Grazing muzzles - help please

cob&onion

cob&onion

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How long do you leave yours on for?
\put one on my fat cob last night for the first time and was a little concerned as the hole in the bottom wasn't lining up with her actual mouth?? is there a way of fitting them? checked this morning and took it off for an hour, the inside had bit of grass in it and mud and was a bit wet so presume she could drink through it :confused::confused: when i removed it she was straight on the grass and not bothered with the water so am hoping she has figured it out???
Its back on her now and shes not happy! planning on taking it off at night and having it on during the day, i suppose as long as shes getting something inside of her during the day and not completley not eating then she wont be at risk of colic when she has it off and can eat?
Or am i best leaving it on 24/7??
Help please for a grazing muzzle novice.
 
My shetland wears his all the time when he is in a field with grass in it. Most of the time he just gets on with the business of nibbling the grass through the hole, occasionally he gets cross and tries to rub it off. It is the only way I can keep the weight off and he is still very fat. I put him in a stable or a bare paddock at night. My vet told me I could leave it on 24/7. He still generates plenty of poo - so clearly enough grass does get through it.
 
I leave mine with his on overnight, but he comes in during the day so he can have a break form it. He gets quite hot & sweaty underneath the muzzle, otherwise I might consider leaving it on all day as well.
Have seen him eat all sorts through the muzzle, it doesn't stop him at all, just slows him down a lot as he has to manoeuvre the hole over what he wants to eat.
 
Personally I hate grazing muzzles, but if you have to use them I would recommend that you make sure that you take it off at least once a day and check it. If you are using it for the first time that you check regularly during the day. As a friend of mine used one on her mare and left it on all day and it had rubbed her muzzle, she had fitted it correctly but the mare must have been trying to get it off.
lucylu
 
I'm a comparative novice too, as mine has only been wearing once since April.
She's recently been confied to yard rest for other reasons, but when she was out I had it on during the night and put her in the yard during the day. It saddens me to see that the first thing she always does when it's taken off is to give herself a good teeth scratch.

Like Lucylu I don't like them at all either, but what else can you do; and I'd rather have her mooching with the other horses than languishing with boredom in the yard 23/7.

I understand that horses are meant to be able to eat 40% of what they would normally consume (grass-wise) through a muzzle so that's not too bad I suppose. But I check it several times a day, as a pony we once had here got a bit of blackthorn jammed through her muzzle overnight and it gave her a very nasty septic wound.
 
For me they are a god send, i have a cushings pony who has recently recovered from Laminitis, he is out during the day for 12 hours and in at night, muzzled during the day, i would rather he be out moving around than confined to a stable or in a bare paddock alone, or run the risk of leaving him without it and the dreaded Lami coming back, have seen far too many people taking risks thinking that their fat ponies will be ok.
 
I use a shires muzzle during the day, from about 9am to 6pm, he is then free to graze overnight when there are fewer sugars in the grass. He is not too fat, I just don't want him any fatter and he is such a good do-er.

I cut the hole a tiny bit bigger to allow him a little more grass though.

Hope that helps.
 
hi, i also do not like them, but what else can you do? i have a lami/cushings pony that has to wear one, but i'm sorry there is no way i would leave it on 24/7! I have made a coral for her, so she is in there at night/out with muzzle during the day so she gets a break from it. don't people think its odd there are soooo many lami/cushings suffers, it wasn't such a big issue 5-10 years ago was it? I agree better to use one than to have them go down with lami, but i would advise to use 12hrs on 12 hrs off if at all possible..
 
pony person said:
hi, i also do not like them, but what else can you do? i have a lami/cushings pony that has to wear one, but i'm sorry there is no way i would leave it on 24/7! I have made a coral for her, so she is in there at night/out with muzzle during the day so she gets a break from it. don't people think its odd there are soooo many lami/cushings suffers, it wasn't such a big issue 5-10 years ago was it? I agree better to use one than to have them go down with lami, but i would advise to use 12hrs on 12 hrs off if at all possible..
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I dont think i would leave mine on 24/7 however i know people that do and have never had a issue. I have honestly never heard of so many cases as i have these last 2 years, 3 ponies at my yard have recently been diagnosed, farrier said he has had an outbreak of Laminitis in our area within a few weeks. Very concerning.
 
I have a lami prone mare and she wears a greenguard grazing muzzle with the halter. She is turned out for 6 hours then comes in her stable on a night and has soaked hay.
 
bensababy said:
I dont think i would leave mine on 24/7 however i know people that do and have never had a issue. I have honestly never heard of so many cases as i have these last 2 years, 3 ponies at my yard have recently been diagnosed, farrier said he has had an outbreak of Laminitis in our area within a few weeks. Very concerning.
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yes it is strange isnt it, when i was younger i just don't remember it being a problem, nothing like it is now, there are so many horses and ponies going down with lami, its such a horrible illness for them to get, poor things...
 
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