Can we please talk about grazing muzzles?

[Marsha Cassada]

I'm very concerned about the rich grass this spring. It has never seemed to be an issue before, but after the barren moonscape last year, now the abundant rain has brought on a green jungle. I've been trying to allow my two to graze only 2 hours morning and evening. We got the grass mowed down pretty well, so I let them out all day for 2 days, then confined at night. Yesterday my new 4 year old mare had very hot feet. I was terrified. Today I let them out for an hour this morning, but now they are confined.

I am thinking of buying grazing muzzles for both, as it is very difficult for me to keep them confined.

What are everyone's experiences? Do the horses mind them? Is it dangerous for them to wear them unsupervised? How many hours can they wear them? Is there a certain kind that is better than another?

I'm having trouble dealing with the fact that an animal that is born to browse cannot actually do so.

 

[wingnut]

I use them on 5 of my 6 horses. I do not leave them on when I'm not home to supervise. I have a pair of binoculars that I keep by that window so I can see if anyone is having trouble (i.e., when one girl had hers 1/2 off but not quite). I can also see which goofball gotten her's off. Mine aren't thrilled to wear them, but they love being on the pasture more. They line up at the gate and patiently wait (the only time I see that!) for me to fit everyone into their muzzle. I wait until late afternoon (~ 5pm) to let them out. I go out around 7pm to clean up stalls and prep buckets. The buckets bring them up so I'm not chasing them to get out of the pasture. As the lushness goes away, the time on the pasture will increase.

The rest of the time their in their dry lot with hay. A couple of them get right down to business and you can see they're not letting the muzzle bother them. One horse is especially perturbed by hers but she's never been one to get it off. They all move around a whole lot more too.

For me, using a muzzle gives me piece of mind. Others don't find them necessary. We all have to do what helps us sleep at night

 

[vickie gee]

Hi Marsha. I ordered two from Ozark recently. They were having a 2fer sale is you did not specify color. I ordered them because my mare Romey is insulin resistant. I think you and I talked about her earlier. Thanks to advise from Liz and Jackie on here she is doing much better and has gone from looking like she was on her death bed to looking and obviously feeling great. When she is in a pen alone she does not require one. But she is such a herd animal and loves the foals so much I have been letting her spend more and more time with them but she is muzzled then so that I can control what she eats. I am always home when she is muzzled and I check on her often. Her little half brother Elvis who is not even two months old likes to undo the velcro on her muzzle. It is that kind that allows drinking but no grazing. Yesterday out in the pasture I saw her leap over a huge tree that was down from being cut this week. It was a beautiful site as not so long ago she could barely stand. Before she became insulin restistant I was working with her on jumps. Seems she remembers. I do like the muzzles I ordered, but again I only do it supervised.

 

[Marty]

You're playing it smart Marsha! Mine are also only on grass a couple hours a day right now for fear of spring grass founder. We are also keeping everything mowed down to nubs.

I will not muzzle my horses so I have a dry lot to bring them into and then stalls at night. The dry lot is actually my barnyard which is a huge help at times like this. Good luck with this.

 

[Wings]

Like Marty I prefer dry lotting over muzzles. For one I can slow feed hay over the day which I prefer over restricting completly with a muzzle. I also feed before they go out on grazing so they feel less 'empty' and are less inclined to stuff themselves. It's certainly one of the less fun parts of mini owning! If only they were less inclined to try and double their bodyweight!

 

[wingnut]

I didn't realize there were muzzles that didn't allow any grazing. All of my muzzles have a hole in the bottom that allow minimal grazing as well as water drinking. I too use my dry lot but they are SO much happier being out on the pasture. They MOVE in the pasture, whereas in the dry lot, they just stand around. Again, its all about what you want to do, have time to do, etc. I'm luck in that I work from home full time and my schedule is very flexible. I have the luxury to go out as often as I want/need to.

 

[rabbitsfizz]

Don't muzzle, never will, why not just restrict access to grazing with hotwire and leave them out all the time to graze it down and keep it down? I have 12 of mine on around two acres within a six acre field- I don't really want them on the rest, but intend to strip graze the field next door to that one, which is now about six inches deep in good grass. Mine are out all the time.

