People often think of horses as strong, majestic, and dignified. So if you’re a newbie owner, seeing your horse chew on wood might challenge your preconceived notions. You may be scratching your head asking why do horses chew on wood? Interestingly, the strange behavior is just one of the many funny things horses do and is much more common than you think.
However although it might look funny, a horse chewing on wood is no laughing matter. Considered an abnormal behavior or habit, wood chewing can point to both mild and serious health concerns that you should aim to resolve as soon as possible.
Reasons Why Horses Chew on Wood
Although every horse has a unique personality, there are certain habits (like rolling around on their backs) that extend beyond their temperament. Chewing on wood is more of a maladaptive behavior than merely a funny character trait.
Identifying the reason for your horse’s sudden desire to chew on wood should tell you what changes you need to adapt to keep your trusty steed healthy and happy.
Nutritional Deficiency
The most common reason for a horse chewing on wood would be nutritional deficiency. According to experts, horses chew on fodder for 16 to 18 hours a day. That’s because their gastrointestinal system needs constant portions of food to maintain a healthy gut.
So horses tend to graze throughout the day — that’s just how nature designed them. Without sufficient food or roughage, they tend to find their own ways to satisfy their nutritional needs. And while wood might not hold any real nutritional value, when it’s the only stuff available, it turns out to be better than nothing.
Boredom
Horses are intelligent creatures. And just like you, they need constant stimulation. So if your horse usually roams a tight stall without contact to other horses or animals on the farm, they can get bored.
When that happens, they’ll try to find ways to stimulate their mind, and chewing on whatever is available could help satisfy that to some extent. In perspective, you’d probably find yourself tinkering with whatever you find around you if you had to sit in a tight little space for extended hours a day as well.
Habit
You’d be surprised that some horses that chew on wood don’t actually have any health or mental wellness issues. In rare cases, horses will just develop the habit. You can think of it like a curious child exploring their surroundings.
In this case, getting your horse to stop chewing on wood might be a bit more of a challenge since the issue becomes behavioral instead of simply being a reaction to a physical or mental problem that you can directly resolve. Nevertheless, numerous owners have successfully trained naughty horses to keep off the wood.
Cribbing
This unique abnormal, stereotypical behavior often occurs in stressed horses. Also called ‘windsucking’, horses do this to let off stress and anxiety which they may develop as a result of a lack of forage, lack of movement, or lack of company.
For some owners, cribbing can look like chewing on wood. But the behavior isn’t strictly limited to wood, and horses don’t actually chew when they crib.
The horse will dig its incisors into fences, buckets, and basically anything within its reach. Then it’ll contract the neck muscles and inhale, usually letting out a grunting noise as it does.
Animals that demonstrate windsucking may point to something a little more deep seated. Poor upbringing and an abusive youth can make horses more predisposed to cribbing, so the issue isn’t as easily resolved.
Why Do Horses Chew on Wood in the Winter?
During the winter, it’s common for horse owners to keep their horses a stable or barn and to limit their movement within a paddock. With strong winds, snow, ice, and slippery ground posing risks to horses, owners usually prefer containing their animals during the colder months to avoid potential injury or illness.
The problem here is that horses need daily exercise and activity. During the winter, containing them to restricted spaces can cause boredom and stress. So to occupy their mind and expend energy that they would otherwise use on exercise, they end up chewing on wood or whatever material is within their reach.
Is It Dangerous for Horses to Chew on Wood?
Generally, owners are encouraged to stop their horses from chewing on wood as soon as the behavior emerges. There are immediate dangers to wood chewing in horses that could risk your horse’s health, and these include:
- Ingestion. Horses have a powerful bite, and it’s possible for them to chew off and eat wood fragments. When this happens, they could ingest sharp splinters that can damage the intestinal walls and cause digestive problems.
- Infection. Those same sharp wood fragments and splinters can cause cuts and bruises inside the mouth and along the gum line. These injuries can progress into infections, which may require prolonged medical treatment and antibiotic intake to resolve.
- Dental problems. Despite their strong bite, horses do not naturally chew on tough food and material. Constantly chewing on hard wood can cause unnatural and unnecessary wear on the teeth, causing dental problems down the line.
Aside from these immediate risks, wood chewing also points to possible health and mental issues that impair your horse’s wellness overall.
When allowed to persist without resolve, wood chewing can turn to cribbing which indicates long term stress and anxiety that indicate your horse might not be receiving optimal care and nutrition.
How to Stop Horses From Chewing Wood
So now that you know all the reasons, here are some solutions you can try to get your horse to stop chewing wood.
- Consult a vet for a proper diet. Although you’re probably trying to provide your horse the best diet based on your own knowledge, ‘optimal feeding’ can change depending on how often they graze and on the quality of the food you provide. If you have a hard keeper you can try giving them horse feed products for example. Always consult your vet to provide your horse the best nutrition.
- Provide more exercise opportunities. Horses need to move. When weather conditions allow, let your horse move about for as much of the day as possible. Experts recommend giving your horse 1 to 1.5 acres of land to move and graze. More horses require more space.
- Protect wood and trees. While it’s not always recommended, treating wood can deter some horses. Just make sure you’re using non-toxic horse paint and treatments. For more persistent horses however, it might be necessary to use electric fencing to protect wood and trees from their habitual chewing.
- Let them socialize. Horses are highly sociable animals and they tend to feel sad and stressed when isolated from their herd. If you can’t accommodate another horse, a horse will gladly socialize with other animals on your farm like dogs, donkeys, sheep, and even chickens.
- Offer toys. Horses need constant mental stimulation to keep their minds healthy and preoccupied. In times when letting them out to graze and socialize just isn’t feasible, offer horse-friendly toys and things like hay nets to keep them occupied and busy.
More Than Just Strange Behavior
Chewing on wood might seem like just one of the random things horses do, but the behavior may point to more serious issues concerning their development and surroundings. Picking up on the habit as it develops can help you come up with solutions to keep your horse happy and healthy.
Most often, wood chewing comes around as the result of unmet needs. So if your horse has started to take a liking to the taste of wood, you might want to reassess the care you provide to identify any lapses in your methods.
