Muzzles- For or Against

What would be the best thing to do?

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We don't have the option of fencing off a starvation paddock at the yard I'm at. Both mine are turned out in muzzles (the Shires type) it doesn't seem to stop them interacting with other horses and personally I prefer this option to them being stuck in a stable all the time or in a tiny paddock where they cannot run about of interact with other horses. I'm definitely pro muzzle
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(as long as they are well fitting)
 
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Jess i can understand some of your points. But im all for a muzzle.
Have you ever had first hand experience with Lammi?


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my old loan horse had problems with lami, he hasnt had an attack for 3 years on restricted grazing.
 
Most definately FOR !!

Options for me...

Keep pony in.

Shorten grazing time - i dont like pony standing in getting stiff plus i think its pretty miserable when there are better options.

Restrict her grazing I.E take her out of the herd, put her on her own on strip grazing = one unhappy pony as she loves her field buddies.

Pop muzzle on which she really doesnt mind, she can stay out with her mates in the field for just as long as they do.

So yep i am definately a pro-muzzler. And nope i do not use it as a subsitute for lack of exercise, or over feeding, as i have seen some people say on some forums. my pony is ridden 5 days a week and only fed hay & dengie good doer but she is just blessed with a large belly bless her!

the only downsides to the muzzle personally for my pony is she likes to very occasionally groom her best ponymate (not very often shes not THAT sociable
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!) so at weekends she goes out for shorter hours with her muzzle off and has a good love session with her friends
 
i think with regards to strip / restricted grazing - its not really an option at all for some people... i'm on a medium sized livery yard (25 horses) so i cant very well insist that we start dividing the field up just because my pony has a bit of a belly on her !! don't think that would go down particularly well with the rest of the mare owners
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I think that solution is all very well for people with their own land or yards, or on flexible yards but if your working round lots of other people especially with non fatties its a little more complicated than that!
 
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Hate them! IMO limiting grass by giving the horse a small paddock is much much better.

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Same..

I realise some people have no option but for me it would the absolute last one..
 
I am for them to be honest. I got one over a year ago and never had to use it until now. It is a greenguard one. I don't like the bucket ones to be honest. Admittedly it has caused slight rubbing in places but only mild as I have put a sheepskin noseband cover over the worst area.
However there is no doubt that at the moment our cob could be a very ill horse indeed were it not for the muzzle.
As people may or may not be aware I moved yards in March. There is more grass available at the new yard. My lads moved to the summer paddock last Thursday. We have fenced an area off as the grass is long and yo has fertlised it as well a few weeks ago. On inspecting the field we also found there was clover in the field as well. Not too much but even so coupled with the rich grass it could obviously cause problems.
Last Friday a new horse on the yard was turned out with the lads and all got on well. However the horses in the adjacent field were galloping around like nutters and setting the new lad off too. Now whether Mcfly was stressed by it all I don't know? That evening I had left them out a little longer than I had set out to do and they had been grazing for about 9 hours as I was talking to another owner and lost track of time. When I went to get mine in for some reason the cob had chased around an old field buddy who is on night time t/o due to sensitivity to the sun.
He came in, a bit sweaty but not too much and had a very small feed ( mostly chaff, not getting anything now mind you) and had a rather large grass belly. Nothing unusual in that as he has had them before. About twenty minutes after he started showing signs of mild colic or what I believed was colic. He was walked around and released the gas build up and when we left he was fine. I walked to the yard later that evening to check and he was fine. Next day he had 5 1/2 hours turnout with no muzzle and came in with a bit of a belly but no signs of colic. Sunday he was left for the same period and I brought the big lad in first. When I went to get him in though his eyes were full of panic and he had been running up and down the fence line. Again he showed signs of mild colic and upon walking the phase passed and he was fine. I then made the decision to muzzle him. We came to the conclusion that he was overeating lush grass and then additional excitement or stress on a large, full belly was causing spasms and trapped wind. Since wearing the muzzle he has not come in from the field bloated and neither has he showed signs of any colic at all, thankgoodness.
He will continue to wear the muzzle until the grass has been eaten down and I can feel safe enough letting him have full access to it. We are expecting some new liveries on the yard soon and so I feel it best to restrict his grazing at the moment so he doesn't get stressed on a full belly again.
I would recommend muzzles all the time where grazing cannot be restricted. I would rather my horses be out as much as possible and don't want them couped up in stables as I understand there are grazing restrictions at the yard anyway for later in the year. Why should either of my lads have to be shut up in an un-natural stable during the summer months especially when equines are natural grazers. For me personally I believe muzzles give any equine the freedom to graze safely when they are prone to certain conditions that could cause serious health risks. This is not a rant btw and I do look at our lad and feel so cruel at times when I see his face with it on. But at the moment without the use of it he would hardly get the time to see a blade of grass and that to me is grossly unfair.
Caz
 
For just a shame my pony rubs herself raw with hers so I have her in every night from about 3/4 o clock.

