Whenever we get the chance to try our muzzles on a new horse, it's interesting to see the different way they react to the experience.
Today, we were taking pictures of two horses in a GreenGuard Grazing Muzzle. These two horses reacted very differently, leading us to think about how individual each horse is, and how great it is that the GreenGuard Grazing Muzzle can be adjusted to accommodate each of them.
The first horse of the day was Chex, a 10-year old quarter horse gelding. Chex is an easy-going guy, out on pasture 24-7. We slipped a halter with the GreenGuard muzzle attached onto him, slipped a few treats through the holes, and it was as if nothing was there.
He immediately tried to eat some grass, and succeeded pretty quickly. Some grass fits through the muzzle more easily, and Chex was going to explore them all. Within minutes, he was eating as much grass as he could, as if nothing had ever changed. He even went right into the water bucket, slurping away as if there wasn't a plastic piece on his nose.
It was obvious that Chex would be easy to keep muzzled.
After Chex, we pulled out Ninja, a 5-year old Gypsy Vanner gelding. Ninja is a sweet young pony who is green-broken under saddle, easy to handle, and generally an easy keeper. He was very tolerant of us putting on the muzzle and adjusting the fit, but when we let him loose, he wasn't as dedicated to solving the problem the same way that Chex was.
Ninja, true to his name, was putting up a fight. While he did want to get the grass in his mouth, he was more interested in doing so by getting the muzzle off his face. Within minutes, he was pushing at the corners, trying to get his mouth free. If we were planning to leave the muzzle on him, we would have secured the corners with some hay string, preventing this method of escape.
Within minutes of both horses being fitted with their muzzles, we could see how well they were going to accept them. Thinking back on other horses we've seen wear the muzzles for the first time, they all showed a particular personality within minutes. We feel confident that you, too, will be able to tell what type of adjustments need to be made with your muzzle after just a few minutes of watching your horse explore with it on.
The great thing about the GreenGuard Grazing Muzzle is that you can make those adjustments, and we are here to help. See our article Best ways to introduce the GreenGuard Grazing Muzzle to your horse for some great tips on how to help your horse adjust more quickly.
