Minimum length of grass for grazing muzzle?

[Gropony]

Is there a minimum length of grass that is needed for the pony to be able to eat with.a grazing muzzle?

I would like to start using one on my pony as, despite increasing his work and including lots of faster work and poles, he is still putting on weight. He works a minimum of 5 days a week for 45 minutes and maybe a longer hack on the weekend. The grass is like this:

 

[Polos Mum]

They can become quite creative in finding grass through a muzzle.

Can you try it and if he drops too much weight take it off?

They gorge so can eat a full days worth of grass in 3 hours - so think carefully about when he has it on.

if he will eat soaked hay in the field or straw to give him fiber in the breaks that would be ideal.

 

[Petmurf]

Mine is muzzled and on grass similar to yours. He’s managing very well to eat grass and is producing 5-8 poos a day so he’s definitely finding grass

 

[Exasperated]

Is there a minimum length of grass that is needed for the pony to be able to eat with.a grazing muzzle?

I would like to start using one on my pony as, despite increasing his work and including lots of faster work and poles, he is still putting on weight. He works a minimum of 5 days a week for 45 minutes and maybe a longer hack on the weekend. The grass is like this:

View attachment 162001

When there’s very little grass and horses are also muzzled, they have to really push down to snatch anything, and will also start to take in dust, earth and mud (when it rains), as well as wear their tooth dentine against the muzzle.
Muzzles are useful, but create other issues, as well as psychologically encouraging horses to gorge when they get any opportunity at all.
Forty five minutes per day is nothing for a pony, obviously much better than sitting in a field, but in terms of burning off calories, pretty minimal! If you think what ponies traditionally did, pull working loads for a couple of hours, break for lunch with a bit of hay and corn, then a few hours more, six days per week....you might have fewer issues if you could up your pony’s activity while the grass is growing quickly, is there anyone else could ride for you?

 

[poiuytrewq]

I think it depends a lot on the muzzle. With the black bucket type it does need to be longer grass or they get nothing at all and as above risk tooth damage.
I use a flexible fillies muzzle and the grass can be shorter as the material is so thin.

 

[Gropony]

Thank you all. All these reasons are why I hesitate.

I have someone who rides once a week but you are right, he should do more. But I work full time and have a child, he doesn't hack alone or even sensibly with others (work in progress, he is better). So it is mostly arena work, unless my steadfast friend can come with us, and he gets bored.

Because he is a bit unpredictable and a pony I struggle to find anyone who wants to share. "Pony to share, works occasionally well in the arena when not shouting at the girls in the field, running from his own shadow, or pretending to be a dragon, hacks in company (airbag required), doesn't load, clip so no shows, good groundwork as long as he doesn't suspect you have food, adults with a sense of humour only". Even my friend who rides him and loves him to bits almost lost the will to live last winter.

Does anyone manage to work their ponies more than an hour a day? Mine works more than any of the horses at the yard, who generally only do about 4 hours a week.

 

[Gropony]

He was at a pony club before I bought him. There he did five or six hours a week mainly walk and trot. But he was in his stable overnight with whatever hay he had left (usually not much), then small feed at 7am (literally a handful) and turned out in the arena until noon with no food, then in the stable with hay until 6pm, small feed and so on. He only had access to grass occasionally in the summer for a couple of hours. He was a sensible weight.

I have been looking to move him to somewhere with a similar set up because I feel like it is very difficult to manage him in the current one. Every time it rains and the grass grows he puts on two or three girth holes almost overnight and he is almost uncontrollable, really wound up and riggy. I work him, he loses it, it rains and it is like a viscous circle.

 

[Exasperated]

He was at a pony club before I bought him. There he did five or six hours a week mainly walk and trot. But he was in his stable overnight with whatever hay he had left (usually not much), then small feed at 7am (literally a handful) and turned out in the arena until noon with no food, then in the stable with hay until 6pm, small feed and so on. He only had access to grass occasionally in the summer for a couple of hours. He was a sensible weight.

I have been looking to move him to somewhere with a similar set up because I feel like it is very difficult to manage him in the current one. Every time it rains and the grass grows he puts on two or three girth holes almost overnight and he is almost uncontrollable, really wound up and riggy. I work him, he loses it, it rains and it is like a viscous circle.

You’re kind of answering it really, he would be a lot easier to ride and generally handle if he was working off a bit more of the surplus energy!
Arena work is pretty dull for ponies, going exploring for hours far more satisfying, and very settling, once it becomes regular.
It’s difficult if you’ve got a dependent child and full time work, but yes, lots of ponies do a lot more than this, and it’s generally beneficial. Probably if you only mix with those which do very little, your perception will be different, and those are the very ponies going to be at greater risk of obesity, laminitis, anyway.
If you were on a driving yard, by way of contrast, there’d be ponies going for a 5-8 mile trot every day just to tick over. Not necessarily ideal or even achievable, but settled ponies with svelte figures, that expect to be busy when they go out, and far less likely to waste energy looking for stuff just to liven their days up!

 

[Gropony]

What you say makes sense. I can't realistically do so much every day, but I will try and find someone to do a couple of days a week for me. And make sure that any arena time is busy. We did caprilli recently and he loved it.

I think I will need help to get him hacking out as even riding back down the lane on his own towards the stables, when in sight of the stables, is difficult and he isn't comfortable at all.

 

[Polos Mum]

Could you pay a professional to hack him for you

I agree he's not an ideal share candidate but paying a free lancer might be cheaper than dealing with the vet cost of a laminitis episode?
And with more work he might get better and in the longer term more appealing for others to ride.

there are track liveries around - but again these are pretty pricy because it is very time consuming (and needs lots of facilities) to do the track system well.

 

[Gropony]

Could you pay a professional to hack him for you

I agree he's not an ideal share candidate but paying a free lancer might be cheaper than dealing with the vet cost of a laminitis episode?
And with more work he might get better and in the longer term more appealing for others to ride.

there are track liveries around - but again these are pretty pricy because it is very time consuming (and needs lots of facilities) to do the track system well.

I woudl love to do this and I know someone who would be great. I live in France and at the livery yard only sharers with a contract with the owner can ride (insurance issue) so I would have to put the freelancer down as a part loaner, which I think probably has insurance issues for them. The YO can't ride him as he is far too big, and tbh is very old school and I don't think it is the best idea.

This is another reason that I want to move, because I feel stuck with nobody on site to help and no way to bring someone in from the outside. I don't think that I can manage another winter in any event (winter is stabled with turnout in the massive arena in the same groups as their field, but not all day, he is nice and slim but puts on a lot of muscle). He came in last winter with not a lot of muscle tone or endurance and it was still difficult come February, and this winter he will come in with a lot more muscle and cardio (despite being a bit too fat, he is strong and can go for miles).

I also don't know if I am being paranoid about how fat he really is, I added some photos. I just know that he put on a good amount of weight (like four girth holes). His hooves are never warm and he never has a digital pulse. It is more the behaviour when the grass is rich tbh.

I am just slightly wary about moving because is really rough when playing with other horses and really bites and runs them around (he doesn't seem to know when to stop). Where he is now he is kept in order by an equally dominant pony, but I don't want to move and he ends up being put in a paddock because he can't play nicely. At the club when he was being too rough they put him with the shetlands for a few weeks, which sorted him out quickly!

He's a great pony, too "clever" for his own good sometimes (they use the word malin in French, which sort of means cunning but in an affectionate way), and can do great things n the right routine and structure. I feel like I just haven't found the right setup for him yet.