SARAH: "Let's talk grazing muzzles.
Why would you need a grazing muzzle on your horse?
Also my horse routinely gets sores and rubs from her muzzle.
Is it well-fitted-- oh, it is well-fitted,
but I find in wet conditions it still rubs.
Any tips or tricks to prevent this?
Thank you so much."
DR LYDIA GRAY: All right.
SARAH: You came to the right place.
DR LYDIA GRAY: Oh my goodness, I've
been dealing with muzzles for years.
So now I definitely--
SARAH: I feel like Newman's been dealing with muzzles.
DR LYDIA GRAY: Well it's-- no, both of us.
Because fitting a muzzle can be exasperating.
SARAH: Taking a muzzle off can be very fun for Newman.
DR LYDIA GRAY: Fulfilling.
Yeah, he excels at that.
I mean, my job is to fit it.
And then his job is to unfit it.
So first of all, we'll go through why
you put a muzzle on.
SARAH: Yep.
DR LYDIA GRAY: You have those horses that are easy keepers.
And so you might use a muzzle just
to restrict their intake, their caloric intake.
Some horses specifically can't have sugar.
And there I'm thinking the Cushing's horses,
the equine metabolic syndrome, PSSM, laminitis--
there you might only have to muzzle
in the spring and the fall when the grass is particularly
risky.
And for some horses that don't have an underlying health
condition, maybe just that transition
period in the spring--
muzzle while the grass is growing fast.
And you really haven't had a chance
to adjust-- get them adjusted, transitioned into the grazing.
So you could just for a month or so use it.
But mine wears a muzzle from April
to October, pretty much all day, maybe 10 hours.
So it's got to fit well.
And I feel your pain on the fitting.
What I do, I get a new one.
And you have some choices.
There are what I call onesies.
SARAH: This is feeling very relatable for me.
DR LYDIA GRAY: Yep.
They're the muzzle and the strap that holds it
on all together in one piece.
And then there's the muzzle separate.
And then you buy a quick release halter that fits on it.
And then there's a variety of options of muzzles.
There's the Easy Breathe, there's the soft ones,
there's harder ones, there's all sorts of ones.
And I probably own--
I've gone through probably 20 muzzles.
SARAH: Wow.
DR LYDIA GRAY: Yeah, because it's
all about the fit, the comfort, what they'll tolerate.
Some they tolerate more than others.
And you have to experiment.
And then you can have a muzzle swap with your friends.
I tried this--
SARAH: Do you belong to any weird Facebook groups?
DR LYDIA GRAY: Maybe.
But if one doesn't work for you, you
bring it to your muzzle swap and then
it's perfect for somebody else.
So it's nice, because it's a lot of money.
So you put it on.
And the instructions say exactly how to fit it.
And typically you want the bottom of the muzzle
to be an inch from their mouth, so they have a little room.
And then I leave it on for about a week
and then I can see where it's rubbing.
Then I take a variety of fleeces.
Now this one is the Miracle Collar Fleece Cover.
And you ask yourself, why did she take this one?
That's not for that.
SARAH: Seems quite specific.
DR LYDIA GRAY: It's got this really big--
I'm not pointing well-- really big chunk here.
I don't actually know where it goes on the bottom here.
But I use this on the bottom of the muzzle here.
SARAH: On the chin groove.
DR LYDIA GRAY: Yeah.
And that keeps it-- because their jaw is moving
all the time as they eat.
And so that's a common rub spot.
For the rub spots along the cheek pieces
then you have this piece.
You can also just buy a halter--
a fleece set, which is what this is.
And so the nice thing is they're all Velcro.
And so you can easily pull the Velcro--
SARAH: She says with confidence.
DR LYDIA GRAY: I know.
I can hear it.
It's just not coming.
But you can put the little cheek pieces -
where else do they rub?
Sometimes on the top.
The other thing I've found--
I've a lot of experience with this--
you came to the right person.
Is moleskin.
You know what moleskin is?
SARAH: Of course.
My sisters are ballerinas.
DR LYDIA GRAY: Oh,
SARAH: I'm very familiar.
DR LYDIA GRAY: Perfect.
OK.
So I just go to the pharmacy and get their heavy duty moleskin.
And then when I see where he's got rubs,
then I moleskin that area.
And I like moleskin better because it's thinner.
And if you put this on the crown, sometimes they go,
foink.
It makes it really easy to get off.
Its fine on the cheek piece, but I moleskin the crown.
Yeah.
So all kinds of fleece, mole skin.
But you got to-- he's got to wear it for about a week
to figure out where it rubs.
SARAH: Yeah.
DR LYDIA GRAY: Yeah.
SARAH: I told you you came to the right place.
DR LYDIA GRAY: Oh my gosh, I could go on forever but...