Apart from everything that can go wrong with a muzzle I just think that it is mean to have a horse out on grass it cannot eat- unless there is a really good reason to do so. I think leaving a laminitic horse out with it's friends in the herd might come under this heading, but otherwise I would rather just limit the ground to which they have access, rather than the time they are out or the way that they eat. Even with breakaway halters I would not be happy....

 

[shorthorsemom]

I occasionally muzzle my guys, but only when I have let the grass get too high and need to slow them down and only when I am home to keep an eye on things. I use best friends muzzle and they really don't get all that much grass through that one small hole. They work hard at it. Some of the cheaper muzzles smell bad. My Chips let me know he didn't like the stink of the bargain muzzle we tried so back to the high dollar best friends muzzle. I have two nice dry paddocks filled with pea gravel for loafing most of the day, so I could get away from using the muzzles much and that has worked nicely. I put down rubber mats around my feeder and have 4-6 inches of pea gravel. They get limited turn out. works well for me. Their weight has held nicely doing this.

 

[suen]

I recently bought three grazing muzzles for my three minis. I show two of them so don't want them to get too fat. They actually don't mind the muzzles as it gives them freedom in the pasture and they evidently get plenty of grass from using them. I only let them out in the pasture with them on when I am home as I am always a worry wart and keep a close eye on all my animals. I wish I had the muzzles a few years back when we had a foundered horse and had to keep it dry lotted all the time.

 

[Matt73]

The only grass my guys get is, maybe, 5 mins. to and from the paddock (which is a dry lot). They had some grass in there last year, but it was gone by September (moved paddocks due to building). I feed hay four times/ day (smallish amounts, of course), to simulate a more natural type of grazing. I would worry so much if my little ones were on grass all the time....

 

[rabbitsfizz]

Grass is the natural food of the horse, why would you worry if they were on it all the time? I can understand worries if the grass has become too tall (easy done, one moment there is none, next you have a hay field) and I am about to put up a hot wire so I can limit access to such a filed, and strip graze, which is far less wasteful, but I cannot imagine a world where my horses do not graze. The main herd is out all day and night, the three show horses are up now, but have access to good grass all day, almost every day on here I see cases of horses colicking- it would be interesting to know just how many horses given free access to grass all the time actually colic (and yes, I have had two cases of gas colic due to sudden intake of too much rich grass, which is why I now use the hot wire)

 

[Eagle]

Don't muzzle, never will, why not just restrict access to grazing with hotwire and leave them out all the time to graze it down and keep it down? I have 12 of mine on around two acres within a six acre field- I don't really want them on the rest, but intend to strip graze the field next door to that one, which is now about six inches deep in good grass. Mine are out all the time.

Apart from everything that can go wrong with a muzzle I just think that it is mean to have a horse out on grass it cannot eat- unless there is a really good reason to do so. I think leaving a laminitic horse out with it's friends in the herd might come under this heading, but otherwise I would rather just limit the ground to which they have access, rather than the time they are out or the way that they eat. Even with breakaway halters I would not be happy....

Grass is the natural food of the horse, why would you worry if they were on it all the time? I can understand worries if the grass has become too tall (easy done, one moment there is none, next you have a hay field) and I am about to put up a hot wire so I can limit access to such a filed, and strip graze, which is far less wasteful, but I cannot imagine a world where my horses do not graze. The main herd is out all day and night, the three show horses are up now, but have access to good grass all day, almost every day on here I see cases of horses colicking- it would be interesting to know just how many horses given free access to grass all the time actually colic (and yes, I have had two cases of gas colic due to sudden intake of too much rich grass, which is why I now use the hot wire)

I agree with Jane, I would be too worried about my horses getting their muzzles off or caught on something or each other

I just put up temporary fencing and let them strip graze. Can you imagine being in a cake shop with your friends and having to watch them eat

 

[shorthorsemom]

I didn't believe in muzzles until the founder of my beloved riding horse. After all the treatment and hassle, I then believed in muzzles. Where I boarded him didn't have a dry paddock option, he lived the rest of his life in a muzzle when out on the grass.

