Cob Jockey

There is finally peace in our time.

Grazing muzzle time.

Connor has needed a grazing muzzle ever since he moved to this farm in 2017. I left him un-muzzled for the first three weeks just to see what would happen, and he quickly turned into a blimp shape. We've been using GreenGuards ever since, with brief, completely unsuccessful attempts with the Flexible Filly and Best Friends muzzles in there too.

Keeping the muzzle on him, though, has been a full-time job. He's a serial killer that I try to stay one step ahead of, but usually feel one step behind. He'd poke his nose out of the corners, break straps, step on it, get it off over his head, destroy scissor snaps, and no matter what I did, would bash the thing so hard into the ground, the sides would snap. I've had to buy a new one every year because he's so hard on them, and yes, if you just did that math, that's closing in on a THOUSAND DOLLARS IN MUZZLES since 2017. Thanks, buddy.

GG halter, leather GG insert, cheapo Amazon Tough 1 halter fleece, GG Houdini strap and corner twine, because the GG velcro isn't strong enough to keep his schnoz where it's supposed to be

This year, Disco got muzzled first, and I let Connor go as long as I could without one. This immediately cut down on shenanigans of all kinds, with both boys coming in with no marks for the first time in a while. And maybe Connor was grateful for that, because when I finally did muzzle him, he was...fine.

Who...is this horse?

No bashing. No getting it off. No shock-denial-anger-acceptance trying to rub it off on the ground. Just...polite grass nibbling. I haven't even had to replace any straps yet. I am SHOCKED. Stunned. Still in disbelief every time I see him politely nibbling with his GreenGuard unmolested on his face.

Not only that, he suddenly became easy to catch, too. Usually if you want to lead both boys in at the same time, you have to catch Disco, put Disco outside the gate holding the lead rope over the gate, then Connor will baaaaaaaaaaarely let you get close enough to throw a lead rope over his neck and catch him.

Morning bring-in at sunrise. Pink so I can find the bodies, I mean, boots.

 

After they were both muzzled? I catch Disco (who am I kidding, Disco catches himself. Walks straight up to me and waits every time he sees me. Is this real life?), ground tie him, then walk two steps over to where Connor is waiting and snap his lead rope on.

Like I said - peace. Unexpected, delightful peace. 

Muzzle season is upon us once more.

Hooray. Look how excited I am.

This year, Greengard came out with proper corner straps for their muzzles. In the past, they recommended using baling twine to keep sneaky pony noses inside the muzzle, but the Velcro straps are a huge upgrade over that. That said, we still went through our usual new muzzle fitting rodeo, where I think I have it right, and he outwits me, and then I adjust it, and he realizes he can't get it off anymore and gets annoyed.

Um, halp.

Halp, plz.

That's uh, not how I wanted you to solve this

He also went through his annual shock-denial-anger-acceptance cycle with it.

Get. Off. My. Face. You. Stupid. Basket.

 Before finally giving up and eating like a civilized pony.

Sorry buddy, it's for your own good.

"Thanks I hate it"

This is now Connor's third year in the Greenguard grazing muzzle.

After I brought him to the new barn two years ago (!) and he got SUPER FAT.

The first year, I had zero problems with it. The second year, I had all kinds of problems with it that all started when a pasturemate shredded the leather halter I had used with it the year before: fit, rubbing, escaping, you name it.  It was so frustrating.

Spoiler alert: this setup did not work at all.

But we got through it, and Greenguard is still the best muzzle out there IMO.  This year, his original GG muzzle was starting to look pretty beat up and wasn't really the right shape anymore, so I went to replace it and saw that they now have COLORS!  So of course I took the chance to go all Lisa Frank on him:

Two Horse Tack biothane turnout halter has done a great job, I have to admit.

I'm not typically a color person, but I am 100% sure Connor's tiny friend is going to rip his muzzle off at some point this year (although surprisingly that hasn't happened yet, I think the Arab gelding they're temporarily turned out with has been distracting him) so I wanted maximum lying-in-the-grass-visibility.

#nailedit

Their new and improved fit guide helped me get the fit perfect this year...but that still doesn't mean Mr. Houdini stays in it all the time:

PC: my trainer.  Sigh.

Greenguard recommends twine in the corners of the basket for this particular issue, which I did last night.  We'll see if it works!

