escape proof muzzle?

H & Bailey

H & Bailey

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Nov 12, 2001
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Anyone know of a grazing muzzle which is escape proof for a pony?
bruno HAS to have a muzzle on or be in the winter area on his own.I dont like keeping him on his own but cannot get him to keep his muzzle on.ive tried all sorts of ways yesterday he had the smallest headcollar on threaded through and round the muzzle..today i went up and the headcollar is on but the muzzle is dangling underneath- he got a touch of lammi 4 weeks ago when he escaped his muzzle on night turnout so has been confined since and only was turned out yesterday for the first time.
Im so paranoid bout him getting ill but dont like keeping him on his own all the time as bailey gives him such a hard time when they meet up again.. bailey doesnt give him grief if he is out muzzled...
the muzzle he has is a shires webbing one..ive seen the greengaurd ones they are more £££ but would pay for one IF it stayed on? any experiences or even a way to adapt his shires one?
 
the shires ones arent so easy to get off if done up correctly (i.e. tight enough - no its not cruel !)

Also the greenguard ones with the special greenguard headcollar are good for some but Molls use to just push it to one side and eat through the sides :o
 
Nelly has a shires/robinsons muzzle,
i always put it on with a fly hood,i put the fly hood on first,then the muzzle over the top,then i do up the fly mask strap,threading it twice around the muzzle throat clip and hey presto,he cant shift it.mwahahaha.:D
Green guard are naff in the extreme!! ;)
 
The new model Greenguard looks much better and more escape / avoid proof than the old one, but it's not cheap. A closed nose net with a hole cut in it works pretty well but won't last forever and may need a few repairs along the way too. But it does the job and doesn't rub them :D
 
Don't know about new greenguard but old one lasted about 5 minutes.

Once poperly fitted, Shires seem to stay on well, mine hasn't had hers off for ages. It needs to be really tight and if you can get away with a bigger one with the straps then the extra bucket length helps keep them on.

Be careful not to make it too secure as they are designed to come off in an accident.

Good luck :) I really know how it feels. Unfortuantly, if ponio has worked out how to get them off then you might never find one that stays on :(
 
My shires one worked a treat - my little minx couldnt get if off on her own. Although she obviously tried a new trick last week as managed to rip the webbing that attaches it to the velcro strap - totally beyond repair! Not sure if she had help from the other horses in the field, but other than that I found if it was done up tight enough it was fine
 
I have a horse who is exactly the same.
For the last two summers he wore his greenguard muzzle after a bout of Laminitis no problem, at first he would push it to one side and eat quite easily but once I got the straps right he couldn't, but this year he was having none of it. He worked out he could hook the middle strap on the fence and then yank it off. So I tightened it and he still managed, I even took the middle strap of as I thought that would help but no. So I invested in a Shires bucket one, he wasn't as happy with this one but couldn't get it off, until of course he worked out he could. Took a few weeks but he got there in the end, kept putting it on, he kept taking it off. Until I went up there one day and found it half way across the next door field in bits - god only knows what he did to it. I then invested in the new shape greenguard muzzle and again no luck, pushed it straight to one side and was happily eating away so I put bail twine round the sides to stop this so he went back to yanking it off.
At this point I gave up, as he was rubbing and cutting his face from yanking it off. The only thing left to try before being put in a small paddock on his own was to up his intake of NAF Laminaze - so far touch wood it's worked - thank god.
My other 2 quite happily wear there greenguard muzzles, one wears it just during the day and the other is in it 24/7 during the summer and you wouldn't even know they've got them on.
 
Ask Vikkig on here- im ready to sell fatty for something underweight that needs feeding up, hes radiculous!!!

normal muzzles have had the bucket part ripped and the headcollar part ripped. Ive had to restitch pieces together and believe me i cant do this haha.

Sooo off i went to get a greenguard, a heacollar can be replaced and the straps can be replaced with bailing twine, only he keeps getting that off too!!!

Doesnt help that he headbutts the others so that they pull at it haha im ready to give up!!!

If you find one let me know!
 
from what is think he is getting it off over his ears,( i have it fastened too tight for the muzzle to come down) he will stand along the fence and rub and rub and rub until he can hook it over..he only does this when he thinks im not there tho:rolleyes: and assume he is doing this as ive always found it near the fence or in the stable near the salt lick holder.i tried plaiting his forelock and mane over it but he has rubbed his forelock off! through doing so...i tried tieying it on with balertwine so it was like a bridle ie browband and extra throatlash plus tight headcollar on over the top and he can still get it off.he can eat with it on so it isnt just frustration.. he is just naughty.
my only other thing now is to segregate him completely for the summer and every summer:mad: ..i have seen a pony for sale local which im tempted to ring about..this way i could make 2 gangs and he will be able to have a pal in with him for company so he wont try and get out.. as i feel awful keeping him on his own.. any other ideas?
 
Would it be practicle to put electric tape a few feet inside the normal fencing and take the salt lick down, tape in front of gates too, anywhere he can rub? Or is field just too big?
 
electric fencing would be a dream as then i could just cordon off a small area next to the others so he could be muzzle free and next door to the gang so wouldnt be ousted..unfortunately my fields are on the outskirts of the village and anything not bolted or concreted down gets stolen!I know this through experience !!!! my horses are the only horses up there as the rest are big gardens/allotments, with chickens etc..so not many people up and down to keep and eye out for strangers lurking about.the salt lick was inside a shelter and he would just rub on the hay ring holder or the trees.. he is sulking today as the others are out next door and he is in the baldy field with hay!
 
I know how you feel. I thought I'd cracked it by putting a headcoller over the grazing muzzle but she just broke the headcollar off. Saw something on one of the Laminitis Clinic pages about putting the headcollar on first and looping the straps through the muzzle so maybe this is worth a try.

I am thinking of a really well fitting leather headcollar now put on as tight as possible and then using one of the Best Friends type which are just the muzzle to attach directly to the headcollar.

I just don't know if it will be worth the risk though. She just gets down in the field and works them off with her hooves bending her ears over. Must really hurt but that's haflingers...no pain no gain as far as food is. concerned:mad:
 
I would be tempted to keep in the poor field and get a small fat shetland to share with him. Of course depending on the growth and richness they could join the other in winter.
 
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