Roughly How Long Does It Take A Horse to Get Used To A Grazing Muzzle

shelly19

shelly19

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Hi, can anyone tell me roughly how long it take a pony to get used to wearing a grazing muzzle?

My 14.2 cobx who is a very good doer has been steadily gaining weight since the spring grass came through. I put a grazing muzzle on him last night and he became a bit distressed and just kept rubbing his head on anything he could to try to get it off.

Went to check on him this morning and he was stood alone sulking so I don't know if he's manged to eat anything. As soon as he saw me he galloped to the gate banging it to come in, which is very out of character so I brought him in and gave him a small net.

I turned him back out tonight with the muzzle on and again he was just rubbing his head on the fence trying to get it off, then banging on the gate to come back in. It fits fine but he so far doesn't seem to be trying to eat with it on.
 
I bought 2 and cut the hole slightly bigger in the first one So she got the hang of it . She had a tantrum at first and galloped around the field but settled after probably 15 - 30 mins.
I wouldn't leave it on all night the first time or at least until you have literally seen him eat with it, if he really doesn't work it out he could be going a long time without eating which you don't want either!
I don't know if you've tried feeding him through the hole or sticking a bit of grass through?
Good luck, I feel your pain I'm also a cob owner who has expanded since spring :)
 
I don't know how long, probably varies from horse to horse. I put one on mine tonight, and spent ages popping stuff through the hole in the bottom, so he hopefully twigs that food can come through it. M
 
katie_southwest said:
I bought 2 and cut the hole slightly bigger in the first one So she got the hang of it . She had a tantrum at first and galloped around the field but settled after probably 15 - 30 mins.
I wouldn't leave it on all night the first time or at least until you have literally seen him eat with it, if he really doesn't work it out he could be going a long time without eating which you don't want either!
I don't know if you've tried feeding him through the hole or sticking a bit of grass through?
Good luck, I feel your pain I'm also a cob owner who has expanded since spring :)
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Thanks for reply :) I've cut the hole bigger and fed him grass through the hole but I've still not seen him try to graze with it on and was worried about him not getting anything to eat. Think I'll just put it on for a few hours a day for a few days whilst he gets used to it.
 
It took my horse about 3 days to get the hang of it! i was getting seriously worried! I had planned to just put her out for an hour or so at a time with it but reckoned she would just wait for it to come off until she ate! Like u i fed her grass thru the hole and I also put a little hay in the ottom when i first put it on so it was pleasant for her and she realised she could eat. I didnt cut the hole as i feel this defeats the purpose!? my horse now happily sucks hay thru it like spagetti! lol.....

ps. My horse does come in at night so she didnt go 3 full days without food. It was horrible to watch her wandering around looking lost for the first few days but just remember the long term benifits :D......
 
elsazzo said:
It took my horse about 3 days to get the hang of it! i was getting seriously worried! I had planned to just put her out for an hour or so at a time with it but reckoned she would just wait for it to come off until she ate! Like u i fed her grass thru the hole and I also put a little hay in the ottom when i first put it on so it was pleasant for her and she realised she could eat. I didnt cut the hole as i feel this defeats the purpose!? my horse now happily sucks hay thru it like spagetti! lol.....

ps. My horse does come in at night so she didnt go 3 full days without food. It was horrible to watch her wandering around looking lost for the first few days but just remember the long term benifits :D......
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Thanks, I cut the hole to try to encourage him to get the hang of it as I had visions of colic induced starvation lol. I will get fatty another muzzle when he gets the hang of it as he really needs to lose some weight He is not happy at all though and it's hard to watch.
 
I had an old pony who would never eat while he knew he was being watched. He could put on the saddest eyes ever. Little did he know that I could see the field from my bedroom window!
 
I think I have been quite lucky then! It took Donovan about 10 mins to work out he could still eat. Havent seen him try to get it off, and thankfully he seems quite happy in it.
 
hairycob said:
I had an old pony who would never eat while he knew he was being watched. He could put on the saddest eyes ever. Little did he know that I could see the field from my bedroom window!
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Lol...this is exactly what my cob did when he was first introduced to muzzles! Stood looking pathetic and thinking in his head he was a hat rack who was starving.:rolleyes: My two have been in their muzzles since the start of April and took cob a good few days to realise greenguards aren't starvation devices (he's a master with his bucket at night!) but little pony is a genius with a greengaurd...when he first got it we left him for the day watching him and he mastered it within the hour.

I always put a carrot at the bottom when they are put on and few carrot sticks fed through the hole just to remind them these muzzles are 'wonderful things!'
 
My answer is a little simpler... He never did! My boy was going to end up having a serious injury or making himself ill with stress had i left his grazing muzzle on. Luckily he didnt actually need it it was only precautionary after a bout of stress laminitis incase his sudden grazing caused it but in the end he was better without the muzzle with a little less turnout.
 
Thanks, I cut the hole to try to encourage him to get the hang of it as I had visions of colic induced starvation lol. I will get fatty another muzzle when he gets the hang of it as he really needs to lose some weight He is not happy at all though and it's hard to watch.


Tell me about it! When I was leaving the yard my mate would follow me up the driveway (in her field adjacent) neighing at me to help her! :( It was awful! I just kept telling myself u need to be cruel to be kind ;)
 
We keep our little sec A in a grazing muzzle. His pervious owner kept him in a spring/summer sandy starvation paddock with a doubled up hay net as they had their own land. Not possible at our yard.
So last year I decided to get him a muzzle. He spent spring/summer charging about the field, trying to get it off. I spent the whole time running up and down to the yard making sure he had it on or putting it back on. in the end we had to pop a little ponytail of his mane round the muzzle to keep him from pulling it over his ears.

This year, he was abit p'd off about it for a week or so and now it's like he's accepted it and even stands to put it on rather than prancing about making a scene about it!
 
My 2 are both wearing muzzles, Harry took about 10 mins to have a go and suss it out, maddie took ages, she spent half an hour running around waving her head around then kept running to Harry and staring at him, i think to see how he was eating with it, eventually she had a go and realised she could do it too!
I always buy 2 though and cut the hole bigger so they 'get it' a bit quicker, I find it stops them getting really frustrated too, once they've got the hang of it they don't seem to mind the smaller hole.
 
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