Monday, August 25, 2014

Tough love

The grazing muzzles for George and Alan arrived Saturday. 
To my relief, I had ordered the right size (Best Friends Deluxe Grazing Muzzle, Pony size)
and the boys couldn't have been more cooperative as I strapped them on and made adjustments.
Lucy stands perfectly still for hers to be put on, so I can only assume that they learned from her fine example.

Them: You don't love us anymore.
Me: This hurts me more than it hurts you.
Them: We're not buyin' it.




The first few hours being muzzled were the hardest for all of us. 
I kept everybody in the small pasture near the barn to contain any potential train wrecks.



There was much tail-swishing and head-tossing as they adjusted to the new world order.



George tried to scrape his off on every available surface...



...but it stayed in place. The halter has breakaway buckles that would give way 
if he got hung up, but please don't tell him that.

I parked myself in the shade and kept an eye on them, hoping they would relax
and realize they could still graze...just not as much.
Every few minutes, one or the other would come over.



George: If you loved me, you would take this off.



Alan: What's the number for the ASPCA?



George: What's it going to take to make her cave in?



Alan: Keep looking pathetic. It's got to work eventually.

I removed their muzzles overnight, since they'd yet to figure out how to graze with them on.
Amazingly, they were waiting for me in the barn Sunday morning and couldn't be more cooperative 
when I put the muzzles back on. That won't last.


It's only a matter of time before they figure out how to get them off, so I've closed off the back 40 
and applied reflective tape in strategic places to give me a better chance of finding them.



Alan: Make that cow stop laughing at me.



Hank doesn't need a grazing muzzle.



Unlike donkeys, who can get fat on air, he can eat all he wants and stay buff.
We should all be so lucky.



13 comments:

  1. I must say, the things we animal mothers do for our children!

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  2. Poor babies. If you bought pony size for your boys, I wonder what size I'd have to buy for mini donks?

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  3. Can't bite at each other either. Glad Hank has you fooled. One of the more enjoyable discoveries I had reading Secretariat was learning about Big Red's prodigious appetite. Lucy is so sweet and well behaved.

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  4. Those masks make me claustrophobic. I would have a hard time watching them like that. While reading this post, I had to remind myself to just "breath and relax". lol

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  5. A hint for keeping them on....lengthen the cheek pieces and shorten the crown so that the throat latch is behind the jaw. It should be just about where the little white patch is on the back of Alan's cheek. It makes the muzzle MUCH harder to remove by a frustrated equine.

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  6. This is the most entertaining part of my day. :)
    I wonder if human muzzles would work to keep my husband and me from snacking after dinner.

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  7. this post is so funny but I am not making fun of the boys. Now I can see how tall the grass is, they are knee deep into it!

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  8. There is a company who makes glow in the dark paint www.kryptaglow.com. I ordered a dog collar from them... Still waiting on it to arrive to canada but I've heard good things about them :)

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  9. Good move! Nothing worse than a Donk that looks like a hay bale with legs! :-]

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  10. This is even sadder than JR and the minis with their grazing muzzles.

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  11. I had never heard of a grazing muzzle. I also didn't realize they'd over eat. Poor darlings.. MMmmm wonder if I can get one of those to fit me. LOL

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