Mag has been in training for the last 2 years to help him with past trauma. Taking him out in traffic has been dreadful, and since this is Europe, if you ride horses, you ride in traffic.
His trainer is a young lady named Ali whose style of natural horsemanship is of the slow variety. She prioritizes calmness over submission, and he still expresses himself dramatically every lesson.
Mag is extremely mouthy, it's really cute how he puts everything in his mouth. But when I rode him it was annoying, (not only eating, he likes to grab the reins!) and when Ali is working with him on the street it's also no fun. It's a game for him, how many different things he can put in his mouth per session. Even cigarette butts, it's crazy. If a dog left its stick on the street, Mag will get it.
My donkey, on the other hand, has learned I don't like it, and she never grabs snacks until I tell her it's OK to graze. She's the type that is always planning for famine, as most donkeys are, so I'm pleased that she accepts the rule. Mag has never thought about famine, he just gets stressed, bored, or playful, and grabs snacks.
At home here Ali is forced to work in a fenced off section of field, so he doesn't have to even drop his head very low to grab long strands of grass.
Yesterday facebook showed me a solution that I had thought up years ago, and someone finally produced.
Anti-grazing-net. Not the strap that some ponies wear, but a simple fly-screen type mesh that straps around the horse's muzzle and prohibits eating. I love this solution because unlike anti-grazing reins, the horse can drop his head as low as it likes.
I think most of all this would help little kids whose arms are not strong enough to keep their ponies from eating (though it won't help with rooting behavior). And it's not a crutch for the kids, they still have to learn.
So glad someone else came up with this and actually manufactured it!
The online shop where you can get it is here.
5 comments:
That is a slick idea! Light weight & does the job!
I swear geldings are such freakin' babies for life. I've only known a few mouthy mares (not "bitey" but "gotta have a pacifier") but lots of geldings that are mouthy as babies and never grow out of it. Patty's 7-year-old gelding was born that way and has FINALLY accepted that nobody (human) is going to let him chew on them. He and his pasture-mate chew on each other all day.
We've used it a couple times now, both on a walk and a liberty session (on grass). Mag isn't the brightest horse, he hasn't yet learned that it's pointless to try to snack. I'll update if that changes. For now he's rubbing it on the grass, on the concrete, etc to no avail.
He grabbed my gloved hand yesterday and got in trouble. I cannot leave anything out, it will end up in his mouth. It's adorable but my lead ropes look like crap.
Hello, Letha! I have been out of the loop for quite a while now (various reasons), but Arenex mentioned that you were blogging again, so I dropped in to catch up. 😁
On the topic of “mouthy,” I’ve been working with a friend’s two-year-old filly this summer, and she’s got to have something in her mouth *constantly*! Solution? I popped my little D-ring snaffle, with copper rollers on the mouthpiece, on her. She was instantly pacified! Now she could focus on her lessons!
We ended the season with her in a saddle blanket and surcingle, and ground driving (still a work in progress). I may spend another year doing groundwork with her…she’s very “spicy” and doesn’t much respect personal space, but she’s smart as a whip! Then someone else can start her under saddle…I’m getting too old for that challenge, at least on a sassy little filly. 😉
Good to hear from you again!
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