Reader Questions: Anti-Cribbing Measures and Mustang Brands

Question on Cribbing.  Jim asked ”Is there a natural remedy to put on the stall boards to keep horses from chewing them? Thanks”

Jim, I haven’t had a large problem with my horses chewing wood (called cribbing), however when I managed a large stables several of the owners had cribbing problems with their horses and as I recall most of them did not find a good solution. The obvious answer is to remove all sources of wood from your stalls or turnouts, however I understand this is impractical for a lot of people.

Here are some possible solutions you may want to look into:

Anti-cribbing miracle collar from Smart-Pak

Cribbing Strap from Shane's Tack.


The below cribbing solutions are available from Horse Supplies Direct.com

Cribbing Eliminator by Liquid Fence. The company advertises this product as an all-natural equine product that offers a non-toxic, cruelty free, and guaranteed effective solution to wood chewing habits and is a great way to curb wood chewing without having to resort to muzzles and straps, diet alterations, drugs, or painful electric-shock collars.

Stop Crib is a brushable paste to help discourage chewing and sucking vices in horses.

Crib Stop Spray can be sprayed on horse clothing, leg wraps, wood, tails and manes, bedding, tack and many more items.

Red Hot Spray is a chilli-tasting, non-toxic formula of soap, spices and flavouring to stop horses chewing on bandages & rugs.


Question on Mustang Brands.  SFC Stephen asked ”While we are on the subject of BLM and Mustangs, I, owning a BLM Mustang (if one can "own" a Mustang or any horse for that matter) am curious how they choose which Mustangs to catch and allow to be adopted. Do they choose the weak, the strongest, the prettiest or, just the easiest to catch? I am waiting for spring to shave and try to decipher the tattoo on mine. Also, the dates they put on them, is this the actual foal date (if so, how do they know) or is it the date they catch the horse? Any information is appreciated, as always.”


Mustangs & Burros are freeze branded on the left neck by the BLM after they are captured. Details such as age and registration number can be deciphered from the brand. Each brand is unique, so each animal can be identified positively if you can read the brand. It would be difficult for me to explain how to read the brands. You would be much better off by going to this website to learn how the BLM brands and how to read them.

Safe Journey all.

Wild Horse and Burro Update - April 2011

There is hardly anybody in the middle on the Wild Horse and Burro debate. On one side are the anti-Wild Horse ranchers who depend upon BLM and USFS grazing units for their cattle,...they pay for this privilege as well. If it's not emotional because of this, then add the fact that the U.S. Government owns so much land in the Western U.S. that are unavailable for private ownership certainly complicates the issue. Add the deficit hawks who want to minimize Federal spending for all but essential services, and thee is a potent anti-Wild Horse, anti spending tax payer money to fund Wild Horse relief.

On the other side animal rights activists and others demand fair treatment for the Mustangs and Burros. Others demand "more than fair" treatment and the necessary funding to come out of the Federal Budget. Some even advocate creating "Wild Horse and Burro only" areas, denying rancher's grazing areas for the cattle. The fallacy with this is that left unchecked these Wild Horse and Burro herds double in size every five years, starving themselves and wildlife out.

We can't just let the Wild Horse and Burro herds grow. Nor can we use inhumane methods and subsequently hold the gathered stock in deplorable conditions. We should be much better than that. I understand that providing proper care costs money and in this day of age of astronomical government debt, and many competitors for diminishing dollars, this is hard to do.

We need to look at ways to geld or otherwise sterilize Mustang stallions. We need to look at bringing back slaughter plants, albeit under maybe more controlled conditions. And we need to stop the inhumane treatment of gathered Mustangs.

On March 15, 2011, advocate and wild horse adopter Lisa Friday visited the Butterfield Short-term Holding Facility outside of Salt Lake City, Utah and shooting the video below depicting the BLM not holding these animals in anything resembling a fair deal.



You can read the corresponding press release on our website, where you can also read Lisa's full report at www.thecloudfoundation.org