Teaching a horse about grazing muzzle.

Rosie'smum

Rosie'smum

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How can I tell my horse that it is fine to eat with the muzzle on? She is daft and won't let anything go near the bottom of the muzzle throws her head in the air and goes crazy. She was desperate to have a piece of Apple but if it went near the muzzle she did the above.
Why can't I have a normal horse!?
 
i've been poking bits of grass through the bottom of my little chubby rescue pony's grazing muzzle, to help him get the idea of it.... there was a lot of scraping it along the floor and some frustrated pawing at it but keep trying and they do get the hang of it! My grass still isnt quite long enough at the moment though so I will try again in a couple of weeks!
 
Don't be alarmed that they are not eating anything with a muzzle on!.With some types of muzzle they can actually eat a considerable amount.Like a snackaball, a horse over time will know that if the yellow lid is at the top of the ball she doesn't have to put in so much work to rid the ball of treats as they will fall out of the bottom consistently.The same with a muzzle, the angle and pressure will soon be worked out for optimum grass yield!
 
I got over this little problem by buying 2. I then made the hole in one considerably larger - I cut another circle a distance of 2cm from the hole. Once she was used to eating through the larger hole, I swapped her over to the other one.

HTH.
 
Same as HH I had a sacrificial training one and replaced it. He's had dinky ponies and shires now which work differently but fine with both-
Just got at eating the dinky one hence the change!
 
When I used one, I didn't put it on, just put a piece of carrot in the bottom and showed him it. He ate the carrot, watched me pop another one through the hole at the bottom and ate that. Then we put the muzzle on and ate carrots that way.

Then he went out into the field wearing it and was sorely disappointed that carrots no longer appeared through the hole, but soon occupied himself by trying to squeeze grass through the hole.

Once he got the hang of it, ANYTHING that appeared through the hole was considered food. I almost lost a finger one day.
 
Alf took a while to get used to a muzzle - he spooked every time it touched the ground, so was a bit hungry for a few hours, until he got used to it! I made he hole bigger, popped it on, and left him to get his head around the concept. It doesn't take long!
 
Yeah tried putting it on with food in the bottom. She completely freaked out until it fell out. She won't go near it but have progressed today with the clicker to her trying to eat it which is good as she is petrified of fleece. But this fleece is white and the other black which apparently makes a difference.
So slowly getting used to the idea of it
I did wonder whether just to throw her out with it and let her get on with it.
 
ester said:
Frankly, I would go with option B with a bigger hole.
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Seriously Ester a bigger hole is really not necessary.they can eat a colossal amount without a bigger hole.people think they cant and feel sorry for them which is defeating the object somewhat..for those using a muzzle to help prevent colic of lami this could be harmful.they did a study which said it reduces grass intake by 75% so put a larger hole and that figure could go down drastically.one of the manufacturers said there muzzle only reduced grass intake by 50%.larger hole in that and that figure could drop right diwn again to 25% misleading owners.
 
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Got a step further tonight. She is touching the bottom of it now from the outside. I poked treats through and she was wary of eating them and often just ignore them. Occasionally she will eat them from the hole but if she didn't grab then straight away and it touches her lip she shys away and won't go near it.
Definitely a strange being lol
 
Rosie'smum said:
Got a step further tonight. She is touching the bottom of it now from the outside. I poked treats through and she was wary of eating them and often just ignore them. Occasionally she will eat them from the hole but if she didn't grab then straight away and it touches her lip she shys away and won't go near it.
Definitely a strange being lol
Click to expand...

I'd stop messing around feeding things through the hole or cutting holes in the bottome of muzzles and the like and just turf her out in a paddock! :eek:. When hunger overrides 'fear' she will soon get over herself and try to see if she can eat instead of pandering to her fear. Sorry to sound harsh I am not intending to be funny but this is what you have to do. that's how I got my mare out of her fear of plastic bags.Shoved one on top of her feed bucket.She soon moved it to one side to eat when she realized she had no choice.Just repeated the exercise but then started moving the bag around the stable and moving it over her body until she was 100% happy.she is no longer the fearful creature she was when she sees a bag blowing towards her in her paddock/out hacking.We lived near Surrey years ago and was stabled near a picnic spot so folks were always leaving empty plastic bags/crisp packets and they would blow into her paddock and this is how she became fearful of them in the first place. OP I am sure she will grasp the muzzle quick enough!
 
Update: chucked her out in the field today with it on. She tried to begin with to eat but if it touches her she would stop. She stood around a lot of the day looking depressed and had given up trying. 4hrs later she was trying on everything it if anything went in she threw her head about.
I bought her in and grabbed hold of her and held on tight. She eventually let me touch her nose through and put my finger through the bottom. Would still try and get away from the touch but i held on. Poked some haylage through with a fight but started eating it. Everytine I poked anything threw she would fight it and then eventually she just got it! Realised when i went to poke my finger through she tried to nibble me. So hopefully she gets the idea when she goes out tomorrow. She was sucking the haylage through like spaghetti ��
 
I believe the larger hole suggestion is until they get used to it, and I think its a very good idea. I must be really lucky as mine took to the muzzle straight away, I poked strips of carrot through and stayed with him in the field for a bit and pushed grass through and he just took to it. I make the hole slightly bigger now over 10 years on, he is 38 now, on VETS advice so he is still restricted
 
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