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It's Spring and past time to break out those muzzles for your horses and ponies.
I know it may feel awful putting them on in the beginning; it's tough love for sure. But muzzles are a small and easy-to-implement daily way to protect your horse, pony or mini's health, especially for those at a great risk for obesity and laminitis.
Has this thought ever crossed your mind "I wonder if my horse or pony might need a muzzle?"
Here are the top four reasons to muzzle up:
- Has it gotten more difficult to tighten your girth in the last few weeks? Do you notice those ribs that you used to be able to easily feel are now covered with spongy fat? To your horse, Spring grasses are like cake—they can taste delicious while quickly adding on the pounds. Using a muzzle helps to slow down the rate of intake and better control calorie consumption.
- Do you own a horse or pony that has had previous episodes of laminitis, or has been diagnosed with insulin dysregulation and requires a diet limited in starch and sugar (known as NSC or non-structural carbohydrates)? NSC levels in cool-season grasses are the highest in the spring when rapid growth is taking place after winter. If you don’t have access to a dry lot where you can keep your horse or pony, a grazing muzzle is the next best thing to limiting NSC intake.
- Is your horse suddenly gassy or pooping cow patties? Does he have a grumbly tummy? It could be due to the spring grass. A rapid change in diet from hay to highly digestible spring pasture, rich in sugar and starch, can wreak havoc on the GI tract. Most experts say to slowly transition your horses from a winter hay diet to pasture, but let’s be honest - this isn’t a very practical management policy for most of us who have a job.
A large and sudden intake of spring grass can overwhelm the body’s ability to fully digest the starch and sugar in the small intestine, causing spill over into the large intestine where it is fermented by the microbes, similar to grain overload. The end product of fermentation is gas, and in this case, more gas than normal. In this instance, adding a muzzle can help slow the rate of intake and potentially limit your horse's choice to longer, taller blades of grass. Longer and taller blades of grass tend to also be more mature, meaning less sugar and starch! - Does your horse spend part of the day inside a stall? Research has compared the intake of pasture in horses turned out continually versus those with limited turn out on pasture and guess what? Those that were on limited on turnout consumed more pasture in the short amount of time, probably because they knew they wouldn’t be out there for long! In this case, a muzzle can help slow down intake with horses on limited turnout.
In all cases, you should make sure that your muzzle fits properly. Here is a good graphic for you to consider:
Muzzles come in all shapes and sizes. Choose your favorite for your horse or pony from Tough1.
