Very good doers and muzzles.

ycbm

ycbm

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I've got my mare on a regime that just about works for both of us for the winter but it's not simple to keep her weight down and I'm already thinking about turnout for next year.

What are people's experiences of muzzles - 15 hours overnight grazing, straw in the daytime - for their fatties in summer? Is a muzzle enough? Do you have to do anything else to keep the weight down?
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My retired NF doesn’t go out on grass full stop between 1st March and 1st November without a muzzle. It’s fine for him but he also stays on the same acre or so all year round so there’s never huge amounts of grass out there anyway. He’s out at night and in during the day in summer but we might get 6 weeks or so of 24/7 and even then he wears his muzzle, it’s never rubbed although he gets a bit sweaty sometimes!
 
Share horse is a PRE- she is muzzled for day time turn out Spring, Summer and Autumn. She comes in each night (all of the horses do) and has a snack net and night net. She does have to spend some time without -no ad lib for her- as she literally inhales food and will continue to eat without a break.
Keeping her at a reasonable weight does require some work and regular exercise but is do-able.
 
DP has EMS and is muzzled from March to October and out all night without any issues as long as he keeps it on. In during the day on a mix of soaked hay and straw. Exercise really is the key for fatties and I find doing a couple of fun rides a month with lots of cantering works wonders at keeping him trim.
 
I am very lucky, I think, my mare doesn't really like barley straw. She will eat it, but not stuff it, and I can let her have as much as she will eat and she is still losing weight. It's whether 15 hours in a muzzle on summer will restrict her enough that I'm concerned about. She seems to be completely happy about the muzzle, it bothers me but it doesn't seem to bother her at all.
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Lindylouanne said:
DP has EMS and is muzzled from March to October and out all night without any issues as long as he keeps it on. In during the day on a mix of soaked hay and straw. Exercise really is the key for fatties and I find doing a couple of fun rides a month with lots of cantering works wonders at keeping him trim.
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Good to hear, thank you :) She keeps the muzzle on with no bother. I am planning a summer of fun rides.
 
Mine is out in daylight in her greenguard. She drops her head for me to put it on so while I wouldn't say she likes it she is resigned to it!

But she can get it off if she's really determined....
 
I've used a muzzle fairly constantly on a fatty in the summer and it really did help. I always felt a bit cruel but it was the lesser of two evils.

I found it helpful to have more than one type so that I could alternate between them in terms of rubbing but I always had to do them up fairly tight so that he couldn't get them off.
 
Little A Fuzzy has been in at night since we had slight pulses at the beginning of Sept for a couple of days.
She's out on decent length grass all day with B Fuzzy, but wears her Dinky muzzle (we have 3, all working in rotation as I hate putting a sodden one back on in the morning).
It's been working v well and as she doesn't mind wearing it, it does mean they have company. The amount of grass I have, I think she'll be in the muzzle till mid January....
I do ensure she gets a good scratchy groom most days.
Oh, and as she is 32 inches tall, I cant ride her.... so she does a daily dog walk 6 days a week for a 25 to 30 mins march ☺
 
At this time of year - key to help get through summer is to get the weight off over winter. Their natural cycle is to lose weight in winter and gain in spring.

If you can get her to being a condition score of 2.5 by March (i.e. you can see ribs) you have a sensible chance of making it nicely through spring. If she comes out of winter looking comfortable / nicely covered - it's the devil.
 
I did feel better that he was in for some of the time so could fill up on hay (whole yard in during the day), and it meant he could go out in company during the night, let the TB eat all the nice bits and then take his muzzle off to tidy up the rough edges the TB wouldn't touch.

I also had two so always a clean/dry one to put on. Shires delux and a very greasy nose.
 
ycbm said:
That's my plan PM. I'm a big believer in how coming out of winter on the thin side resets epigenetic switches and protects for the next year.
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ETA the PRE lovers are going to have a fit, though, they really don't look "right" thin!
 
It depends what your grass is like. I tend to find muzzles don't work if it's very short or very long because then they won't eat at all whilst the muzzle is on and end up gorging themselves as soon as it's taken off.
But mine did have them on every so often this summer when the track was moved for a few days or just after it had rained, and it did stop their crests coming up in these situations. (Neither of them ever get pulses but they do get solid necks).
 
