Those could very well be the sips for most horses under unacceptably stressful conditions. Obviously every horse that colics is not a cribber and, more importantly every horse exhibiting crib biting behavior does not colic. Through the years various methods have been used to try to stop cribbing. These include the before-mentioned practices of changing the environment. Increasingly aggressive methods include acupuncture and cribbing straps placed snugly around the throat latch of the horse to discourage neck muscle contraction.
More severe straps contain metal prongs that pierce the skin when the neck is flexed.
Surgery to remove these ventral neck muscles and denervate other muscles in the upper neck area has been performed. The most commonly performed method is called the Modified Forssell's Procedure developed in Europe. Most importantly, owners must weigh out the inherent risks associated with general anesthesia and a fairly invasive surgical procedure against a rather poor success rate to correct a behavioral problem which is not considered life-threatening. Furthermore, atrophy of the muscles of the throat area resulting from the cutting of the nerves going to these muscles can result in dramatic changes in the appearance of the upper neck area. Therefore, it would seem not only logical but responsible to try these non-surgical solutions before the more radical surgical procedure.