grazing muzzles that actually allow the horse to eat..

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paris123

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Jan 3, 2011
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I need to start muzzling my mare as my grass is just too rich, i own two of these types of muzzles

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NEW-Shires-PA...332508&cguid=4cc3ac7012d0a0e203973867ff48c4b9

I have pony and full sized, i bought the pony one for my mare but its just too small and quite tight, so the full one was given to me and is actually a much better fit BUT she doesn't seem to be able to figure out how to eat in them.

She stomps on the food and pushes against it but she can't quite figure it out so ends up in a corner just standing look unhappy.
I've tried feeding little things up through the hole but she just doesn't get it.

Obviously i can't leave her in it unable to get even a nibble as that wont do her any good either!

I would love a greengaurd muzzle but i'm reluctant to spend that much if i'm going to have the same problem?

Anyone have a muzzle that there horse can actually eat through?

thanks.
 
I love the dinky rugs muzzles - they do a range of size, not just small ones.

They are all webbing, I found the rubber bucket bit rubbed madams lips on the shires one. This also means that they dont "hold" water like the shires do as it just soaks through. They also have a fleece lined noseband and velcro field release bit. They are about £20 so not much more than the shires and well worth it.

Madam has had hers two years now and Ive only replaced the buckle after she broke it itching.

The only other thing, is that both of mine stand about and look miserable if Im there - if Im not they get on with it and eat - they do this for the first few weeks and then realise that its not going to change and they are wasting time out eating :giggle: Its just one of those things you have to get hard faced about and leave them - they will get on with it at some point if you are not there.
 
IT is all webbing. It has four holes I think - two over nostril and two at the back of the base (webbing is like a + shape at the base). So the have to wiggle about more to get the grass, but more grass goes in than the hole thing. I will double check tonight.
 
I have the Shires ones and mine have no problem eating out of them.

A few years ago I had 2, one that I drilled extra holes in so she could eat more and one standard.

It may just take a while for her to work it out rather than needing to change.

I am going to get the Dinky ones when mine need replacing though.
 
I use the Shires ones with both ponies. It took a few days for Frayne to work out how to graze with one on, but now (after a couple of years) she has no problem. They do rub their faces a bit (where the metal rings are, so I am going to make some fleece bits to pad it out), but nothing to make them sore. I tried one of the Dinky Rugs muzzles for Frayne, but she broke it the first day!! The plastic clip snapped (and it definitely looked more fragile compared to the Shires one).

Ali xx
 
I always use the Shires ones and she can definately eat out of it. The hole tends to get bigger as the season progresses!! You need to spend time with her feeding her blades of grass through the hole. Get some thin pieces of carrot and have her lower her head to the grass and then slip those through the hole with bits of grass. Some horses take longer than others. I had to put one on my other pony one year just for a couple of months. She took a while to get used to it and when I was watching her seemed to just stand in the field looking dejected. However one day I went to the field at a different time and she was happily munching away!
 
well ive just got back from the field and spent some time putting carrots up through the hole and at two different points she had a go at eating, once managing to get a bit of haylage up and the second time on grass but it didnt look like she got any!!
I'm probs just worrying over nothing but i know with her starving does not help, i need her to be able to keep eating small amounts.

I'm going to order one of the dinky rugs ones anyways as they just look nicer and less obstructing only thing is i forgot to measure her head :banghead:

I really wanna order one today....do i risk it or not??

I reckon she'll be the pony/cob size personally.....
 
big fan of the greenguard here :D well worth the expense i found (try getting an old style one off ebay, they sometimes come up at a decent price!), angel has worn hers 24 summer before last (so do several ponies in the field!), able to graze, just not as much! doesnt rub, doesnt get sweaty ... i love them!
 
Another vote for the dinky rugs muzzle, my lad wore it all last summer and it didnt rub at all!

Not keen on greengaurds, all the ladies at my last yard used them and all the horses ended up with really badly cut lips. Wasnt nice!
 
I hate the greenguards - so faffy, and greedy pony ALWAYS found a way around it:banghead:
Gave up and got the shires ones - it did take a little while to learn to eat through it, but she now manages really well. I use one on my dumbblood too now - took her a couple of days to learn to use it.

I have found it is better to use at least a size up -e.g a cob size for a pony, extra-full for the dumbblood, and that reduces the hair being rubbed off. Ponio will soon be wearing it 24/7, probably until/june/july when the grass slows a bit. They are very effective, but she does eventually wear a larger hole in it, so I replace it with a new one with a smaller hole, to her disgust!
 
whitby which said:
I hate the greenguards - so faffy, and greedy pony ALWAYS found a way around it:banghead:
Click to expand...

I'd heard this but about the oldstyle ones not the newer style. The older ones where a square with only 3 of the side turn upwards.

The newer style ones had all 4 sides turned upwards.


**hope that makes sense!* :giggle:
 
ive never seen a greenguard cut any lips ? we have several ponies on the yard who use them 24/7 during summertime (the old style ones with 3 sides) -if they're on properly, they can't push them aside and it shouldnt cut anywhere. one thing i will say is that the headcollar that comes with it is not very good though and its better to fit it to a normal wellfitting headcollar. i also padded angel's headcollar with lots of fleece etc round the metal fixings so nothing would rub as headcollar needs to be a fairly snug fit.

albeit, whichever works best for each horse :) greenguard gave mine a new lease of life.
 
A lot of you are mention ponies wearing them 24/7, I always thought they should only wear muzzles for 8 hours a day max??

I'm now confused about whether to get a greenguard or not some amazing reviews and plenty not so good!!
 
Maya wears hers 24 7 I think it defeats the object as it only takes one night for her to pig out and come in with high pulses the next day.

This is her second year of wearing it and it's been fine. Last year after a few months the green guard head collar had worn away some of the hairs on the sides of her face but the grass had gone down and stopped growing so she was able to have it taken off.
 
i wouldnt leave a shires one on 24/7, but the greenguard seem ok (vet approved this also) for this purpose. if angel couldn only wear them 8 hours a day I wouldnt be able to do this easily as I have a fulltime job and cannot nip back and forth to the yard all day to change muzzles over etc.
 
I've been following this thread with interest as I think my welshie will need a muzzle once the grass comes through properly - she is in a 12 acre field atm and I've just about managed to get the weight off her from last year so I don't want her putting it all back on!
I'm another one umming and aahing about the greenguard but not sure if I want to spend that much - worth it if it does the job I suppose, but if she gets it off and loses it in the field (that is what happened to her shires one from last year) then it is just more money wasted...
 
happy_bunny said:
I've been following this thread with interest as I think my welshie will need a muzzle once the grass comes through properly - she is in a 12 acre field atm and I've just about managed to get the weight off her from last year so I don't want her putting it all back on!
I'm another one umming and aahing about the greenguard but not sure if I want to spend that much - worth it if it does the job I suppose, but if she gets it off and loses it in the field (that is what happened to her shires one from last year) then it is just more money wasted...
Click to expand...

If she tends to rub them off over her ears then I would plait her forelock into it on her poll.
 
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