are the Greenguards really worth the $$ and, before I spring for them, what about the Harmany muzzle?
Best Friend makes a grazing muzzle you attach to your own break away halter. I outfitted it with sheepskin (check Riding Warehouse ) for the muzzle. I liked that option better than all the others I tried. At one barn, the Stinky Pony trained his OTTB buddy to pull his off before I switched. Get multiple and put something bright on them so they don’t disappear in the field if your horse figures out how to get it off. The Stinky Pony was known to throw his across the barn if he saw it hanging by his stall.
The Greenguard does get much better reviews than the Harmany on Amazon. If I replace mine, I might consider it based on the good reviews.
Happy riding,
Jessie
I have tried just about every muzzle under the sun (sans the Harmany muzzle). The Greenguard far surpassed them all.
At one time, I was wavering between the Harmany and the GG, balking at both because of the price. What clinched the deal for me to go with GG was a close friend’s first hand experience with the Harmany that was not good. I saw several other negative reviews on the Harmany. Yet all the reviews I saw for the GG (at the time) were overwhelmingly positive.
The sticker shock was painful, but my first GG I purchased 3 (?) seasons ago is still going strong. I’ve since purchased more. They are truly superior to most everything else on the market at this time.
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Ditto. There’s a thread here about the Harmany muzzle and the trouble people had doing all the heating and molding of it to fit. Some didn’t have any trouble.
I was fortunately to get my first GGs off Tack of the Day for $99, and even then I was like :eek: :eek: But I was SO tired of duct taping brand new muzzles because they WOULD rub, buying new sets mid-way through nearly every Summer because things would break, or at least buying new sets by the end because the bottoms would be eaten out. Rubs even with the tape. Horses hating me for putting them on. Hot and stuffy.
ALL of that changed instantly with the GGs, and mine are getting ready for their 4th Summer, so have paid for themselves even if I’d bought at full price.
So yes, hands down, unquestionably worth the cost.
I’ve had my GG muzzle for 3 years and I love it! I have a Houdini horse who has gotten out of every Best Friend’s/Tough one model I found. I use my own leather halter clipped to a collar and I’ve added the extra attachments GG recommendations for Houdinis.
You can also also fine tune adjust it so you can tilt it to fit. My pony has a weird mouth and I can adjust this muzzle to line up with his mouth better.
I had all my old muzzles wrapped with tee shirt material that had to be replaced periodically. PITA. And they got wet and stunk. I bought a Green Guard and the rubs are disappearing. I’m getting another for my other horse.
In my experience the GG muzzles are completely worth it. It’s the only one that my mare doesn’t rub her face raw with.
Tried the Harmany muzzle. Mare hated it as much as she hated the others (best friends, etc). Plus it was a bear to size. It is sitting on my back deck if you want it. The GG is far superior and I agree with everyone else. Worth the money.
Totally worth the money. I can’t believe I’m saying it, but it’s true.
The old grazing muzzles were a fight - my horses hated them, and it was a wrestling match to put them on. And to catch the horse again after they managed to get them off.
I had failed to account for how claustrophobic a traditional grazing muzzle is. My horses tolerate the GGs very well and don’t immediately run to a tree or fence post and start working on removing them.
I took a look around my aisle and tack room and I am sure I have bought more than a dozen traditional muzzles over ten years - the pieces and parts are everywhere, as well as intact ones were the center hole has been enlarged so much they’re not longer effective. So I also think the GGs are more cost effective in the long run, though the initial price point is daunting.
I have a ten hand pony and an air fern QH who live in grazing muzzles April - October, and a second QH who needs one on and off.
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@McGurk you are living my life! Every detail. My big WB would march right to a particular tree he knew would take his halter off (i ended up having to put a “mare collar” on to attach his halter to 
). Eyes got wide when I approached with their muzzles. Forget catching 2 of them if they got theirs off in the pasture - nope, not happening.
I have a LOT of parts of broken muzzles and halters that “surely I’ll find useful one day” :lol: :lol: Clips and snaps and the rings.
I too have tried just about every brand of regular muzzle there is. The are ALL heavy (all that weight hanging off their poll 
) and when humidity rises, omg the stuffiness! And all the grass and dirt and junk that accumulated in the bottom :eek:
Every single issue, gone with the GG.
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I just purchased one and I’m so glad to be reading this. My young horse hated his normal muzzle and it would be a daily fight - I am hoping this will be much easier. All of the horses in my barn use them and I was regretting spending THAT much money on a muzzle but this thread helped.
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I switched my horse to a GG muzzle 6 months ago after over a year of fighting with other muzzle brands. My horse is substantially happier in the GG, the weight is staying off, and I just use a padded leather halter (which makes me feel better than the full nylon halters a lot of muzzles come attached to. It was worth every penny, in my opinion, and I would replace it with another GG muzzle if this one were to bite the dust.
Trying to get my spoiled brat to get used to the GG muzzle. Put it on him and tried to hand-graze. Tucked a bit of grass through to help him get the idea of how it works. He just stands there, and, I swear if a horse could pout, he pouts. Won’t even put his head down and try.
Thinking of just turning him out in it and letting him figure it out, but concerned that he will run and hurt himself. Any suggestions?
Just turn him out and let him figure it out. If you really think he will run, maybe turnout after exercise.
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I just bought one for my pony, and while I’m still working on fitting issues, she caught on how to use it pretty quickly. She did, at first, follow me around begging me to take it off. She thought it must be a mistake. I just told her no, that her waistline is too large, and she was going to have to suck it up and go figure it out.
She did.
greenguard has been LIFE ALTERING here. This is year 3-4? with it, no rubs, no lost muzzles, not hard to catch/halter.
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Thank you all for your reviews! I guess the choice is clear: biting the bullet and splurging. I would think, despite how “special” the plastic is that they use to make Greeguard, it cannot be THAT expensive to make!? Whew.
I talked with my vet yesterday too and she said after you get it fitted, it’s best to just turnout and walk away, they figure it out, no point making yourself feel bad in the process! It’s what is best for their health!
When I bought my haflinger last year, I didn’t even bother with other muzzles and went straight to the Greenguard. Works great for her and no rubs at all. The only time she has gotten it off were inadvertent as I saw it happen – she rolled and the snap on the halter opened, then rubbing her head, the halter slipped off. Solved that by putting an elastic hairband on the snap to hold the bolt part closed a bit more tightly. Never had a problem putting it on. Late summer, we would take the muzzle off for an hour or so to give her a bit more grazing as her “lunch” when the other horses got hay. Never a problem to bring the muzzle out and put it back on. Wholeheartedly recommend the GG.
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Has anyone used one where they get hay in the field during turn-out? One of the horses in the barn chokes on hay so he gets it during turn-out. My guy goes out with one since he was chewing on that horses face and leaving marks. However they don’t have much grass so they get hay. The website made me concerned that eating hay with it was tough or not possible and that it was best suited for grass.
It’s fine with a round bale. I have to put one on the short square air fern QH is the winter because he will stand at the round bale feeder and stuff himself into morbid obesity.
Yes, I have put a grazing muzzle on a horse in January.
Other people in this situation might use a small hole hay net; but I try to keep my horse keeping low maintenance, so we put out round bales in a hay hut.
GG muzzle works fine to change his hay intake from high powered vacuuming to a light trickle. 
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