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!
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