If you have owned a cribber for any length of time, you already know the secondary problem. The primary problem is the behavior itself — the rhythmic grab-and-suck that most owners have long since made peace with managing rather than eliminating. The secondary problem is what cribbing does to the musculature around the neck and poll over months and years of repetition. You end up with a horse who is chronically tight through the throatlatch, bracey at the poll, and resistant to contact in ways that look like a training problem but feel — under your hand and under your seat — like a horse who simply cannot let go. Managing that tension is where I have found Benefab genuinely useful, and it is where the Smart Therapeutic Poll Pad earns its place in a regular routine.
This post contains affiliate links. If you shop through them I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you — and you’ll get my reader discount. I only feature gear I’d actually put on my own horses or wear for a full day in the saddle.
What Cribbing Actually Does to the Neck
Before we talk products, it is worth being specific about the mechanical picture, because it changes how you think about which tools belong in the routine.
When a horse cribs, the muscles at the base of the neck and through the ventral neck musculature engage in a repeated contraction pattern that was never designed to be part of a regular exercise program. Over time, horses who crib heavily often develop asymmetry through the neck, a tendency to carry tension just behind the poll, and a reluctance to stretch long and low that their owners frequently describe as unwillingness. It is not unwillingness. It is a horse who has accumulated tightness in a spot that is hard to reach with standard grooming and bodywork, and who has learned to brace around it.
None of that is a veterinary diagnosis or a condition I am claiming any product treats. It is simply the behavioral and postural reality of horses who crib, and it explains why working on poll comfort specifically — before and after rides, as part of a regular routine — can shift how those horses present under saddle.
The Smart Therapeutic Poll Pad ($39.95): The Foundation of the Routine
The Smart Therapeutic Poll Pad is the product I reach for first with a tense-poll horse, and with the cribbing horse specifically it belongs in the rotation from day one.
The pad sits over the poll and is designed to be used under a halter or bridle. Benefab’s fabric technology works by reflecting the horse’s own body warmth back into the tissue, which encourages relaxation and softening in the area it covers. For the cribber who arrives at the crossties already tight through the neck, using the poll pad during grooming — before you ever pull out the bridle — builds in a deliberate decompression window at the start of each session.
In practical terms, here is how I use it: the pad goes on over the halter while I’m grooming and tacking up. By the time I’m ready to bridle, the horse has had fifteen or twenty minutes of gentle warmth at the poll. Many horses who present bracey and resistant to bridling are noticeably softer after that window. I would not call it a transformation and I would not promise it works the same on every horse, but the pattern is consistent enough that it has become a non-negotiable part of my pre-ride routine for horses who carry neck tension.
Who this suits: Any horse who shows tightness through the poll and crest, resists the bridle, or braces against contact in a way that seems to originate at the top of the neck. The cribbing horse is an obvious candidate, but so is any horse who is bracey or guard-y through the poll for reasons that are not purely training.
Who should look at the standard version instead: If budget is the primary concern, the Therapeutic Poll Pad at $29.95 covers the same anatomical area and functions on the same principle. The Smart version uses Benefab’s more advanced fabric formulation. The $10 difference is worth it if you are going to use this consistently, but the standard pad is a legitimate entry point if you want to trial the concept before committing to the upgrade.
Fit note: The pad is designed to sit over the crown of the head, centered at the poll. It is not a replacement for a proper poll guard and it is not intended to be ridden in. Use it during grooming, tacking up, and in-hand time — that is where it does its work.
The Smart Poll Pad and Wild Orange Bundle ($47.95): When You Want to Layer the Approach
The Smart Poll Pad and Wild Orange bundle is worth mentioning here because the aromatherapy layer is genuinely relevant for the high-tension horse, not just as a marketing add-on.
Wild Orange essential oil has a well-documented calming effect on horses in many applications, and pairing it with the physical warmth of the poll pad creates a two-pronged pre-ride routine that addresses both the physical tightness and the anticipatory anxiety that often accompanies it in cribbers. Some horses crib partly in response to stress, and those horses in particular tend to respond well to a routine that signals calm before the work begins.
The bundle saves you $6 versus buying the pad and oil separately, which is not a significant saving, but the practical value of having both pieces as a kit — so you do not forget the oil or have to dig for it at the barn — is worth more than $6 to most people running a multi-horse morning.
