Does anyone have a good solution for keeping this horses from chewing on my fence rails?
My horses don't do it. But the other horses when they get turned out seem to enjoy it. I don't want my horses to catch a bad habit. And it seems you see it alot.

I will be looking around for an answer today and hope to find a good solution. I don't want to go around and paint a topical on the wood. But If I have to I have to..

Sure wish they made a "bark Collar" for chewing or cribbing horses.

Well from what i've noticed from cribbing horses is that as soon as one starts, they all eventually start. what the owner of the cribbing horse noticed, she got a Miracle Collar and it broke the habit after a month or so.

Cribbing and wood chewing are different. Also, we have had cribbers in our barn and they never once passed it on to another horse. I believe it is a myth that horses pass on the cirbbing behavor to other horses.

As far as wood chewing goes, there are a few things you can do to get them to stop.
There is an oral supplament called QUITT, its suppose to get horses to stop chewing within 10 days. http://www.farnamhorse.com/quitt/press.htm
There are also tons of products you can stray on the fences to keep them from chewing.
http://www.nextag.com/chew-stop/search-html

They do make some "paint on" products that are clear, so it won't dicsolor your fence. Also, be sure if your fence is older that is wasn't painted with a lead-based paint, horses seem to like the sweet taste of lead-based paints and chew them more. Try giving them something else to do, like the toys that slowly dispense treats when rolled around, or anything else to help fight boredom.

Thanks those are some great ideas. I will try the boredom thing and the oral paste it should be enough I didn't want to not be able to turn them out.

I guess that is why pipe is so more beneficial?

Thanks for taking the time to help out, I appreciate it all.

What fantastic information!! Thank you so much! I actually printed this out to save for when we have our horses.

I remember reading a book as a child about a horse named "Cribbage" because of his bad habit of cribbing.

What is the reason behind the behavior? Is it genetic at all? If a mare is bad about cribbing, can she pass that to her foal?

From my understanding, horses pick it up as a habit. Some do it because they are bored, while others do it because they have ulcers. I wouldn't worry about it being genetic or passed on to other horses.

I had one horse that chewed out of boredom one winter. We tossed a few pine logs in the drylot and she stopped chewing on expensive items but did manage to chew all the way thru one of the logs. Hay if they are going to chew give them something that is OK to chew on, push around, carry....