Is it ok for a horse to go 8 hours without food?

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treacle_beastie

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I only ask because my horse has gone from restricted grazing to a field knee deep in lush grass. She went out yesterday and came in understandably with a very sore bloated tummy and rather than having to keep her in or risk colic or laminitis I bought her a grazing muzzle. Now, she has had it on all day today for about 5 hours and she had her head down but not sure she got much if any grass - I saw a lot of wiping it around on the long grass and saw the odd thistle go in! I took it off for an hour before I bought her in and she has plenty of hay for the night.

I plan to leave it on her for 8 hours a day and give her an hour without it before she comes in - just for the next few weeks until the grass loses some of its goodness. Its not practical form me to introduce her to the grass slowly - shes is either in or out!

Assuming she is getting little or no grass in that time, is this OK or is there a risk of colic or ulcers being starved for 8 hours a day?
 
General I would say no to not eating for that long. They are made to graze and grazing throughout the day keeps their guts moving.

I suppose it depends how much she is eating, you may find she get used to the muzzle and start eating more in a few days.

Is the any way you could section a strip of the field off? and slowly increase the space till as she grazes the field down? This may mean you dont need a muzzle?
 
Hi,I would love to strip graze but its not an option. She lives with a herd and the field is already halved but there would not be enough room for them all if we stripped it more.

I know they are designed to trickle feed and hate restricting her but she will get colic if I let her munch her way through it all day - she had mild colic last night because of this. She has never had to wear a muzzle before but there is just so much grass. Leaving her in is not really an option either.

I am hoping she gets the hang of it. She seemed quite happy when i turned up to take it off so i guess she must have had some grass.
 
Its a tricky one!

But I think she will get used to the muzzle. My mare did after bout 2-3 days. her face was a picture when I first put it on! lol she just stood there and wouldnt move! But she got it in the end.

Which muzzle have you got? is it the greenguard one?
 
No. Horses are trickle feeders and are designed to eat little and often so leaving them with absolutely nothing wouldn't be good for them. However, I am sure she is getting some grass through the grazing muzzle so she should be fine. :)
 
Although I don't personally agree with leaving a horse without food for that long, there are lots of high level eventers which travel several hours to an event without food and do all three stages of the event before they are allowed anything to eat, so this could be more than 8 hours. I couldn't do it, but there are plenty that do.
 
No, it's not, at least not regularly. Unless you want a horse with tummy ulcers who is grumpy.

But! I'm sure she will get used to the muzzle soon, and if not then maybe you could poke some bigger holes in it or something? I know a few people who have chopped extra bits out so that grazing is still restricted but their horse can still face life each morning :D
 
Its a shires one. I will see how she gets on - if she doesnt get the hang of it in a few days I might have to re think it! I hate restricting her but she was happier tonight coming in a bit hungry than last night when she was really stuffed and grouchy with belly ache! I really should adopt the same technique for myself!
 
Be careful she doesn't make her lips/muzzle sore against the grazing-muzzle; I used one on my old horse and he rubbed himself raw on it.

There are various grazing muzzle's on the market so it might be worth interchanging with another kind; I think the one I used to have was called "Greenguard" or something like that, and it had a special headcollar to go with it.
 
I would bet you anything she is not going without food whilst she's got that grazing muzzle on. However, she may well be putting on a good act for you, as it does really slow them down, and no doubt she is not very pleased about that...

Do check its not rubbing her, but by the sound of it you are giving her plenty of relief from it every day anyway :)
 
Just an update, I went to see how she was getting on at lunchtime today and she was managing to get the odd blade of grass in, I wasnt happy with the volume compared to the effort so I have made the hole a bit bigger she can now get enough to trickle feed. She doesnt seem to mind it either - she had a munch whilst I was modifying the mask and was quite happy for it to go back on - twice! Would have thought she would have legged it when she realised she was free but maybe she was lacking in energy!
 
Im sure mine go for this long at night as they start on their hay as soon as they get in. I cant give them adlib because they are too fat, and they have small holed nets. They have never had a problem, I also know of horses that are left in for 17 hours with only about 2 lbs hay and they dont seem to have suffered.
 
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I'd say no it isn't alright for a horse to go 8 hours without food. I'd keep a close eye on her and see if she gets used to the muzzle and starts eating some grass through it. If not, I'd do away with the muzzle and electric tape off a small section of the field then just strip graze. Or put her back in the no-grass field with ab-lib hay. I have 2 lami-prone ponies, they go out on very little grass paddocks at night and kept in a hardcored yard during the day - at all times they have access to hay.
 
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