Grazing muzzle advice please.

Denise657

Denise657

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I have just bought one for the first time and my pony is out 24/7, i was wondering what the best times were for putting it on? I ride in the evenings or mornings usually and wondered if this would effect when the pony should wear it. Also how many hours should i get her to wear it at first? i was thinking of starting off on a few hours and building up as she's not used to it. Thanks for your help guys this forum is such a life saver at times.:D
 
I always worry about mine getting caught up when wearing hers, so prefer it to be on during the daytime when she can be kept an eye on.. I would like to know if anyone has managed to find a safety muzzle that will break in an emergency (sorry didn't mean to hijack :-p)
 
Depends on how weight the horse needs to lose - when it is hot during the day mine tend to graze less so have their's on overnight as that is when they eat more. However if it is a lami I think they are more sugars in the grass during the day, so would muzzle dawn to dusk. A good idea to introduce gradually over a week or so.
 
I tend to ride my are in the morning and then give her a small feed of Hi fi lite just to make sure she is not starving. :rolleyes:

Then I put her muzzle on until tea time (I built her up from two hours to approx 6 1/2)

I have always been led to believe that horses graze less at night and as another poster said I like her to wear it durng the day for safety reasons.

I use a Comfort grazing muzzle which has a ripaway strap on the side so if they get caught on anything too tightly the velcro pulls away and the muzzle falls off.
 
I use a Dinky Pony muzzle on mine, she wears it 12 hours a day and grazes quite happily in it. It has a velro strap at the side for emergenies. My pony is only 2 and has accepted it really well, it has meant I didnt need to buy a load of eletric fencing and restrict her grazing when her pal didnt need hers restricted
 
Just put it on and turn out and don't worry about it. You will be suprised how much grass they can still eat even with a muzzle on. Some of them get very crafty and manage to get quite a bit despite having a muzzle on, so don't worry.

The only thing I would say is that if you use a muzzle to prevent your horse getting colic do bear in mind that if the horse loses it there is a good chance it will stuff itself stupid and then get colic through that. This is what used to happen to my horse so in the end I had to limit the hours he went out as the risk of him losing the muzzle and then stuffing himself and thus getting colic were too great. A brilliant tip is that if your horse should lose her muzzle tighten the strap that runs up the throat, this is often overlooked and this can really make a difference to whether a muzzle stays on or not. good luck
 
i also was always lead to belive horses eat less at night, however when i was thinking about this with my own horse as he has two paddocks (small one and bigger one) i realised if i put him in the bigger paddock at night he may be eating less but he is out for a much longer peroid ie from 6pm-9am, so being in the bigger paddock during the day is better as its only from 9am-6pm which is considerabley less, so i would say night time is best
 
And a tip I picked up on this Forum a few weeks ago - to stop your pony rolling, or rubbing at the muzzle on the fence to get it off (as mine does!!) - make a small plait with forelock and top of mane over the headpiece. Works wonders!!
 
charmeroo said:
And a tip I picked up on this Forum a few weeks ago - to stop your pony rolling, or rubbing at the muzzle on the fence to get it off (as mine does!!) - make a small plait with forelock and top of mane over the headpiece. Works wonders!!
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Fantastic thank you so much for posting that I'll certainly trial that tomorrow morning!!

Our girl is only out for an hour a day at the moment (she has just recovered from lami and 4 months box rest on and off) but she has her muzzle on every time she goes out - this is a Shires grazing muzzle and also has a velcro strap - as we have learnt very well, she can get it off! She also has a small feed (half a scoop of Happy Hoof) and 2 soaked nets a day.
Just also be careful after we have had rain after a few dry days as the grass is very lush (I'm sure you already knew that, it's just something I never thought about!) :)
 
Thanks guys, luckily she hasn't figured out how to get it off yet but when she does i'll use tht little trick!
 
Last year a livery pony here, a Dartmoor, had the most appalling laminitis. All our horses live out, and as she's almost impossible to contain in a stable this year she has worn a muzzle 24/7 since March. I was horrified at first by this, but her owner is a very experienced veterinary nurse, and it has worked a treat so far. She only has the muzzle off for literally 5 minutes in the morning while I mix the horses' breakfasts. The advantages are that she can be out with her horse friends all the time, she's moving around, and she is certainly not thin - rather the opposite. She's completely sound, comes out hacking with her child rider and is full of life. I always feel a heel putting her muzzle on again after her breakfast, but she now knows that the moment it's on she gets a carrot "posted" through the hole, and she actually puts her head forward to go into the muzzle. She has never had an accident with it though it did come off once or twice till we learned to fit it properly (snug, but not too tight). She initially wore the mask for half the day, but when the grass came on we upped to 24/7. It will come off probably at the end of October. She is a very good little soul, and not all horses might be so amenable. Hope this helps.
 
Frankie has a roma one which does a good job. The base is very soft and he has rubbed a larger hole in it but as the grass is so sparse at the moment I'm keeping him in that one. He has a new one for when the grass grows significantly.

He wears his 24/7 alot of the time - I bring him in each day for some time with it off (anything over 30mins) to have a bit of hay and his fast fibre with his supplements in. Sometimes when it has started to rub a but I've put sudocrem on the rubby bits which has helped lots. I usually give him a day or so without his muzzle a week but he blows up like a balloon!
 
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