JUST like humans, horses find themselves having to stay inside more during the winter.

And, like us, they get bored more easily and that is when bad habits develop and vices start to show.

Although thoroughbreds, warmbloods and standard bloods are at higher risk, any breed is susceptible to both cribbing and ulcers, especially those with a lack of forage and shorter time spent feeding, those on bedding other than straw and those being fed concentrates other than at low levels.

Weaving, box walking and head nodding seem to occur when the horse is frustrated. Crib biting is one of these vices but researchers now say that traditional deterrents such as anti-weave grilles and cribbing collars cause more harm than good.

That’s why many owners are looking for alternatives. While no one is sure what causes crib biting there may be a link to acids in the stomach and antacid supplements are now available.

Putting an old tyre across the top of a stable door prevents a horse damaging his teeth when he is crib biting. Rubber matting on the floor and coconut matting on the inside of the stable door are also useful for horses that paw the ground and bang the door.

It is suggested that putting feeding stations around the stable instead of always putting the feed in the same place encourages the horse to forage more. This emulates the diets of our horse’s ancestors that roamed the plains as trickle feeders.

Provide as little hard feed as possible or try installing a foraging device in the stable.

These release the hard feed over time and in some cases may help reduce cribbing by steadying the flow of concentrate in the stomach.

If extra energy is needed make sure it comes from fat in the diet rather than starch as this reduces acidity during digestion.

Allow as much access to foraging as available.

Stabled horses can still trickle feed on haylage or hay and try to make sure your horse is without feed for as little time as possible. Stable mirrors can help when it is not possible to provide grilles allowing contact between horses in different stables. Turning your horse out as much as possible helps beat these problems as experts agree that reduced exercise may be linked to weaving and box walking and horses kept on paddocks of less that 1.5 hectares do not show the full range of equine behaviour.