Honest tradeoff: If your horse is indifferent to aromatherapy, skip the bundle and buy the Smart Poll Pad on its own. Not every horse responds to essential oils, and there is no point paying for an element that is not doing work. But if your horse is the type who settles noticeably in response to calming smells — or if you have never tried aromatherapy as part of a pre-ride routine and want to explore it — the bundle is the efficient way to start.
Ready to try the Benefab Smart Therapeutic Poll Pad? Use my link for my reader benefits at Benefab → https://bit.ly/4uhqYoF
The Rejuvenate SmartHood ($179.95): For the Horse Who Needs More Coverage
If the poll pad is the targeted tool, the Rejuvenate SmartHood is the whole-system approach. It covers the neck and shoulder, delivering the same warmth-and-circulation-support principle across a much larger surface area.
For the cribbing horse, the case for the SmartHood is straightforward: the tension from chronic cribbing does not stop at the poll. It runs down through the crest and into the upper neck, and in horses who have been cribbing for years it often pulls into the shoulder as well. The poll pad addresses the point of most concentrated tightness. The SmartHood addresses the whole chain.
I use the SmartHood as a post-work piece rather than a pre-ride piece. After a ride, when the musculature has been asked to move and release and the horse is cooling down, the SmartHood goes on during the coolout and stays on for thirty to forty-five minutes. The combination of post-work residual warmth and the fabric’s own output creates a recovery window that many horses visibly settle into. Ears drop, topline releases, and the horse who came out of the ring still tight through the neck tends to stand much more softly by the time the hood comes off.
Who needs the SmartHood versus just the poll pad: If you have a horse who is tense only at the poll and holds that tension locally, the poll pad at $39.95 covers the problem without overbuying. If you have a horse whose tension is distributed across the poll, crest, and upper neck — which is more common in heavy long-term cribbers — the SmartHood earns its higher price point because it is actually addressing the full extent of the issue.
Fit and care: The SmartHood is designed to fit over a standard halter. Sizing runs by horse size — read the product description carefully before ordering, because a hood that fits too loosely will not maintain contact with the tissue and will not work the way it should. The fabric is machine washable on a gentle cycle, which matters if you are using it as a daily part of the routine.
Building the Routine: How These Pieces Work Together
The practical application for the cribbing horse looks like this:
Pre-ride: Smart Therapeutic Poll Pad goes on during grooming and tacking up. If you are using the Wild Orange bundle, apply the oil to the pad before placing it. Leave it on for the full tacking-up window — ten to twenty minutes minimum.
Under saddle: Nothing from Benefab. These are not ridden products. Do your work.
Post-ride: SmartHood goes on during coolout and stays for thirty to forty-five minutes while the horse is on the crossties or walking. This is the recovery window.
That is a simple two-step daily routine with three products — four if you count the Wild Orange oil as its own item. The total investment for the poll pad plus the SmartHood is $219.90. That is not a trivial number, but for a horse who has been chronically tight through the neck for years, having a daily comfort routine that addresses the issue systematically is a different conversation than trying to address it ride by ride with half-halts and suppling circles.
If you want to hear more about how I think about building these kinds of pre- and post-ride routines for horses with behavioral presentations that have a physical component, I talk through a lot of it on the podcast.
The Honest Bottom Line
The Benefab Smart Therapeutic Poll Pad is the right first purchase for the cribbing horse’s tense neck. It is specific, it is affordable at $39.95, and it builds a pre-ride routine with genuine purpose rather than just adding another grooming step. The Wild Orange bundle at $47.95 is worth it if aromatherapy is already part of how you manage your horse’s tension. The SmartHood at $179.95 is the right next step if the tension is running down the neck and into the shoulder rather than sitting narrowly at the poll.
None of these products will stop a horse from cribbing. That is not what they are for. What they are for is supporting comfort and encouraging relaxation in a region that cribbing makes chronically tight — and doing that consistently enough that the horse has a realistic chance of showing up to work softer than he arrived.
Ready to build a comfort routine for your cribbing horse’s neck? Use my link for my reader benefits at Benefab → https://bit.ly/4uhqYoF
