Which Grazing Muzzle?

C

ce55ie

New Member
Aug 2, 2009
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Does anyone have any experience of the following:
Greenguard
Best Friend
Roma
Shires

I have a 13.2hh cob who takes a 5.5-5.75 bit but has a short pony-length head. Would you think cob size would be right for the muzzle? Thanks

Thanks!
 
mikh said:
i have a brand new cob sized shires one for sale he never needed it in end £10 plus p and p
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Thanks but if I go for the shires I'll just get it from my local tack shop as I had a look at them today and they're only £14 or something.
I just don't know whether to get that or a more expensive one......
 
Wouldn't touch the shires ones again rubbed my mare something awful an I'm not talking just a little bit, its bad no way she can carry on wearing it
 
I usew the Roma on a 13hh pony with quite a large head - so she's actually in cob size. Seems to have worked well and the pony has been comfortable in it.
 
I use the Shires type, but they do rub so I invested in several metres of fur fabric and bascially made loads of tubes and shaped pieces to cover the muzzle. The bucket part of the muzzle rubs under the jaw, even though this part is padded, but since covering it in fur fabric it no longer rubs at all. I also cover the main strap that goes over the poll, the side straps and the jaw strap with the clip on it. I have two sets of fur fabric covers so that I can wash them and keep them clean and fluffy :D

I tried the Green Guard type years ago but this caused quite a few problems with the way my mare had to eat, she adopted this way of sliding it along the grass sideways and it caused all sorts of problems with her neck, she lost loads of muscle on one side :eek: This muzzle also rubbed really badly unless used with the special head collar they sell.

Not tried the Roma one, the base looks much thinner than the Shires version so I wonder how long this would last. My mare gets through a Shires base every 6 - 8 weeks or so. She wears it at night and is in during the day.

The Best Friend looks the same as the Shires but is a lot more expensive, not sure if its actually any better though
 
I wouldn't get the shires one, it rubbed my lad raw, its to think and heavy for the warm weather and the velco strap doesn't last very long.

Dinky rugs do some, which are supposed to be brill.
 
But even the bucket has rubbed her lips and nostrils raw, not just the straps (although they've done a good job too!!!) so just can't see any way of making it so it doesnt rub anywhere!
 
Shires one also rubbed my horse raw, now have a best friends one that somebody on the yard gave me. Can't see enough difference to make up for the hike in price to be honest :rolleyes: but the sizes do come up slightly bigger than shires, and therefore doesn't seem to rub my lad as much, as the biggest size shires do was too small.
 
With her previous muzzle I had rubbing problems, and that's why I bought the next size up. Sure, it's a bit big, but it stays on and doesn't rub and she can still get enough to eat.

I am on my third though (but through two spring/summers), due to the base rubbing thin and the hole widening.
 
horsy said:
Shires one also rubbed my horse raw, now have a best friends one that somebody on the yard gave me. Can't see enough difference to make up for the hike in price to be honest :rolleyes: but the sizes do come up slightly bigger than shires, and therefore doesn't seem to rub my lad as much, as the biggest size shires do was too small.
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How roomy is your new one? I got a cob size in the shires one and tried it on my pony but it seemed pretty snug. Do you think I should exchange it for the full size one or are they supposed to be snug! Confused! :confused:
 
horsy said:
If it seems snug, its probably too small. Give your pony a carrot or something with it on, and put your fingers in the muzzle under her jaw. If it feels tight when hes chewing, it will rub under the jaw when hes grazing.
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Oooh that's a good idea, thanks.
 
Melting Moments said:
I think you will be wasting your money is its a velcro strap.
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I bought my Shire's muzzle 2nd hand off a friend 4 years ago...it's been used every summer and still going strong.

I think that the trick is to buy them too big - if the 'bucket' part is too snug it seems to rub, but my 13.2 pony (who is either swamped by cob headcollars or squeezed into pony ones) uses a full size Shire's muzzle and it hasn't rubbed at all. The only adaptation I made is to fold the bottom of the velcro over because it was a bit long.
 
I use the roma one on my mums 14'2 she has full size as I also find that the bigger they are the less they rub. We put it on really loosely and luckily for us she doesn't try and get it off. I think if you leave them loose they are less restricting for the horse so they tolerate them better. The rubber base on the roma ones is much softer than the shires ones which is good (as it is soft) but our mare tends to wear down the hole and it becomes bigger! This takes her about 3 months so then she needs a new one but it is still much cheaper than vets bills! The only bit that rubs on her is where the velcro does up it tends to be a bit rough so I cut a hole in a square of sponge and stick the strap through it and that stops the rubbing. We did try fleece but it rubbed the hair off really surprisingly fast! Good luck.
 
I bought the shires one in cob sized. Seemed to fit my mare ok but rubbed badly. After a bit of research I bought the shires full sized one and bingo no rubbing at all. She has never got it off. No problems at all with the velcro.
Very pleased with it.
 
Thanks everyone I will go for the full size one and hope he doesn't get it off! If it rubs or anything we will try him with the greenguard but thought may as well try the cheaper Shires one first as have heard mixed reviews of both!

How long at a time do you leave yours on for? My pony is out 24 hours a day but obviously will need to take it on and off!
 
It depends....
To lose weight, my mare had muzzle on at night, Off during the day when she was in with soaked hay.
I then went to my mare wearing it on alternate days.
She is currently wearing it a couple of times a week.
 
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