damage (like metal edging). They will for sure make marks in wood. If they like to crib on the edge of their feed tub the pulling will break feed tubs, etc.
Now, having said that, if the cribber checks every other box I need I would probably be willing to buy one. Know that cribbing will shorten the list of possible buyers if you try to sell.
Personally, no. I agree with those that said there are dedicated cribbers who go at it non-stop, and those that do it at particular times. Obviously the latter is better than the former.
Have you owned a green TB before, which is what a 7 year old horse coming from the makeover is? I’m sure there’s exceptions, but the TB brain is much different than a WB brain. To me, I like it. But they aren’t for everyone.
I agree with all of this. My favorite horse was a cribber, but while he’s enjoy taking a nibble on the indoor or a fence when his collar was off here and there, his behavior was remarkably reduced when he was turned out in a large field by himself, with lots of interesting stimulation (near a road, lots of up and down, trees). So I would have before been in the “go for it, get the cribber” camp, until I later met a nervous pony–poor thing, I felt so badly for her–that cribbed so determinedly it was hard for her to get enough calories in to keep her weight. When I rode her she also was prone to nervous, er, liquid-y pooping.
I’m sure her diet and environment was badly managed, but it helped me see there is a big range of cribbing behaviors, and a horse that loves cribbing above all else may have other issues going on.
I’ll also agree that it makes boarding challenging. I noted that the horse I loved had a collar, and I simply had no choice in the matter, because the boarding barns required it. I would even get an angry email from the barn owner if she didn’t think I’d tightened it sufficiently. Even a less-than-determined cribber does cause damage. It might not be a big deal to a horse owner with a few horses in the backyard, but I can definitely understand if it wasn’t my horse and my expensive wooden fence or indoor at my professionally run operation had teeth marks in it, I’d get upset. Also, the noise can be annoying to staff who are around the cribbing horses all the time.
I owned one. Didn’t know he cribbed when I bought him, and he lived at home with me. So yeah, it was annoying. He’s also one of the best horses I’ve ever had and I’d buy him again in a heartbeat.
As long as the boarding barn will have him, buy him if he meets all your other criteria. And none of the other horses I ever had here with my cribber ever started cribbing.
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