2 questions - Eating poo!! And muzzles

[MagicMelon]

1st question - Saw shetland eating one of my other horses freshly done poo yesterday! I know this is a sign of a deficiency, is it fibre? But this pony (due to lami) is kept on a diet of hay (ie. no grass) so should get loads of fibre! She's fed twice a day on Alfa A Oil with added Soya Oil (for her joints as she's 17/18 and stiff), NAF Superflex and an all round high-spec vit & min supplement. BTW I know Alfa A Oil isnt approved for lami ponies, however she's been losing weight steadily (poss due to age and because she's not getting any grass) so needed somethign to add weight. In theory I expected her to be getting the right stuff in her diet! Any ideas as to why she's eating poo?

2nd question - The shetland above, as I said is on a no-grass turnout as the slightest amount has triggered her lami. She currently comes in at night and is out during the day in our hardcored yard. However, I feel she does get a bit bored (even though I regularily put another old pony in with her sometimes for company). I thought about possibly getting her a muzzle so I could let her out into one of the paddocks with 2 of my ponies just to blow off some steam and hopefully cheer her up a bit. Only for maybe an hour because the grass is terribly short in there so she wont be able to eat anything (which is good). Is this a good idea? And what muzzles are best? I know a lot of people use those bucket ones but they dont look very comfy. I was looking at the Green guard plastic ones?

 

[maddielove]

Not sure about the eating poo..
But the muzzles I had ad experiences with the greenguard as is snapped, rubbed and left horse with a horrible gash around her lips. I swapped this for a shires bucket style one which was far better. I padded it out with some stylish pink fur p) which made it much more comfey!

 

[Cahill]

[ QUOTE ]
Not sure about the eating poo..
But the muzzles I had ad experiences with the greenguard as is snapped, rubbed and left horse with a horrible gash around her lips. I swapped this for a shires bucket style one which was far better. I padded it out with some stylish pink fur p) which made it much more comfey!

[/ QUOTE ]


same here.shetland`s greenguard lasted 2 days and was expensive.he now has a shires,it was about £10.he wears it if he is in the big paddock or when small child is grooming him.

 

[molehill]

Bucket muzzles are brilliant.I use one on my sons dartmoor.It doesnt case any rubs,or discomfort once he got use to it,and he couldnt get it off!!
Im 99 % sure its potasium he is lacking in.

 

[ISHmad]

Definitely avoid the Greenguard ones like the plague. Horse at our yard got his lip trapped in it, could have been like it for hours, his owner found him in quite some pain when she got there in the evening.

We use the Shires Grazing muzzles really padded with lots of sheepskin to avoid rubs.

 

[wistavon]

hi agree with avoiding greenguard we have a shetland and welsh both get lami so we bought two bucket muzzles which my hubby put couple of extra holes in bottom,they cant get them off (even the shetland who is a terror)and they can still graze a small amount so not too get bored. mine spent summer mornings in with hay and had small feed before going out for the afternoon.neither got lami and both enjoyed the summer. with the poo eating not sure but my welsh doesnt keep weight on he also has cushings he is now on blue chip and hi fi lite seems to be helping. good luck .

 

[gem1979]

I read in a magazine not that long ago that youngsters in particular might eat poo to get the good bacteria they need to help digestion and that it was nothing to worry about. Is a bit gross though!

 

[dwi]

Best Friend muzzles are the best, much deeper than shires and so harder to get off. If your grass is really short they will be able to eat almost nothing, it drives Daisy completely crazy so I wouldn't worry about your shettie eating too much

 

[kbsaff]

i wouldn't touch the Green Guards either. They rub something terrible and a very easy to get caught it.
I use the Shires Bucket muzzle. It's nylon one and you can get them in lovely colours.