Those who have used grazing muzzles - your help and advice please!

georgiegirl

georgiegirl

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Has anyone had any trouble with their horses 'getting' a grazing muzzle?

I have bought george one and the plan is for him to wear it overnight - I figured if he had it on for daytime he would soon clock on in a morning and avoid me like the plague which wont be helpful when I have to be in work for 8am!

Tried it on him earlier this afternoon as I knew I would be around to keep an eye on him with it on and he doesnt seem to get the concept of eating with it! (its a shires one with the small circular hole at the bottom)

I hand fed him a few handfuls of grass through it to try and get the message through but he still doesnt seem to have cottoned on bless him!

By 8pm (4 hours of having it on!) he still hadnt attempted eating with it so in the end Ive taken it off and will put it back on tomorrow as didnt fancy him going all night without eating anything at all and possibly not drinking either.

So....do I put it back on him tomorrow and leave him for a while longer in the hope he will click? Do some just take a while to 'get it'? It seemed to fit ok but if there is a particular way it should be fitted to make it easier for the horse eg looser/tighter then Im all ears!

Thanks! :)
 
Took mine about three days to figure it out!! Wasnt too happy with the drinking thing either!

I left it off for quiet a while, put it on for few hours etc... didnt want to put her on a crash diet!!

If theyre too lose they just knock them off so persevere.
 
It can take a while for it to click... is your grass long enough for him to graze it with the muzzle on? I have a muzzle for short grass and one for long grass. The one for short grass (if I want to restrict her) I have cut the hole bigger otherwise she couldn't get anything. I save the one with the original hole for when she moves onto a rested paddock.

I would persevere with the muzzle, a companion to my mare literally refused to use one and stood for a few 8 hour periods without grazing - his owner gave up on him in the end and ended up giving the muzzle away but another horse on the yard just took a few days to accept it and get on with it.

Keep going, for your own peace of mind perhaps put it on next when you are down there for the day. Ooooo just thought - it might be the fact that you are at the yard that means he won't eat with it on. Figures if he stands there you will take it off eventually?

x
 
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What I did with mine was get some low cal treats she liked and pop them through the hole,...then just held one out on my hand so she had to work out how to get it,...or no treat! seemed to work more/faster than grass!! Also, I made sure she understood the drinking before leaving her for any time.
 
I'll be down there for a fair while tomorrow so will try again :)

He just didnt seem to make ANY attempt at all to put his head down at all and just stood about looking miserable :( Poor george - he hates his hannibal mask.

I tried scattering a few pony nuts on the grass to try and tempt him but all that resulted in was stroppy pawing on the ground!
 
Mine got it only once the whole was made bigger. I couldn't risk colic/ulcers after 3 days without eating. So I increased hole size. He figured it then by using chaff loose in the floor. In the end after a week it rubbed his face I gave up and gone back to strip grazing.
 
Which type are you using?

My share boy point blank refused to eat through a bucket type but gets on absolutely fine with a Greenguard. Share boy and my boy both use Greenguards. They took a while to get used to them but are absolutely fine now. I hand fed them to give them the idea that they could eat through it, then let them graze on longish upstanding grass that was easy to get hold of til they were happily eating and then turned them out on their normal grazing.
 
shadowboy said:
Mine got it only once the whole was made bigger. I couldn't risk colic/ulcers after 3 days without eating. So I increased hole size. He figured it then by using chaff loose in the floor. In the end after a week it rubbed his face I gave up and gone back to strip grazing.
Click to expand...

This can be the problem with these muzzles; the more expensive greenguard seems better for rubbing but its £60 ****ouch. The plus is it has a 'grill' rather than a hole too which means they get the whole eating with it on better!!!

Think the grass needs to be about an inch thick grass to eat ok with it. .. i prefer a 'Fat paddock'.... hate seeing mine with it on. (Personal thing... dont think theyre cruel or anything)
 
Its the bucket type one Im trying. The shires one I have bought him is quite well padded but will keep a careful watch on it for rubbing.

I'll try again with him tomorrow and see if he will be tempted to try with it rather than standing around looking miserable and if not will try and make the hole slightly larger.

He really does know how to pull my heart strings - stood at the gate looking forlorn and then gave my the most pathetic little whicker when I went back up to field gate to see him - wiley little bugger!!
 
we do have good grass at the moment and unfortunately due to the set up of our yard its not really possible to move him to more restricted grazing - you get your own paddock for your own horses - in my case, 2 horses - george doesnt need the grass (but is greedy and will not stop eating!) the other one although well built is in hard work but does stop eating when shes had enough!
 
haha, mine look at me like im the wicked witch everytime i go out - Sometimes a drive out the driveway and dont look as i know there guilty looks will make me feel like a bad mum!!!
 
georgiegirl said:
we do have good grass at the moment and unfortunately due to the set up of our yard its not really possible to move him to more restricted grazing - you get your own paddock for your own horses - in my case, 2 horses - george doesnt need the grass (but is greedy and will not stop eating!) the other one although well built is in hard work but does stop eating when shes had enough!
Click to expand...

bear with the muzzle... he will figure it out. Prob thinks you have stopped him from being able to eat so isnt putting in enough effort to try. Could walk him to long grass verge... he will soon figured it out then ;-)
 
I have the same set up as you I.e one large paddock, and one large sports horses and a little welshy who is prone to getting porky. I section him off a small paddock using electric tape and posts. Move it around as and when necessary, and when there isn't much grass in the main part of the paddock then he will go in the main field at night and in his fat paddock (or dieting area as my daughter calls it!) In the day time. I feed him a small feed of healthy hooves with his supplement in so he is happy to follow me in to his paddock for his feed. Maybe you could try something like that?
 
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