Axel's Addiction

So I got a call yesterday morning to discuss Axel's fun little habit. They moved him into the small paddock by himself so he didn't completely destroy the lean-to and also to distinguish between what he's chewing and what Vinnie might be chewing. He was put in the small paddock sometime before Friday and had already gone half way through two more posts.

I ordered some Bitter Licks but in the mean time needed to come up with something to try and tackle the issue. J had replaced the first several poles and A had already mixed up some sort of concoction with bitter apple and hot sauce and put that on all the posts and the lean-to. Her concoction seemed to be working at least for the one day that it had been there. Jeff and I picked up some Quitt as well as something called Halt Cribbing from Fleet Farm on the way home. Quitt is a supplement that's supposed to reduce wood chewing within 7 days on the assumption that the chewing is caused by a deficiency in the horse's diet. The Halt Cribbing is just another concoction that you paint/spray on the wood and is supposed to deter the horse from chewing because of its taste.

A couple points to note:
A. Axel hadn't chewed on any of the square posts that had been painted earlier this year
B. Axel was for sure chewing on the round fence posts that had either not been painted at all or had only been painted in a hurry.
C. Axel had chewed on the lean-to before it was painted. I saw Vinnie chew on the lean-to after it had been painted quickly.
D. As of Monday night no one had chewed on anything that had been re-painted by A, there might have been one or two test spots but there wasn't any major chewing.

So Jeff and I sprayed all of the posts in the small paddock paying close attention to Axel's favorites. We also sprayed the rafters in the lean-to and used up the rest of the spray on some of the posts in the big paddock. Since the lean-to had already been painted dark we should be able to see if Vinnie continues to chew. And we know there were only two posts Axel had done work on in the small paddock so we should be able to see if he chews again.

The plan is to keep Axel separate for about 2 weeks. Partly to give the supplement time to start working and partly to just be able to tell who's kicked the habit. I just hope he figures out that wood tastes horrible now and doesn't chew again. Though I'd be willing to pay the 25 bucks every once in a while to reapply any of that spray. If what we've done so far doesn't work we'll try the Bitter Licks when that arrives. If that doesn't work, then I don't know what we'll do. Axel will have to move out if he keeps chewing. I'd rather not think about that right now.