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Smart horses are a PITA !

2K views 18 replies 13 participants last post by  Kyleen Drake 
#1 ·
I am really frustrated with my one horse Carmen. She is not IR, but a very easy keeper, built more like a Hafflinger, then the Appaloosa she is!
Thus, last year it was quite easy to manage her weight, by having her in the corral during the day, with a bit of hay, and turning her out over night with a grazing muzzle
The muzzles that come as one unit, did not work for her, as she would have them off in no time, either rubbing or rolling.
I then went to a breakaway halter, and the Best Friend muzzle that attaches to it. That worked last year, but most likley because the hole was enlarged, she did not try overly hard to get rid of it
Took me quite a while to track down a new source of that muzzle, but finally managed to find the wholesaler in Canada, and local supplier.
Well, she now gets that one off also, even if she has to gouge herself!
Thus, I'm getting alot more exercise, getting her in and out. My next attempted solution, is to put up portable electric fencing,, in an area where there are no trees to rub on, no shelter, and no fence posts that don't have a hot wire !
Anyone have a better solution, I'm all ears!
Good thing Smilie, my IR horse, who is allowed some pasture time, with a muzzle, for the first time in two years, has not figured that out, nor her buddy Charlie, who is out with a muzzle all day!
 
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#2 ·
Appaloosas ARE smart. I had the most unattractive appy mare you could imagine. Big heart girth, no hip/butt, Roman nose, thick neck and about 5 hairs on her tail. She was extremely smart. She would lay on her side and actually wiggle under a fence to get at "better" grass.

Frustrating when they outsmart you.
 
#5 ·
My Appy mare Misti is VERY VERY smart! I can never know what she will have unlocked or unsnapped next.:x once she untied a gate that had a rope to tie it with and when we put a chain and snap on it she literally kicked and pushed it till it came apart, just to get some grass although she had a HUGE grassy field to graze in.:wink:
And my mare has the same big belly your mare does. she is a very easy keeper also and gets a little amount of grain once a day and 24/7 on the pasture. thankfully she is starting to get slimmer and a little more athletic. :icon_rolleyes:
I have no idea on the muzzle, and I wish you the best of luck on getting it to stay on!:D
 
#6 ·
Are you familiar with the paddock paradise system?

Paddock Paradise - Information on how to create it

Depending how your land is set up, it may or may not be an option.

If you Google"Paddock Paradise Examples", you should get a few pictures to look at.

If the three horses get along, it may be something they can all use together or, keep Cute Butt on the track and put the other two in the center
 
#8 ·
Thanks.
Yes, part of Carmens figure, ,is the fact I don't ride her as often as I should, having Charlie also to ride, and since Charlie is my present show horse, admit to spending more time riding her, plus manageing both her and Smilie, as to weight.
Can't pen them all up and feed hay, esp this year, as we have a drought, and hay might become very hard to find. I realize the grass out there, is going to be high in NSC
Yes, Walkin, I am familiar with Jamie Jackson's Paddock paradise, but doubt Hubby would be keen on building it.
Painted Ponies-yes, I already have one horse that is drylotted,full time, and one part time, but can't keep all my horses, that I have left drylotted, esp in view of the fact, hay is going to be scarce this year, plus I have pasture coming out of my ying yang, since we have so much less horses, not breeding any longer.
i have to manage those not truly IR or metabolic yet, on limited pasture, at least part time.
 
#9 ·
I'm intrigued as to how she manages to get it off? Does she break it? Or has she figured out how to slip the head piece over her ears?

Your idea for enclosing her in a featureless area of pasture sounds good - unless she is using her hind hoof to remove it, in which case you'll have to resign yourself to spending time walking to and fro from pasture to dry lot with her. Could she be on a similar regime to Smilie?
 
#12 ·
I have watched her take it off. She will rub her head on anything, like a tree, the shelter, ect. Once she gets it over one ear, she shakes her head until it comes off. Sometimes she also using rolling, rubbing her head on the ground, No, she does not use her back feet.
Smilie is now going out, twice day with a muzzle, for about two hours
Luckily, so far, the thought of trying to remove that muzzle, has not entered her head. She is too happy being able to nibble a bit of grass again!
Yes, I will have to keep Carmen on a similar plan, thus no more trusting her overnight with muzzle turn out
Yesterday, I rigged an area with electric tape, with nothing to rub on, and worked for evening turnout

Trottin, never thought of the browband. Thanks. I imagine it would not hinder the breakaway feature of the halter.
 
#11 ·
Hahaha I'm lucky our three here haven't figured out how to get flymasks off yet! We joke that they aren't the sharpest tools in the shed though.

I sometimes think Jax is smart though. If hes doing something he KNOWS he shouldn't...I can just yell his name from across the field and hes like "IVE BEEN CAUGHT" and stops.

I picked up this pretty cool portable fence,
https://www.premier1supplies.com/horses/fencing.php?fence_id=117

Its super easy to set up and you can get a battery operated charger for it too...could sectional graze with that? I use it to block off different areas sometimes or if I want to let them out in my front yard thats not fenced.
 
#13 ·
Yes, that sectional grazing is what I am now using, but can't leave her overnight like that, unless it is within a regular fenced area. I have done that before, except those areas get over grazed, plus they can';t move as much, which is part of the reason I like to turn her out over night. Guess I have to resign myself tot he fact, she will need to be in the corral over night, as well as during the day, with scheduled muzzle turn out
Summer chores take me so much longer then winter chores now , and also tie me down more!
Winter everyone is turned out full time, with foraging supplemented with hay, as needed.
 
#15 ·
I'm going through the same thing with our overweight Appy. Within a few minutes of having it on, he rolls, rubs and shakes his muzzle off. My friend/farrier suggested I try attaching something to make a brown band and a throat latch, so that's my plan. We'll see how it goes.
 
#16 ·
She is certainly full figured, isn't she? Guess you can't let sheep or goats or something on the pasture first to mow it down for the Jenny Craig crowd?
 
#17 ·
Unfortunately no, unless I can get hubby to do some re fencing.
When we moved onto this quarter section, we were actively raising horses, thus had many more then now, and made the place , fencing wise, safe for horses
Thus removed all barbwire, and all extra strands, using two stands of smooth wire (three, in the mare and foal pasture ), and made the top wire hotWire have way to much pasture for just the horses we have left

I keep telling hubby we need to re fence part of the large pasture for cattle, and I could buy some cows. I think I might need to hire someone!
At the moment, I am using potable electric fencing, and make sure the area I use each time has no trees. Seems to be working, as she has had the muzzle on , every morning, when I get her, and put her in the corral for the day
 
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