06.21.07
Horse put on a diet
Young Gilford (arabian/percheron) has always been an easy keeper, easy to keep weight on. Over this past winter he lost a good deal of weight which put him to a normal weight for his size. This was a blessing in disguise, because overwieght horses like most other mammals can have very serious health problems and other issues.
Our menagerie, VeeJay and Peaches watching Gilford and his mom enjoy the backyard!
It’s not that he was overfed, he gets about 1 quart of grain a day and no more hay than the other 2 horses, but he got plump last year just on grass. So now we have started using a grazing muzzzle on him to limit his grass intake. It slows him down but doesn’t prevent him from eating unless all the grass gets really grazed down too short for him to reach. With the muzzle he can join his family in pasture instead of having to be isolated on cold turkey, plus he will continue to benefit from the exercise a grazing horse gets instead of being shut into a paddock.
When we first put the muzzle on him, he hung his head like a sad puppy dog… he would walk up first to me then to hubby and hang his head, shake it a bit, and look at us. He would walk away a little and just stand there. It was so pathetic! Like he was asking us to take that thing off. Finally he gave that up, found some deeper grass and figured out he could get at it after all, and proceeded to graze.
Rigid metal muzzle off of horse…
Wearing the muzzle he gets about 1/3 to 1/2 the grass he would get without it (my guess based on how fast he appears to eat.) With no muzzle on he appears to gulp down grass at least twice as fast as his mom or brother. Also I think his metabolism is a good deal slower than theirs. We will monitor his weight using a girth measurement tape and observation. Carrying less weight will be healthier for his feet and legs and his overall condition, and better for his athletic training as well.
This grazing muzzle is a rigid metal cage with fleece padding around the top. Early on it rubbed raw spots on Gilford’s chin.
After only a few days, this muzzle (worn above) was rubbing sores on the horse’s jawbone, so we replaced it with different style BEST FRIEND muzzle.
Unfortunately, after 2-3 days of use this muzzle was rubbing sores on his lower chin bone. Wrapping it with more fleece didn’t help; padding it with a soft neoprene splint boot under his chin just caused it to rub in a different place on the side of his face.
This was too much; I removed the muzzle and began separating the 3 horses into different pasture areas, allocating Gilford to the places of least grass and/or limiting his time in thick grass. This makes our horsekeeping much more time-consuming and inconvenient having to relocate them and lead them around manually. (Typically in the summer we just open a gate and let them go, and call them back to the barn at night. Later in the summer when grass is eaten down we would leave them out all night in pasture.)
I have another style muzzle on order, a Best Friend brand. I think a muzzle could be an ideal solution to the thorny problem of an overeating horse, so long as I can find a muzzle he can wear without soring himself. The metal one is just too rigid and heavy. The new one coming will have a rubber/plastic cage with woven nylon webbing and a halter built into it, which is adjustable at the poll and also has a breakaway snap. Will keep you posted how the next one does.
Anyone who has used a muzzle, please comment if it fit your horse without soring!
Gilford last winter dreaming of grass…
Arabian mom mare Willy with yearling Glendale (Rt.), who, having a higher metabolism like his mom and still a growing boy, does not need a grazing muzzle (we hope never…)