Side note: Greenguard has their muzzles on sale for 15% off with code 15GGSPRING at checkout.  Riding Warehouse also has them 15% off, but only in black - GG's official website (non-affiliate link) is the only place you can get the muzzle in lime green and hot pink as well as black. #notsponsored

I am fighting a losing battle with the grazing muzzle this year.

He definitely needs it.  He's fat.  I've cut his feed back once this year, and my trainer cut it back even further while I was out of town, and even then she said she knew my first words to her were going to be "That horse is fat," (Spoiler alert: they were).

Looking really good, but also he's a solid 6 moving toward 7 on the BCS right now.  He's down to getting a handful of ration balancer morning and night.

Last summer, Connor's geriatric pasture buddies minded their own business when it came to Connor's muzzle.  This summer, my trainer's pile of rambunctious eventers will.not.leave.him.alone.

They broke my beloved leather stable halter that his muzzle was attached to last summer because it was the only halter that didn't rub him.  So I went for a nylon halter with breakaway straps, not wanting to spend a literal fortune in leather halters that get broken within days.  Unfortunately, the breakaway has been gently rubbing the hair off the sides of his cheeks.


Having had no luck with moleskin in the past, I tried genuine sheepskin rolls next:


I picked sheepskin over fleece since sheepskin will breathe, and even though he's on night turnout, I still want airflow under there.

That's worked out pretty well so far, except the sides (which are velcro) didn't even last one night.  The crown, noseband and (half of the) throatlatch are all slide-ons, so they're much less likely to come off.  Unfortunately the cheeks are continuing to rub, and I don't know what to do about that.

Fat :(

My trainer has tried to help too, by stringing electric braid over top of the paddock fences so the horses can't play bitey face with him over the fence.  One step forward one step back though: he's now turned out in the same paddock with one of the more bitey dudes on the property.  I'm glad he has a buddy, but pulling my hair out trying to keep his muzzle on and not hurting him!

I know he hates it, but he can't possibly understand that the muzzle is way better than the alternatives (laminitis, founder).

Anyone have any good tips or tricks on either turnout halters or muzzles?

Oh and we won this Dover contest.

Blue dot: my house.  Red pin: where Connor is now.  Yellow star at the very top of the photo: where Connor lived for five years.

Changed my whole year

So fat.

Now that Connor has been at the new place for over two months, I wanted to share what's different now that I'm not commuting 1.5 hours each time I see him.

The details are getting done around the barn.
My tack is getting wiped down after every ride.  He's getting actual baths once a week now, and I'm able to spend a few minutes picking out his tail before each ride instead of a monster marathon detangling session a few times a year.  I don't feel like I have to rush home anymore, so the details get done.


Sometimes I go out to the barn and I don't ride.
When he was 37 miles/49 minutes away, going out and not riding felt like a waste of gas.

Katlyn holding Connor for his bath at NDPC. PC: my momma

I can actually catch him in the field now.
More on this in another post, but yeah, this is a thing now.

Lot less of this going on these days.

I'm able to meet my farrier.
My old barn charged $10 to hold horses for the farrier, which, since the farrier came on Monday mornings and it would have cost me almost $10 in gas to get up there anyway, I always cheerfully paid.  Now, my farrier comes over my lunch break and I can actually hold my own damn horse for his trim.  Feels good.

He's happier.
The grazing muzzle is a pain in both of our asses, but I don't think I could ever drylot him again.  He's so happy going out in the group and grazing, even if he's still as much of a loner as he's always been.



I have more time for other things.
There was a moment recently when I was painting some trim, and as I wrapped up to head to my lesson (45 minutes before my lesson time!), I realized I had an extra hour of trim painting that I wouldn't have had if he was still at my old barn.  You don't notice things like that unless you make an effort to notice them, but when you do, you're grateful.

Like tiling my freaking backsplash which only took me two years to work up the nerve to do.  (This room was a bedroom when we bought this house)

I have to actually make a riding plan for each week.
When you can't get out to the barn every day, that sort of takes care of the week's riding routine for you.  When you can ride every day, you really have to plan out what the week looks like.  This has been a fun new challenge for me, but it's also one of the biggest changes.

Variation: we like it.

We've been at the new barn just over a month now, and somebody is...


...fat.

