GB2488977A - A device for the prevention of crib biting - Google Patents

Abstract

A device for the prevention of crib biting comprising a topper 2 fitted to the top of a stable door 1 by means of a screw 3, nail, bolt or the like. The topper is preferably cylindrical or semi-cylindrical and made from metal, plastic or rubber. The device physically prevents the horse from accessing the top surface of the stable door as the diameter of the topper is too great for the horse to bite. The topper may be hollow and may be used to store gloves or other equipment. The topper can alternatively be placed on the top edge of a fence or a post.

Description

Device to prevent crib-biting Zfflah Bain, Duncan Bain

Background

A common problem in equine stables is known as crib-biting'. The animal (typically a horse) may form a habit of biting or chewing the top edge of the stable door. This has numerous associated problems. The horse may ingest parts of the door, which is typically wooden. The horse may receive splinters, or toxic chemicals with which the wood has been treated. Further, the habit often progresses to a further habit known as wind-sucking', whereby the animal, while engaging the top of the stable door with its mouth, sucks in air, and frequently belches. This habit, as well as crib-biting itself, is known to be associated with digestive disorders, ulcers, and colic, sometimes leading to the death of the animal. Additionally, horses in neighbouring stables observing this behaviour have been known to learn' it and begin to exhibit the same behaviour.

There have been numerous attempts to solve this problem, spanning several hundred years.

Past approaches to the problem may be grouped into 3 categories according to their principle of operation: 1) Door protection. Putting a protective strip on the top of the stable door, typically formed from galvanised steel into an inverted u-shaped channel to fit the top edge of the door, and tacked, nailed, or stapled to the woodwork. Some doors are now supplied with this metal channel ready-fitted.

This approach makes no attempt to stop the crib-biting behaviour, but merely mitigates some (but not all) of the damage resulting thereby. The animal may stifi wind-suck, may stifi develop colic or other digestive disorders, may stifi damage its mouth, and wifi still exhibit behaviour observable by other horses, who may copy.

2) Deterrent. Fitting the top of the stable door with a deterrent device. This may take the form of electrified wire, or barbed wire, or a spiked moulding, painting the door with noxious substances eg chilE pepper, or some other device with the intention of causing pain to the horse when biting the door. Thus, the horse is deterred by a process of negative conditioning.

A major problem with this approach is that it is undesirable for the horse to associate the stable door with a negative stimulus. The horse must regularly enter and leave the stable via the door, and negative associations with the door may engender difficulties in bidding the horse to do this. Furthermore, many horses will slowly develop a resistance' to the deterrent, and escalation becomes necessary.

3) Horse restraint. Fitting the horse itself with a device to prevent the behaviour. This approach includes: head-collars so arranged as to be painful when the horse adopts a suitable position for crib-biting; special bits designed to make biting painful; muzzles, and so on.

The problem with this approach is that the horse must be left un-supervised for long periods of time, including overnight, with these restraints in place. This compromises safety, as one cannot be sure that the device wifi remain correctly positioned, or that some other hazard wifi not arise from the unsupervised use of the device.

This invention relates to the adoption of a fourth principle of operation, not hitherto employed for this purpose: 4) Modify the geometry of the door such that it is impossible for the horse to bite it.

This has none of the problems that variously attend the approaches described above.

Description

A horse's mouth consists an upper jaw (maxifia) and lower jaw (mandible) each of which has large incisors at the front, with a diastenirna (a gap without teeth) immediately behind these incisors. It is into this gap that a bit conventionally fits. The jaw opens by pivotal movement at the tempro-mandibular joint, allowint the madible to move in an arc relative to the maxifia, and allowing the top and bottom incisors to part. The range of motion in this joint is limited, and so the arc is relatively small, allowing the teeth to part in a near-linear fashion, and to a maximum normal separation of approximately 10cm. Horses are therefore only able to bite relatively narrow objects, such a s a carrot, a large apple being approximately the maximum size the horse can bite. For this reason, when offering a horse food by hand, it is often advised to do so with a flat, open hand, since this makes it difficult for the horse to bite the hand.

The horse is typically able to bite the top of a stable door, owing to its thickness being typically around 4 cm. In the case of a much thicker door, say 15cm, the horse would not be able to span the thickness of the door with its jaws. However, the right-andled edge could stifi be bitten, since this tapers down to zero thickness at its point. So, the horses mouth could stifi be positioneso that the upper incisors were at a suitable point on the top surface, and the lower incisors at a suitable point on the side surface, so as to get purchase on the door.

