Posts Tagged ‘lame
How to keep a muzzle on your horse
With the summer grass as lush as it is the ponies are always at risk for lamanitis. I always try to monitor their grass intake, keeping them off of it during the day and muzzling them at night, as well as regular exercise for those who can be – because we all know that given the chance the ponies will eat and eat and then eat some more!
Well this year keeping them muzzled has been a challenge with both Minnow and Boomerang figuring out how to slip their muzzles when no one was looking. They gave us a few scares, which left me trying to search for a way to make sure they stayed put indefinitely!
So after a little trial and error (we tried halters overtop, flymasks ontop, tightening them to name a few) I think we finally found something that works – and after 3 days, so far so good! So I figured I’d share our solution for anyone else out there having trouble keeping their pony’s muzzle on. Here’s what the boys looked like in their muzzles before:
Supplies needed for Painting Pony anti-muzzle slipping:
- Browband (repurposed from old bridles we had laying around)
- Thin belt from Goodwill ($3.99 for a set of 2 at Goodwill)
How to:
All you need to do is add a browband to your existing muzzle set-up and slip the thin belt through it so that it buckles at the throat. Make sure to buckle it tight enough so that your pony can’t get caught on anything and it prevents the muzzle from slipping. It’s always best to use a leather belt so that it’s breakable if need be. And to fully make sure you muzzle won’t slip off, try pulling it off your pony’s head yourself. If it seems too loose, perhaps tightening it up all over may help.
The Result:
I hate to have to muzzle them, and I know they hate it too, but making sure they never over eat so that they live a long and healthy life is very worth it!
Anyone else have any DIY solutions for keeping muzzles on your horses?
Maintaining Ringbone: Minnow tries Ground Control Shoes
In January I took Minnow back to New Bolton Center to have his diagnosis of Ringbone reassessed after being treated 5 years earlier. Without too much hope we were left to experiment with different types of shoeing in the hopes of maybe making Minnow a little bit more comfortable in the coming years.
I decided to test out the Ground Control Shoes with Minnow first, to see if they might take away some of his pain. Some of the key points I had read about the Ground Control Shoes are:
- Outlasts metal 2:1 guaranteed!
- Unsurpassed shock absorption.
- Better than barefoot flexible fit!
- Keeps performance horses sounder longer!
- Provides relief from arthritis pain, navicular, founder and ringbone.
- Safer on roads and rocks!
- Won’t ‘snowball’ in winter.
- Shapes and wears to fit your horse’s needs!
- NO special tools or nails required!
Feeling hopeful I made sure to take videos of Minnow prior to having the shoes put on and then again 2 weeks after wearing them.
After having Minnow wear the Ground Control Shoes for almost 4 weeks I’ve decided that they haven’t benefited him significantly – if anything he might be a tad worse than he was when barefoot.
So next shoeing they will be removed and we will try something else – I think a rocker type shoe.
I think the ground control shoes could probably work for some horses – depending on what you need them for, but for Minnow’s situation it’s just not enough of a benefit to warrant spending the money to have them put on every month.
So onto the next shoeing experiment!
