Am I bonkers to be considering a grazing muzzle for my TB?

[Ziggy_]

On Saturday, my YO is moving premises to a much bigger place and all us liveries are going too

The downside, is that it is 20 acres of ex-dairy pasture. There is a small area thats been grazed by horses all winter (ie. trashed) and I think the plan is to start the horses on that and introduce the rich grass gradually, by strip grazing. The amount of land means the grass will probably last for ages.

Now my horse is, IMO the perfect weight ATM. I don't want to see her put an ounce on. I have posted a pic below so you can see her condition; feel free to disagree with me. She is currently living out, on poor grass with ad lib hay, and no hard feed. She does very well on good grass.

I'm considering using a grazing muzzle for part of the day as a way of preventing weight gain, although I'm going to wait and see for the moment how YO is planning to manage the grass and how she fares on the new grazing, but is this a totally daft idea? Considering that mine is the slimmest horse on the yard, I'm sure everyone else will think I'm either an idiot, or very cruel... what do you think?

Here's the pic (you'll have to excuse this numpty's finger over part of the camera lens - I only took the one pic and didn't realise until after

)

 

[LadyRascasse]

i would wait and see and if she starts to put weight on muzzle her, i have muzzle my tb before

 

[Divasmum]

It is not daft at all. It is being a responsible owner.

 

[Silverspring]

It's not daft at all! Esp when it's diary pasture they are going onto. If the YO plans on strip grazing you should be ok as they'll chop it down quickly then burn off the excess waiting for the next strip

if in doubt though put the muzzle on. Does the horse have a history of lami or flat feet?

 

[peanut]

[ QUOTE ]
It is not daft at all. It is being a responsible owner.

[/ QUOTE ]

Totally agree. Go with your gut reaction to what is right and don't worry what others think.

 

[MyBoyChe]

I pop one on mine when I need to. I have got him on restricted grazing but as he has his own paddock sometimes the grass grows too quickly and I muzzle him so he still has enough room to move freely around. Use it during the day and off at night, he does sulk a bit but rather that than have him get obese, he does seem to be quite a good doer

 

[golddustsara]

Go with what you think - each horse is different. My native is actually quite a poor doer whereas I know some TB's that are quite podge!

 

[Persephone]

I would just go with whatever works!

 

[Chico Mio]

No, I think it's very responsible. Friends mare turned into a barrage balloon having been left on too much lush ex-dairy pasture (long story, not friends fault). She was lucky not to go down with laminitis.

 

[Gorgeous George]

Not daft at all, George is 3/4 tb and thrives on thin air so goes out in a muzzle. Easier to take the muzzle off when the grass is less lush than try and shift excess weight - well that's my opinion! George last year in his stylish muzzle!

 

[sevoflurane]

i really hate muzzles but i think they have their place and it would be for the horses benefit. you are being responsible, see how it goes first i would say.....I've considered one for mine for the summer pasture, but thankfully our arrangements have changed....phew!!!!

 

[humblepie]

Considered one for mine when he was getting gross. Didn't need to in the end but did consider it.

 

[kellyeaton]

just see how it goes if you see even a slight weight gain then put it on!