However, if the right-angled edge were removed, so that the top of the door had a cylindrical or near-cylindrical cross section, no such adjacent surfaces could be used for purchase, as long as the diameter of the cylinder substantially exceeded the maximum opening of the horse's teeth.

Unable to bite the door, the behaviour is immediately arrested, rather than merely deterred or mitigated.

Figure 1 shows one embodiment of this invention. A stable door, 1, is fitted with a topper, having a substantially cylindrical profile, 2.

Figure 2 shows this arrangement viewed in cross section A-A. In this example, the cylindrical profile may be extruded from rubber or aluminium or other resistant material, or formed from sheet metal, or polycarbonate, or other suitable material. The profile may be attached to the door by means of screws, 3, nails, bolts, adhesive, rivets, or other method.

Alternatively, the profile may be mounted on brackets or clips for quick removal if there is a top door which must be closed.

The diameter of the profile, 2, may be greater than 6cm, or of sufficient size, conveniently 6cm -20cm, to render the horse unable to bite the cylinder.

Figure 3 shows a similar arrangement whereby the cylinder profile, 4, may be extended closer to the door on the outside of the door. This may be advantageous if protection is also required if the horse was tethered outside the door. It also provides additional structural stability, which may be advantageouds if, for example, a saddle were to be hung in the doorway.

Figure 4 shows an embodiment whereby the top aspect of the door is not covered, but the semi-cylindrical profile, 5, makes the righ-angled edge inaccessible, and brings the minimum thickness to a size greater than the maximum opening of the horses mouth. The far edge of the door (on the right in this figure) will not generally present a problem, as the horse is unable to access this right-angle from an appropriate angle for purchase. An advantages of this design are that the top half of the stable door (if present) is not impeded, and the profile need not be removed to close the door. An additional advantage is the door-securing bolt (often near the top of the door) need not be repositioned when fitting the profile, as it wifi not be impeded.

Figure 5 shows the same arrangement except an additional profile, 6, has been provided for extra protection if the horse is tethered outside the stable door. nuts and bolt, 7, 8, may be used to secure both profiles simultaneously.

Figure 6 shows an arrangement whereby a slightly different geometry of profile, 9, allows it to be positioned lower down. This means that it adds minimal height to the door, which may allow the top door to close with little or no modification, depending on the existing gap between top and bottom door.

Figure 7 shows a revised design of profile, 10, allowing more structural support.

Figure 8 shows an adaptation providing a recess which may be useful for storing whip, gloves or other items.

Figure 9 shows a variation in which a second profile, 12, is modified to allow access to a door bolt if positioned at the top of the bottom door.

Figure 10 shows a variation whereby the same advantage as in figure 9 is achieved by means of a single profile, 13, which extends over the door, but leaves a gap for the bolt.

Any of the geometries described may vary from the cylindrical (as does figure 10) insofar as they still present the horse with no part of radius smaller than the horse is able to bite. Typically, this means no part of the profile has a radius of curvature less than 3cm.

A further embodiment involves the application of a tube of sufficiently large diameter to prevent biting (by the means described) applied to other structures such as fence wires, fences, posts etc. In this case, one example may be light-weight plastic tubing of diameter, say, 15cm, with a split allowing it to be fed onto a fence wire or bar.

Claims (10)

1. Claims l.A stable door having a top edge with a suitable geometry to prevent a horse from biting it, by means of being wider than the widest aperture of the horses mouth.
2. 2. Adaptations to an existing stable door to achieve this effect.
3. 3. A cylindrical profile, with a radius of curvature too great (e.g >4cm) for a horse to gain purchase on with its teeth, applied to a surface to be protected from biting.
4. 4. A non-cylindrical profile, with no part exposed to the horse with a radius curvature of less than e.g 4cm.
5. 5. As 3 or 4 comprised of extruded or formed metal, plastic, rubber, or other suitably resistant material.
6. 6. As above, with the capacity to be quick-released from mounting brackets.
7. 7. As described in figures 1-10 above.
8. 8. As above, so arranged as not to obstruct the closing of a top door.
9. 9. As above, providing a useful recess for the storage of items.
10. 10. As above, used to prevent biting of other items such as fences, posts, wires, etc.