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Horses may be genetically predisposed to become crib-biters according to  recent research in the United States.

The postal survey of horse owners was conducted by Dr Julia Albright and colleagues at Cornell University’s College of Veterinary Medicine.

They sent short postcard surveys to 2000 subscribers of 4 horse magazines. From 401 replies they had information on over 3500 horses. This was followed up with a second more detailed survey, which looked at factors such as breed, amount of contact with other horses, and the owners opinions on the cause of the behaviour.

Overall, 4.5% of the horses demonstrated crib-biting behaviour. Throughbreds were more than twice as likely than any other breed to crib-bite. They were 5 times more likely to be crib biters than were Arabians and 3 times more likely than Quarter horses.

What did the owners think caused the horses to adopt this behavior? Do horses learn to crib bite by watching their neighbours? Or is it in their genes?

The majority (54.5%) of owners of crib-biting horses believed that environmental factors were mostly to blame. A combination of environmental and genetic factors, were blamed by 40.9%, while 3.4% of owners attributed the behaviour primarily to genetic factors.

Almost half of the owners (49%) believed horses copied abnormal behaviours. However, only one percent of horses in the survey started cribbing after a cribber was introduced to the farm.

The researchers point out that the difference between breeds could not be attributed purely to environmental factors. Although Thoroughbreds are often intensively managed, so too are horses of other breeds and disciplines.

They suggest that further research could try to identify specific genes responsible for crib - biting as well as looking into the management and social factors that are involved.

For more details see:

Crib -biting in US horses: Breed predispositions and owner perceptions of aetiology.
JD Albright, HO Mohammed, CR Heleski, CL Wickens, KA Houpt.
Equine Vet J (2009) 41, 455 - 458.