So. I need a new grazing muzzle. Yes, in winter.

[Sing_Mia_Song]

After a lifetime of having TBs, one of my current beasts is a WB. He is large, brown, hairy and has a generous wither, ergo we refer to him as Da Buffalo.

Da Buffalo is the king of his domain. He rules with an iron fist (there is no glove, much less of the velvet variety). He would like nothing more than to stand all day, every day (when he isn’t menacing the other horses) hoovering the roundbale. This results in Da Buffalo becoming…portly. The other horses are quite relieved when Buff’s razor chompers are sheathed.

Da Buffalo is drylotted in the summer, but the drylot is…not so dry in the wintertime, which is why he is in the field with access to the roundbale. Da Buffalo has been wearing a Tough-1 muzzle, but has wasted no time in scraping it off on a fence post. Today’s repair involved a hole punch and zip ties. :no:

I dug out the donkey’s Best Friends (horse size) muzzle, but it does not fit a Buffalo-sized head (ahem, generous). So I am shopping for a replacement, in anticipation of zip tie failure.

I should mention at this time that I have Nelson waterers, so any muzzle needs to allow for Da Buff to be able to drink. I have read on these forums that the Greenguard muzzles are not auto-waterer friendly?

I do like that the Tough-1 muzzles have airholes for Da Buff to breathe. While this is not as much a of crisis situation in the winter, Da Buffalo becomes quite sure that he is dying once the mercury rises. As a menopausal-age woman, I cannot really blame him.

What say you, Dear Fellow Horsepeople? Is there a muzzle that will 1. Keep Da Buffalo from looking like the horsey version of Violet Beaureguarde? while 2. Allowing him to have proper airflow; that 3. He can’t destroy in the space of a few days?

[demidq]

My easy keeper was getting very round on the round bale. BO was persuaded to get a small hole net for the round bale with good results. Almost no waste, slowed eating to a healthy rate for everyone. The easy keepers are losing, the normal horses are keeping their weight. I can’t think of any grazing muzzle that would work with a Nelson waterer.
I use a Flexible Filly muzzle in the summer.

[Feathered_Feet]

A lot of people at our barn use Green Guard muzzles and love them (me and my horse included).

[ASB_Stars]

My donkey has been trying to figure out how to live in the hayrack. With the hay. And she leaves it long enough to drink water, and take a snooze in the shed. Then, she returns.

I had to take her muzzle off in order to have it repaired, and I am going to go and pick it up tomorrow. If I could staple it to her head, I would. (Take a chill pill…I am kidding) But, I will put it back on her, and hope that she doesn’t get any more round.

I feel your pain. Keep a spare.

[Texarkana]

My WB mare lives in her GreenGuard muzzle from April through September, although I’m not sure it will fit in your Nelson waterer.

But they really are in a class of their own when it comes to durability. This mare laughs at nylon muzzles like the Best Friend and Tough-1; they last mere hours in her presence. The GreenGuard is on year 4? 5? I can’t even remember at this point.

I have a less destructive donkey who does fine in the Tough-1. If you have to go nylon because of the auto waterer, I think that’s one of the best choices. And they’re pretty cheap compared to some of the more labor intensive, modern styles, like the Harmany or the one that looks like a starfish and zip ties to the halter.

[horsepoor]

GreenGuard for sure. Mine is in its 3rd year on my haflinger, and she works it hard but I can’t find much wear on it at all. She breathes well in it, never objects to having it put on, and she’s a big headed girl (no dainty teacup muzzle here) and it fits great. Never had a rub on her, and when I got her, she had scarring on her nose from the past (non-GreenGuard) muzzles used by previous owners. And now they even come in colors (mine is the original black)!

[seabreeze]

I have no suggestions. I just want more stories about Da Buff. We haven’t even been introduced, and I like him already. :lol:

[Natalie]

My horse has spent the better part of two summers in a GreenGuard because he was boarded at a barn with beautiful, abundant grass–too abundant for his prone-to-chub self. They had autowaterers out in the pasture that were supposedly NOT compatible (I’m blanking on the brand, but they were they type that required the horse to push a ball down to access the water) and I was worried about him being able to drink. However, BO confirmed that she’d seen him drinking normally with it on, and I witnessed it myself. It didn’t really phase him.

Btw, this horse would remove all of the other conventional muzzles. He’s not thrilled when he’s wearing the GG, but I think it allows so much airflow and still allows enough grass intake that they don’t get super frustrated and immediately try to scrape it off.

I do also have a Thinline muzzle as a backup, which would be another option worth trying, as it should be on the lighter/comfier side, but is slimmer fitting than the GG. It’s also less expensive (but may not be as durable…I haven’t tested it to know).

[horsepoor]

I missed the OP’s mention of autowaterer - that is something I don’t know about but if your other muzzles worked with it, I guess I don’t see why the GreenGuard wouldn’t unless it is just too large to fit? We have troughs in our fields so no issue with water access. When I first got my haflinger, I never saw her actually drink with the muzzle on so I set up a trail camera on the trough just to make sure!

