Grazing Muzzle Swelling between muzzle and bridge of nose!

[Mystified]

Hi has anyone else experienced this with either their horse or pony?

I have a little rescue 12hh Dartmoor Hill Pony who I have been using a grazing muzzle with on and off over the last 3-4 weeks. As I am still trialling a grazing muzzle versus starvation paddock (not convinced she is losing weight with the muzzle). I initially put it on for a few hours a day and then back in the starvation paddock and have worked up to her wearing it for a maximum of 12 hours a day. It is a shires muzzle cob size as she has quite a chunky head and it has 2 fingers space between the muzzle and her chin. I have also padded it all around the rim and put black shiny duck tape over it which has definitely stopped her from getting any sores or losing any hair. Everything had been going fine but I found that after a week she hadn't really lost any weight so I have now been mixing it up by doing a couple of days with the muzzle on and a couple days in the starvation paddock.

Anyway last night when I took it off I noticed that she had quite a big swelling on the main part of the bridge of her nose approx. 3 inches long and 2 inches wide and it is quite hard. It is not wear you would expect the rim to rub. I thought it might have gone down today as I put her in the starvation paddock to give her rest from the muzzle.

Any ideas had anyone else had this happen. Is I caused by the friction of where she is pushing her head hard into the muzzle to get the grass. She seemed quite adept at using it knowing to lift it up and put it down on top of the grass to get new shoots through. She is on grass that is about 2-3" long.

 

[Dazed'n'confused]

No real help in solving your problem but just wanted to say that you're not alone, my fat companion pony has the same problem!! I think it's because she pushes so hard against the muzzle to get grass, which she is clearly adept at because she's still fatter than lard! She's worn a muzzle for 3 years now (not the whole 3 years ) & this is the first year that it's happened! I work on the theory that a slightly uncomfortable nose is better than really sore feet!!
I've come to the conclusion that muzzles are great if the wearer isn't overly good at using it, however if they've got it down to a fine art like mine, then I think they can still eat too much. Mine is a companion to my 3yr old so she has to go out on the grass (she has 4 hrs in in a morning & then 6 hours in a starvation paddock with soaked hay) - before this she was a visual companion & had her own bare field & she was a lot slimmer!!!
Hope that helps!

 

[Mystified]

Thanks for the reply 'Dazed n Confused'. I'm glad I am not the only one whose pony still seems to gain weight with a muzzle. I was expecting to get a few rub marks but pre-empted that by padding the muzzle I wasn't expecting the pressure of her constant pushing against the webbing to create such a hard swelling - she looks like she has broken her nose with the big bump on it. She too was supposed to be a companion to my mare but seems to better if kept in a bare paddock with soaked hay rather than with a muzzle where she gets to move around more. So at the moment they have separate paddocks and as you say have visual companionship. I think what I will do once the swelling has gone down is try alternating her every other day with the muzzle just so that they have some contact with one another.

 

[Cragrat]

I use the shires bucket type muzzle, but ALWAYS use a size bigger, because otherwise there just isn't enough room for the, to open their jaw.
So my small pony was in a cob size, and my horse is in an extra full.

I like them to have a good 4 fingers width between the nose and the muzzle, even if it is padded.