From: Emily
Jessica -- I have one of those "air fern" type horses you've described -- I swear she could get fat living on a slab of concrete.
She's only 2, and I fully believe in 24/7 turnout -- ESPECIALLY for young horses. Because of this, I want to use a grazing muzzle on her. But, one of the other boarders at our farm says a horse shouldn't be forced to wear a grazing muzzle 24 hours/day.
Is that true? Or is it ok for her to wear the muzzle all the time? If she should only wear it part-time, how long is appropriate?
Thanks! Emily (& Cricket -- the "air fern")
Rubs are one consideration. The muzzle I like best is called tbe "Best Friend Grazing Muzzle", and it comes in two versions, one that comes with its own built-in breakaway headstall, and one that attaches to your horse's safety halter. Whichever one you choose, you'll want to take it off at least once a day to check that your horse isn't being rubbed anywhere.
As long as it fits nicely (leave an inch between her mouth and the inside of the muzzle, and be sure that you can fit several fingers sideways between the horse's face and the muzzle, to leave room for chewing), it won't interfere with her drinking at all - but it WILL interfere with her grazing, which is exactly what you want it to do.
Drinking can sometimes be an issue, too. When I say "won't interfere with her drinking", I mean that it won't interfere physically - she'll be ABLE to drink as much as she wants. Some horses, though, do drink less when they're wearing their muzzles, so you'll need to watch your horse carefully and find out how she reacts to it.
Salt consumption is definitely an issue - licking a salt block is one thing your horse won't be able to do whilst wearing the muzzle.
Food consumption is another issue - yes, I know the point of the muzzle is to limit the amount of grazing, and believe me, it does that very well indeed! But it's possible for a horse to get far too LITTLE food if its only source of food is the grass that it can graze THROUGH the muzzle. If the muzzle is on whenever the horse is allowed to graze, you will probably need to feed hay twice a day - without the muzzle.
So for all those reasons, and although I, too, am a great believer in having horses turned out 24/7, I suggest that you remove the muzzle for an hour or so, twice a day, either within the pasture itself so that the horse can graze freely AND consume water and salt, or in a drylot or other enclosure where the horse can be given water, salt, and hay. Spending one hour out of her muzzle, twice a day, and being given water and salt and hay during this time, will help your mare, not hurt her. She'll still be turned out 22/7 - which means she'll still be walking her (typical) 20+ miles each day in the field.
A grazing muzzle can't just be put on the horse and left indefinitely. It's a wonderful tool that will help you keep your horse healthy, since she'll be able to enjoy a normal horse-life of companionship, lots of walking exercise, and grazing (but with much LESS grass!), and that's the very good news. Still, there will be a certain amount of active daily management involved on your part. But as the owners of all "air ferns" should know, it's much easier, and much more fun, to manage a horse's time in (and out of) a grazing muzzle than to manage a dangerously obese horse... or a case of laminitis!
Jessica
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