[ladipus]

Greenguard grazing muzzle

[Calvincrowe]

Oh my gosh, thank you so much for this thread! My dear old Paint is now a Cushings and founder club member and will need a muzzle in about a month for any turnout beyond my sacrifice dry lot. I’ve been so hesitant about selecting a muzzle for him and hadn’t read about a GG one. This looks perfect for my piglet! Any recommendations on the best place to order? Sizing insights? Should I get the halter, too, or will it function well with a regular leather halter? And hay consumption is still a go with a muzzle, yes??

Sorry, newbie asking potentially eye rolling questions!

[frisky]

I got a GG last year based on the reviews here after my horse had a bout of laminitis. I ordered the full halter and basket off of their website and couldn’t be happier. my horse has no problem drinking water and hovering up individual pieces of hay, like spaghetti, through the basket. I have pink for my grey girl.

[Natalie]

@Calvincrowe I’m a big Riding Warehouse fan, and they stock the GG in multiple colors, as well as the halter. https://www.ridingwarehouse.com/searchresults.html?search=products#search=products&searchtext=greenguard&opt_page=1&opt_sort=relevance&opt_perpage=48 I bought mine directly from GG because almost nobody was stocking it two years ago, but if I needed to replace anything, I’d go to RW. I did buy the halter since it’s nicely padded and has a dorky-looking center strap (that you can remove) that helps keep it on horses especially determined to remove the muzzle. My 15.1 hand Appaloosa gelding takes a medium (horse size) muzzle and halter. He has a pretty average head.

[OzarksRider]

I’ve been using Greenguard muzzles for 3 years. The first year I used the Greenguard halter. It was comfortable for my horse and the muzzle fit well on it. However, the GG halter only lasted one year, which I thought wasn’t very good for the price I paid. Now I’m using cheap nylon breakaway halters, and these work ok. The muzzles attach as they should, but I have to pad the halters to prevent rubs.

My horses really like the GG muzzles, and so do I. The muzzle is tough–I’m currently on my third year and it has only very minor wear. I used to use Tough-One Easy breathe. I liked the design, but the muzzles wore out after 2-3 months, so overall in a year’s time I was spending as much or more as for one GG muzzle. I also had a lot of trouble with the Tough-One rubbing. I had to wrap almost the entire muzzle and halter in duct tape.

The GG muzzles are larger than conventional muzzles, so be sure they will fit in the waterer (or else get a water tank that’s large enough). Also, if you use a regular halter, be sure it has a breakaway feature for safety.

[Texarkana]

@Calvincrowe

. This looks perfect for my piglet! Any recommendations on the best place to order? Sizing insights? Should I get the halter, too, or will it function well with a regular leather halter? And hay consumption is still a go with a muzzle, yes??

I have one for my warmblood mare and one for my jenny donkey. I bought them both through Amazon. My mare’s muzzle is so old at this point that my memory is fuzzy, but I’m pretty sure it’s just the standard horse size. She is nearly 16.2 with a big ol’ head and wears a 5 3/4" bit. The donkey is just under 12h, also with a pretty large head for her size, and wears a 4 1/2" bit (I think). She is in the “pony” size muzzle; the small/mini size was too small on her.

The mare uses her Greenguard on a nylon breakaway halter and it is fine. The donkey needs the Greenguard halter to keep it stable on her; for whatever reason, the donkey would get the muzzle all cattywampus on a regular halter. I like the Greenguard halter. Last summer, I tried to replace my mare’s breakaway halter with the GG halter, but no one had the horse size GG halter in stock for purchase. Looks like RW has it now-- thanks, Natalie! Although that one is slightly different than my donkey’s.

As for hay consumption, I find it depends on the individual and how the hay is fed. Using a muzzle with a feeder or hay net doesn’t work so well unless you have a particularly crafty individual. Most can manage to intake loose hay with a muzzle. With my herd, I prefer to take muzzles off for hay feeding.

My other donkey wears a Tough-1 muzzle. It works for him, but the Greenguard is in a class of its own. :yes:

[hairystockings]

I second more stories about Da Buffalo. I can sympathize, I have an elder draft pony whom I lovingly call “Her Fatness”. Her Fatness is an equine air fern. She is on all the meds for cushings, lives a dry lot lifestyle with controlled grass access and wears a muzzle year round. She goes from chunky but healthy to obese so fast you won’t even know what happened (and amazing, knock on wood, has managed to never founder in the process) I’ve always used a standard “grazing muzzle” muzzle for her and that has worked well. The tough-1’s are nice. The fancy green guard ones are useless, I’ve never seen horses escape a muzzle so fast and also they just allow way too much grass/hay through.

Slow feeder hay nets are really where it’s at though. We do a ton of those for her because she gets less hay than others so we try to make it take longer for her to eat it.