Bare paddocks are soemthiems even worse as it is fresh sugary roots that are in seemingly "bare" paddocks which ar full of sugar. We strip graze but my pony is in a field of skinnies- she is the only fatty. I can only manage her weight by riding her and keeping her in as much as possible which thankfully she doesn't mind...

Laminitus is just awful and I think that each persona nd their horse should do exactly what is needed to suit them. It is not just their helath at stake but also their head!! Ellie cannot cope being by herself and just runs around a bare,empty paddock breaking her legs and turning her insane, whereas in her big field with a muzzle she has company and space to roam around with her buddies...
 
I find it strange that most people automatically think strip grazing means pony/horse on their own. Ours stay in groups of 2-3 if they are a bit chubby! then given enough space for 3 of them!
 
we're not all on livery yards though, and don't all have access to starvation paddocks. I have access to a 'piggy paddock' but would be shot if I allowed it to get 'bare' (ruined). The field doesnt belong to me... I am priviledged to be able to use it all year round so therefore I look after it.

Our last pony was a real porkie pie. He verged on lami once. I stabled him, which he hated. So i turned him out (with medical advice) and made the hole on his muzzle smaller. And he was fine.

My current boy wears a muzzle 24/7. A greenguard didnt suit him, he was able to eat pretty normally through it. So we now have the plastic bucket type muzzle and the shires webbing one. Both he accepts quite readily, and he can eat and drink as normal. He spends time scratching his companion's belly (because she's huge and he's tiny) and seems quite happy.

I think it's down to the individual. there is no right or wrong, different methods suit different animals and owners. As long as the pony is happy, healthy and of a normal weight it shouldnt matter.
 
I'm neither for or against, I think they work for some and don't for others, and therefore we shouldn't judge those who choose to use them.

I don't use one currently on my boy, as my current method of managing his weight and grass intake is working perfectly, however that is not to say that I'd not try them if my situation changed.

Although it would be a pain in the a**e as he's a little Houdini
 
It's about what's best for that particular horse and owner and their situation. I have an excellent doer on DIY, and do not have the option to restrict her grazing. I cannot increase her workload as she is gradually recovering from a tendon injury, and I work full time so she would either have to be in all day (or night) or out. She gets miserable being in too much so I find using a muzzle in the day, or just in the evening (not overnight) if she's out at night, helps stop her over-eating. She can, eat, drink, groom her friend (although this time of year she prefers not to waste valuable time on anything other than eating!) I'd prefer not to need to use a muzzle but then I'd rather manage an occasional small rub, than risk laminitus.
 
I used a muzzle on my horse last summer to keep her weight down. I keep my horses at home so I could have taped off a separate pen for her, but she is normally lives out with her elderly dam who is is not such a good doer. The old mare needed the grass available in the big field, and I knew she would be stressed if her daughter was put in a separate paddock and was worried she would try and go through the electric fencing. (We have to stable her when I take my horse out riding!). The obvious solution was to muzzle my horse for part of the day. I thought she would hate it and have it off within minutes, but she didn't seem to mind at all.

What would you suggest I should have done instead, Jess?

I do agree that penning is useful for some horses and ponies, but you can't have hard and fast rules, you have to do what is best for the individual animals. For some it is muzzling and for some it is penning or part-stabling.
 
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I find it strange that most people automatically think strip grazing means pony/horse on their own. Ours stay in groups of 2-3 if they are a bit chubby! then given enough space for 3 of them!

[/ QUOTE ] That's fine if you have several animals who are all good-doers, but what if you only have one porky animal and the rest are skinnies?
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I am "for" muzzles, but only in the right circumstances. My horse is overweight and where I kept her before (literally the only place I could find to keep her as she is semi-retired and I cannot afford to keep a semi-retired horse on livery with a stable) she was out in a big field. There was no option of fencing bits off for her to strip graze as she breaks out, whether the fence is electrified or not, if the herd moves away from her "paddock". The options were: 1) muzzle her for half the day, or 2) let her get laminitis. I know which one I would choose (and did choose).
However, I am now in a situation where it isn't just possible for me to strip-graze, it's impossible not to! We have three fatties (one currently box-rested with lami) so we are strip-grazing them all and keeping them in at night. If I left Maiden out at night she would be on her own and she'd break out, so I have to keep up with everyone else which suits me perfectly anyway. When the lami pony is allowed out we will be strip-grazing them and leaving them out 24/7, so they just won't get any grass overnight instead of me having to put a muzzle on. Although Maiden sulks whatever I do, it's all just a strategy for keeping her weight under control and keeping lami at bay. I don't think it would be right, therefore, to say I was "against" muzzling as there are circumstances when it has to be done for the horse's welfare, if there is no other option. However if I can avoid muzzling I definitely will.
 
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