Meeting new herd: muzzle or unmuzzle?

[grandmaweloveyou]

Hi.

I muzzle my boy for about 12 hours a day but am moving him into a new herd, 3 horses, 1 of which he should remember so....whilst managing his grass intake / weight, I am concerned about leaving him muzzled initially?

I think I should let him settle in with them unmuzzled just so he has his mouth (teeth) if he needs it but am in a quandry.

What would you suggest please?

1 of the other's was muzzled but not presently & it is a very placid herd in a huge field & my boy walks away from any "confrontation" & is so dopey he probably won't even notice the horses have changed...am I worrying about nothing?

Thanks.

 

[Cocorules]

Personally I would leave unmuzzled for the initial bit and if all well then put the muzzle on

 

[LaurenBay]

I would leave unmuzzled. One all settled down, go in and pop it on. He probably won't do much eating in the time it is off anyway.

 

[The Fuzzy Furry]

I would leave un-muzzled for at least 24 hours if not 48 hrs.
Have got to put TF in with (new) DF, & when I do, TF will be unmuzzled for at least 24 hours - would rather she could chew/bite her way out of a problem than have problems. Then we'll go back to square 1 & the muzzle will be back on again.
They have been either side of a fence for the past few days tho so have already had a good sniff etc & graze closely on their respective sides

Good luck & I hope it works out with the introductions.

 

[Shysmum]

un muzzled x

 

[horsemadelsie]

I would leave the muzzle off for the first time and see how it goes. We bought our boy a muzzle, he'd been in the herd for a couple of years and he came in badly beaten up whenever he wore it!

 

[grandmaweloveyou]

Fab thanks everyone