Chinchilla said:
It depends what your grass is like. I tend to find muzzles don't work if it's very short or very long because then they won't eat at all whilst the muzzle is on and end up gorging themselves as soon as it's taken off.
But mine did have them on every so often this summer when the track was moved for a few days or just after it had rained, and it did stop their crests coming up in these situations. (Neither of them ever get pulses but they do get solid necks).
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Plan is that she never goes out without it, C. And she has 11 acres to pick at and can always find some of the right length to get through the hole.
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I tend to muzzle from April to September. At this point he goes out overnight from around 6pm til 9am. He then comes in to soaked hay. This kept him nice and trim. My issue funnily enough is keeping him trim in winter. They swap to day turnout and go out 8:30-2:30/3:30 and the rest of the time he’s stood stuffing his face which isn’t ideal but it’s a toss up between him going hungry for a few hours or having enough hay to keep him going! I’m keeping a close eye on his waistline at the moment, can still feel ribs and he’s weigh taping the same but he just looks a little rounder!
 
A necessary ‘evil’ in my view. I’d prefer not to but equally I want them to be turned out as much as possible. Mine has been out all day in his and others on my previous yard were muzzled overnight so that would have been similar to what you’re thinking. As long as they are safe with it, it does work. It def does restrict grazing intake and really helps with good doers.
 
ycbm said:
What are people's experiences of muzzles -


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in my case it only lasted a few minutes. Put it on the haflinger, he took one look and said WTF. He cantered up to the arab and said get this bl***y thing off me, the arab duly obliged and that was the end of the muzzle. :D:D
 
I have really wanted to muzzle the cob and the shitland this year as, due to a few problems with our grazing, we were unable to follow our usual strip grazing process. Both are still fat but I'm hoping they will lose it with increased work and the colder weather. Muzzling isn't really an option as they live out 24/7. The Connie x however is now losing condition and I'm having to feed him up a bit ?
 
Is it possible to set up track with access to your barn? If so you could leave fatty on the track and barn access and put the other one in the "field" in the middle for 12h and both on the track for 12h?
 
paddy555 said:
in my case it only lasted a few minutes. Put it on the haflinger, he took one look and said WTF. He cantered up to the arab and said get this bl***y thing off me, the arab duly obliged and that was the end of the muzzle. :D:D
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I've been there in the past :) Nothing would keep a muzzle on my cob, he got it off every time! This one seems totally happy to have it put on and makes no attempt to take it off and won't let the other one play with it either. If it will work, it seems a good solution to keep them together with access to the whole 10+ acres of hill, which also gives them great exercise and needs no poo picking.
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Last year my fatty got it on overnight and in during the day to a small net at lunch. He was partnered with another fatty (who’s owner didn’t muzzle) and when The grass was short he got it off, but that is a smaller paddock specifically let short for them it wouldn’t work in 11 acres lol he came out of summer actually a little lean but then I knew he would plump up again with haylage cause he always does. Two weeks after winter bring in he was a nice weight again.
 
equi said:
...it wouldn’t work in 11 acres lol ...
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It works in my 11 acres, equi, it's a big part of how I got the weight off her so far. There are plenty of different types and heights of plant out there and she picks the ones she can get through the hole.
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ycbm said:
It works in my 11 acres, equi, it's a big part of how I got the weight off her so far. There are plenty of different types and heights of plant out there and she picks the ones she can get through the hole.
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I meant that you won’t get 11 acres to a short bowling green type of grazing, like how we got my summer paddock for our fatties :)
 
equi said:
I meant that you won’t get 11 acres to a short bowling green type of grazing, like how we got my summer paddock for our fatties :)
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It might if I bought 15 or 20 minis? Now there's a thought ?
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I tried a muzzle on one of my ponies, and I think he would have rubbed his ears off - he hated it!
I manage without by always leaving them out 24/7, so that they don't have get into a starve/binge cycle, in as big an area as possible with always not quite enough grass so that they are hungry enough to also have hay. So in the spring it is quite a small area. and it is extended and extended over the summer and in winter (between December and March) they have access to the whole 10 acres
 
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