They can founder for many reasons, but grass gluttons can founder more easily. I created my dry paddock for peace of mind not worrying about them being out at night wearing anything on their heads. This year I also let my guys graze longer hours before the spring grass got heavy to keep the pasture mowed down somewhat, so now we get limited grazing time and dry paddock plain grass hay the rest of the time. Their weights have stayed pretty good, however, I just noticed my one boy even on just a small bit of grazing is starting to get the "jelly jar" appearance, so I will probably be muzzling him for turn out now that the grass has greened up for spring and his response has been to gain weight. I give him remission, he is probably insulin resistance kind of guy. There are many horses that do just fine with grazing and some that can't take much at all. Every one is an individual, so the muzzle topic is a good one for those of us who have horses that balloon on grass, but still want to go out with their buddies and get exercise and walk around. I hate the look of the muzzles... but bow to the need for my guys to wear them on occasion. sigh. My boys do come running to me when they see the muzzles because they equal long turn out times with wearing them, so that does make me feel better about using one. my 2 cents worth.

 

[Matt73]

Well...yes, grass is the natural food horse for horses, but modern ponies and miniatures are not natural, they are man-made; and minis and ponies have a very easy tendency to get fat and, therefore, be extrememly prone to laminitis/founder etc. on food that is too rich (which grass can be). I would never have a pony/miniature on grass 24/7.

 

[Eagle]

I think a lot has to do with what you are used to Matt, in Britain due to the wonderful

raining weather our horses are brought up eating grass from weaning and I have never had problems provided the horses are out all year round. Of course if you just turn out in spring on lush grass then it is a risk but introduced slowly is good for all breeds. JMHO

 

[My2Minis]

I use muzzles on my my mini and pony except during summer and when the grass is dormant. There is no way other than dry lot to keep their weights managable otherwise. I know too many people who have had horses founder to take the chance. With a muzzle they can enjoy social and grazing time in the pasture and get more exercise. They were out during the winter without a muzzle but now the grass is extremely rich and lush even in the grazed areas. Even on short grass they got way too fat the one year I left them without a muzzle.

 

[chandab]

Well...yes, grass is the natural food horse for horses, but modern ponies and miniatures are not natural, they are man-made; and minis and ponies have a very easy tendency to get fat and, therefore, be extrememly prone to laminitis/founder etc. on food that is too rich (which grass can be). I would never have a pony/miniature on grass 24/7.

I think a lot has to do with what you are used to Matt, in Britain due to the wonderful

raining weather our horses are brought up eating grass from weaning and I have never had problems provided the horses are out all year round. Of course if you just turn out in spring on lush grass then it is a risk but introduced slowly is good for all breeds. JMHO

It also depends on the species of grasses growing, the growing conditions and so much more. We typically have snow for 6 months of the year, usually starts in Sept/Oct and lasts til March/April, with occassional storms into May. If I turned my minis out on the grass we have 24/7 they'd be fat little butterballs and probably all have founder, my saddle horses are out 24/7 and while no founder, yet, they are too fat; our grass is very suitable for fattening cows, as is plainly evident by our nice grass fed calves we raise, but not so great for keeping little horses looking like little horses and keeping their hooves healthy.

I'm not sure, but I'm guessing with your rainy weather, your grass/grazing plants contain a higher water content than our drier condition plants have, so the nutrients aren't so dense, and the horses can graze longer with fewer negative effects.

My minis do spend some time grazing during the summer, but it is limited.

 

[Eagle]

Yes I agree Chanda, it really does depend on where you live and what you want to do with your horses.One member from U. K has her horses are out on acres (I mean serious acres) the whole year with wonderful grass and her girls are doing great but they are born to it. I think each country has to evaluate what is best. In 20 years of working with Show Jumpers here in Italy it broke my heart to see them live in a stable and never touch grass. The owners are convinced it would kill them even the horses imported from Holland and U.K that have always been outside

It's a different culture. It took me months to convince my other half to give me some fields to turn my horses out.