This is his first time on pasture in almost five years, so I've been watching for it, and it's not unexpected.  As a first step, I cut his feed back as far as I can, even though I know the feed isn't what's making him fat.  He's now getting a handful of Essential K ration balancer morning and night.  The barn owners just laugh, they've never seen a horse get this little feed before.


But I know he's happy being able to graze again, I'm worried for their white vinyl fencing if they drylot him (...#ponyyoga tends to be hard on fencing when the grass is greener on the other side) and I want to let the BO's keep their normal turnout routine, so there's only one compromise:

It's the pony version of this emoji: :-|

He's worn a grazing muzzle before, briefly in September of 2012, when one person told me he was fat and I believed them despite not really believing it myself.  Trust your gut, people!

Not fat.

Fat.  But also muscles! (But mostly fat.)

He's crafty, but he's not persistent, so while he'll try to get the muzzle off for a while, if it puts up a fight he'll (probably) leave it alone.

Also the reviews said this design could be improved by the addition of one more strap on the front, because the horse can basically pull it down and get it off otherwise, so I proactively added duct tape.  Again, he's not persistent, the grazing muzzle just needs to stand its ground for a few minutes.

My biggest concern with the grazing muzzle is the auto-waterers that are situated so that 2-3 pastures can share a single one.  The BOs swear they've had a horse with a grazing muzzle not have a problem with them, and I made sure this one fits.  Still, I'm going to leave a bucket out there for a while just in case.

(pre-duct tape, I tried a zip tie and didn't like it.)

The best cure for a husband being on a week long business trip is...

Exorbitant amounts of time with this lovely fellow.

Tonight, we rode in the outdoor with a stiff wind, after it rained, before it stormed, at twilight, and with the mares running circles around his pasture.  He spooked at a bird flying out of a tree, which I really can't blame him for, and he also spooked at the letter 'K', which I really CAN blame him for.  But, all that spooking gave me a nice forward ride and a lovely trot.

Also, while I have not been given the vet report yet, I did hear tonight that grazing muzzle is working out wonderfully, that his stall is improving, and that the assistant trainer was able to walk up to him and catch him in the big field today for the farrier with no drama.  She was so happy, she took his muzzle off for the afternoon and fed him lots of treats and told him he was not evil a good pony!  Hooray!

Couldn't quite get his whole body in the picture, but I am loving his weight and coat condition right now!

Are you bored?  Are you currently at your barn?  Does your barn have a pony?  If you answered "Yes" to all of the above, I must recommend that you grab the nearest grazing muzzle, strap it on said pony's head, and turn them out in a field full of delicious grass. Since all ponies are evil geniuses, you will be entertained for the next several hours by the pony's continuous and varied efforts to rid itself of the grazing muzzle.

That pretty much summarizes my morning.

Because Connor's weight is at a good place now, he's still peeing approximately twice the normal amount, and I am a paranoid basketcase about laminitis, I decided that we would do a week trial with the grazing muzzle, starting today when I could poke my head out from stall cleaning every so often to check on him.  I wanted to make sure that 1) it would stay on, 2) that he realized he could drink with it on and 3) that he realized he could still nibble grass with it on.

He did not like it.

"Hey, uh...you forgot to take this thing off my head."

Realizing he can drink with it on.

From the moment I put it on his head, he put his head high in the air and peered at me over the end of it.  And stood there, for several minutes, not moving, just staring at me as I walked away.  When he finally did move, he tried everything he could to get it off his head.  He slung his head around, pawed the ground next to his nose, rubbed it on the fence, walked over to the mares to see if they would take it off for him, rolled, and took off bucking across the pasture.  When all that failed, he tried walking cutely over to the gate, where I was doing stalls 15 feet away, to see if I would take it off.  Finally, he gave up, got a drink, and tried eating.

While I have some reservations about this decision (it's nylon and I don't like turning horses out in nylon, I'm worried it will rub) I feel like the danger of IR/laminitis is greater than anything the grazing muzzle can do to him.  Also, for a fantastic side benefit, he's now super easy to catch because I've taken all the joy out of his life (cue dramatically sad music) and because he is essentially wearing a halter all the time.

After a week or two, I'll re-evaluate with the barn staff and see if we need to adjust.  Also, vet comes out tomorrow.

"Help meeeeeeeeee!"