- Nov 17, 2010
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Just a warning for those of you who use a grazing muzzle...check the fit and tooth wear pattern on the inside of the muzzle every day!!!
My 13 year old paint gelding had a touch of Laminitis from the ridiculous amount of grass we have had this year. The weather has been buckets of rain and then dry for a few weeks and then buckets of rain....on and on. So each time it rained the next couple of days he didn't look quite right. He looked uncomfortable.
I just have the two horses on 7 acres of pasture. My other one is a Thoroughbred who does great on all the grass she can eat. So instead of keeping them apart I opted to try a grazing muzzle. Plus I keep him in during the day and soak his hay to get the sugar out. Worked great...the strong pulse in his right foot went away after just a few of days. He appeared comfortable and more like himself.
He goes out at 4:00 in the afternoon, comes in the barn at 7:30 am. Up until three days ago he was HUNGRY in the morning. Then all of a sudden that morning he looked at the wet hay and said, "No thanks." That night sure enough the pulse was back in his foot and he was lame.
I did some reading and discovered that some horses figure out how to tilt the muzzle so they can eat out of the holes on the side. Sure enough the teeth marks in the rubber bottom clearly showed he was chowing down through the bottom row of holes on the side of the muzzle! So last night I taped up the three holes underneath his chin. I have an all in one muzzle instead of the kind that just attachs to a halter. So I also duct taped every single attachment so he couldn't stretch them out either.
This morning he was a little bit hungry and the strong pulse in his foot was gone. But it did look like now he might have been eating out of the bottom row of holes on the top of the muzzle! So tonight I will duct tape those shut to. Then finally I hope he will be just getting the grass coming through the 1 inch opening. I had a smaller muzzle that was attached to a halter...but he just works the muzzle so much he wore multiple holes in his face in just two days. So I opted for a slightly bigger size muzzle, all in one. He doesn't have any rubs from it but it does seem to give him more access to grass. I will have to keep my eye on it!
Here's a picture of fatty and also one of his best friend in their field of Filet Mignon....hopefully in a couple of months I will be able to post a picture of "thinny"!
My 13 year old paint gelding had a touch of Laminitis from the ridiculous amount of grass we have had this year. The weather has been buckets of rain and then dry for a few weeks and then buckets of rain....on and on. So each time it rained the next couple of days he didn't look quite right. He looked uncomfortable.
I just have the two horses on 7 acres of pasture. My other one is a Thoroughbred who does great on all the grass she can eat. So instead of keeping them apart I opted to try a grazing muzzle. Plus I keep him in during the day and soak his hay to get the sugar out. Worked great...the strong pulse in his right foot went away after just a few of days. He appeared comfortable and more like himself.
He goes out at 4:00 in the afternoon, comes in the barn at 7:30 am. Up until three days ago he was HUNGRY in the morning. Then all of a sudden that morning he looked at the wet hay and said, "No thanks." That night sure enough the pulse was back in his foot and he was lame.
I did some reading and discovered that some horses figure out how to tilt the muzzle so they can eat out of the holes on the side. Sure enough the teeth marks in the rubber bottom clearly showed he was chowing down through the bottom row of holes on the side of the muzzle! So last night I taped up the three holes underneath his chin. I have an all in one muzzle instead of the kind that just attachs to a halter. So I also duct taped every single attachment so he couldn't stretch them out either.
This morning he was a little bit hungry and the strong pulse in his foot was gone. But it did look like now he might have been eating out of the bottom row of holes on the top of the muzzle! So tonight I will duct tape those shut to. Then finally I hope he will be just getting the grass coming through the 1 inch opening. I had a smaller muzzle that was attached to a halter...but he just works the muzzle so much he wore multiple holes in his face in just two days. So I opted for a slightly bigger size muzzle, all in one. He doesn't have any rubs from it but it does seem to give him more access to grass. I will have to keep my eye on it!
Here's a picture of fatty and also one of his best friend in their field of Filet Mignon....hopefully in a couple of months I will be able to post a picture of "thinny"!
