Alternatives to Grazing Muzzles ?? Bridle??

A

atillathefun

New Member
Jan 7, 2005
1,145
0
0
46
Essex
Visit site
Hi
I have read somewhere and I think it was on here that turning out in a bridle reduces grazing does anyone know if thats true??
I would buy a rubber bit & put the bit attachments onto a field safe headcollar rather than a bridle.
I have a greenguard muzzle but my horse couldnt eat in it :(, I felt very mean. I think because the grass is long in our fields it doesnt poke through it just squashes on the floor!
I dont like the idea of strip grazing as I like him to beable to get into the shade and to play with his friends! but what other options do I have??

I have increased his exercise and he is on Baileys Lo-cal with a handfull of happy hoof. He is not massively fat but I want to make sure he doesn't put any weight on. (If he was too fat then I would strip graze or perservere with the muzzle)

Thanks :D
 
yes i could see how it would work - when my pony tries to eat with her bridle on the grass gets wound around the bit

however, this could be quite frutrating - more so than a grazing muzzle in my opinion :confused: i would also be concerned about his mouth becoming sore from constant chewing.

it really depends on the length of time he is turned out for. if it is just a few hours a day then that would probably be ok, 24/7 i wouldn't be so keen.
 
Just think though, what would happen if he was to say get the bit ring caught on something. He'd panic and rip the bit thru his mouth.
Seriously, sounds dangerous to me, but then i find headcollars pretty dangerous after my mare managed to get the ring caught up on a hook and panicked.
 
I don't think it's a very good idea. Even with a field safe headcollar or slip head only, it would be too easy for the horse to get caught on something & rip his mouth. The bit could be pulled through sideways or caught on the horses teeth.

Personally I wouldn't turn my horses out with a headcollar, let alone a bit
 
I am not too worried about that as theres always someone around and like Crzie stevie said with just a headslip it would come off easily. I am going to use a soft rubber bit too.

Unfortuanately when you have a fattie you do have to do something about it and everything carries a risk - a muzzle would be far harder to get off if it got caught and yet a lot of people have to turn out in them
 
the safety aspect of turning out with a bit would concern me. if the bit ring got caught the consequences would be awful.

i muzzle AND strip graze my 2 good doers, one of whom is a laminitic. it's been really effective at keeping their weight down. my grazing is 8-10 inches long now (:eek: ) and neddies are having no trouble eating. when they are hungry they soon develop a technique to eat through the muzzle.

yes, there's a risk of them getting caught up, but i minimise this by using a muzzle that has velcro attachments (mine have best friends muzzles) and field safe or leather headcollars.

but i'll be interested to see how you get on if you chose the bit/bridle method. it's one i'd heard of but never tried :)
 
I will post to let everyone know how I get on with it.
EB - It's intersting that you say your grass is long too and they can still eat. I would say our grass is probably 1ft tall at the moment :eek: . It was really sad as my horse was mooching along and he tried to eat a piece of really long grass sticking up and he couldnt it just kept moving so then he just stood there and didnt move or do anything for ages.

Under different circumstances I might not turn out in it but we have 20 acres which is only split by electric tape into 8 and 12 acres so nothing there to get caught on. The only trees are very big tall ones so he could rub on it but not really get caught up and plus you can see the fields from the house so they are quite well supervised. The waterers are automatic and all rounded edges so I think it is safe as I could make it.
 
Atillathefun - are you muzzling as you know he will gain weight or just as a precaution?
Its just when grass gets over about 5 inches long it really has very little nutritional value, less than a nice neatly grazed field, so you may find with all that grass he won't really get fat, maybe get a grass belly which will go down with the odd night in (seems to be more gasie than fat normally)
Just a though anyways :)

J x
 
Part of the reason that you don't allow your horse to eat when bridled is because when the bit is in their mouths they can't chew properly and the grass either gets wrapped around the bit or just swallowed like it is, can cause colic. Thats aside from all the safety issues of turning out in a bit.
 
Jessey -Thats why we haven't topped the grass or done anything with it as I think it will then make it worse. I want to do it as a precaution he is carrying quite a lot of weight (bordering fat I would say), its not a problem yet but I want to make sure he doesn't put on any as last year he did get fat. He usually slims down over winter but didnt this year, he hasnt put on any weight but I want to keep it that way.

I should post a picture that way you could see.

Rips - I didn't know about the colic risk I will have to look into that
 
interesting info jessey, i didn't know that either. madam removed her muzzle twice last week and there was me almost having a heart attack about it! i did notice she seemed inflated when i brought her in, but after a night in her stable the belly was gone.
 
I don't know where I know that from though - it might be one of those old things that never really happen?Though it sounds right to me. I personally wouldn't turn out in a bit though, hope you find someway of sorting it out :)
 
After what Rips said about Colic I called my vets and they said there is a very low risk of colic but obviously they dont recomend turning out in a bridle. They said they have had a horse rip its tongue in half before:eek: so thats kind of put me off that one! Oh well back to the drawing board it is :rolleyes:
 
I would inagine the colic issue would be choke, if they can't chew properly and just swallow clods of grass.

The thing about the length of grass I read somewhere (will have a look for it later)

Very short grass (like starvation paddocks) is very high in nutrients because the same ammount of goodness is still picked up by the roots and squeezed into the very small space meaning each mouthfull is nutritionally higher value and when stock are grazing it alot it means it is mostly young new shoots (again very high value).

Grass of around 5cm is best for horses, balanced nutrient levels (basically fibre v's calories).

Long grass over about 5"-8" has the same ammount of nutrients but they are spread through the whole length so each bite will get less goodness and just more bulk.

You ever notice how long grass goes brown and tough? and short grass is normally much greener and softer?

That is a very basic explaination but you get the idea :D

J x
 
My farrier said to me the same as what you just mentioned Jessey. People tend to see long grass and think :eek: but it actually has the same amount of sugars etc in the long as in short. It is more concentrated I guess in short grass, but is spread out through the longer grass and the tip of the grass doesn't have as much nutrients as the base... at least that's what I'm told :p
 
the tip of the grass doesn't have as much nutrients as the base
Click to expand...
that does make sense though - when our much neglected lawn gets a belated mow, it's all horrid and brown underneath!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
newrider.com
Top Bottom