Thinline | Size Guides | Houghton Country
Flexible Grazing Muzzle
The Horse Grazing Muzzle is ideal for slowing down speedy eaters, limiting grazing, and can help curb minor cribbing problems. Furthermore, the ThinLine Flexible Grazing Muzzle can also keep horses from chewing on leg wraps, wood, or blankets. It works extremely well with all automatic waterers and has UV protection which works much like sunscreen for those delicate noses.
Thinline recommends you commit a dedicated well-fitting breakaway turnout halter to your muzzle.
| THINLINE MUZZLE | ||
| SIZE | DIAMETER | HEADCOLLAR SIZE |
| SMALL | 19" | MINI/PONY |
| MEDIUM | 21" | COB/FULL |
| LARGE | 23" | OVERSIZED / DRUAGHT / X/FULL |
With the horse’s head in the upright position, it is OK if the muzzle lightly touches the lips. Horses spend most of their time with heads at ground level. Lower their head to check there is about a half inch of clearance when the horse is in grazing position.
It generally takes about 10 minutes to get everything perfect the first time you install a Flexible Muzzle. Subsequent headcollars will take about 3 minutes.
How to measure your horse
On a well-fitting headcollar with the noseband at its normal height, this is about 2 fingers under the jawbone. Measure from the buckle on one size around the lips/mouth of your horse to the other buckle on the other side of the headcollar.
SIZE OF MUZZLE | MEASUREMENT OF BUCKLE TO BUCKLE | ||
| SMALLEST | LARGEST | AVERAGE | |
| SMALL | 37cm | 45.5cm | 41cm |
| MEDIUM | 40.5cm | 50.5cm | 45.5cm |
| LARGE | 44.5cm | 55.5cm | 50cm |
Which size of hole in the grazing muzzle do I need?
Veterinarian recommendations for safe grazing in a grazing muzzle for Horses is a 3.5 to 4 cm grazing hole for 24/7, full-time grazing where grass is their main forage source. And 2 cm for very restricted grazing, often required for horses with metabolic issues. The industry standard is ±3cm.
Work with your veterinarian and ensure horses are safely turned out to graze on any pasture.
There are two sizes of holes available:
- 3.5 cm (Normal Restriction)
- 2.5 cm (High Restriction, Laminitis, etc.)
What if I want to make the grazing hole larger?
The grazing hole can be enlarged to meet your horse's individual grazing needs with a pair of heavy-duty scissors or a utility knife.
2.5+cm is the vet-recommended size for horses with existing medical issues and 3.5+cm is the vet-recommended size for general weight management and disease prevention. Please note that enlarging the grazing hole size voids the warranty coverage.
Breakaway Headcollar
These measurements can be compared against a well-fitting headcollar to determine which size will be the best fit for your horse. Measurements are of the webbing only, they do not include the headcollar hardware. Hardware is 2?.
| THIN LINE HEADCOLLAR | |||||
| SIZE | A FRONT OF NOSEBAND | B CHIN (UNDER CHIN) | C CHEECKPIECE | D THROATLASH RING TO RING | E OVER POLL END TO END |
| CM | CM | CM | CM | CM | |
| MEDIUM MINI | 22 | 10 | 14 | 32 | 44.5 |
| SMALL PONY | 24 | 12 | 16 | 36 | 44.5 |
| PONY | 26 | 14 | 18 | 43 | 55 |
| COB | 28 | 15 | 19 | 47 | 55 |
| HORSE | 30 | 16 | 20 | 51 | 58.5 |
| OVERSIZE | 32 | 17 | 21 | 55 | 58.5 |
Fitting the muzzle to a headcollar
What size of muzzle should you choose?
The size of the muzzle corresponds to the size of your horse's headcollar. So if you have a pony headcollar the recommended muzzle is small, for a Cob or Full headcollar it is the medium muzzle, for X/Full it is the Large muzzle.
The holes in the branches of the muzzle allow for different heights to be set. Thinline finds that in general, it takes about 10 minutes to install the muzzle on the headcollar, however, this is quicker when you know the settings. Extra time spent ensuring that the fit is right not only benefits your horse but can also prevent the muzzle from being damaged.
What will you need to use the muzzle?
Thinline recommends that the muzzle is used with a well-fitting breakaway or field safe headcollar, for safety and so that it is the headcollar rather than the muzzle that is damaged if the horse were to become hung up on anything. The muzzle will break but it will take more force than a standard breakaway design headcollar to do so.
Please be aware that using zip/cable ties that are not ThinLine will invalidate the 90-day warranty.
How to attach the ThinLine Grazing Muzzle to a headcollar?
- Use the enclosed paper ties or a string to discover the best holes to secure your muzzle to your halter. The paper ties are a temporary tool that allows you to easily adjust the fit.
- Two of the “fins” have a triangle cut out. These attach to the square (side) rings on your turnout halter. Three fins will connect to the noseband, one in the centre, and the other two fall naturally to the sides of the centre. Three fins will connect to the chin band; one in the centre, and two naturally to the sides of the centre.
- First, secure each triangle cut-out fin with one of the enclosed low-profile cable ties. Do not wrap the fins around the halter, doing so may cause rubs.
- When properly installed, the muzzle should be close to but not touching the nose of the horse. If the muzzle is touching the nose simply make the fins under the chin longer, this will lift the muzzle away from the nose.
- Once you are satisfied you have the correct holes aligned to the halter please remove the paper ties or string and permanently secure the muzzle with the included cable ties.
- After finding the best fit for your horse, simply trim the excess fin material just above the top hole being used. It is fine to wait a day or two to ensure your muzzle is a comfortable distance from your horse’s mouth before trimming. The “keeper” on the cable tie is on the outside of the muzzle and the excess is facing down and trimmed close.
If you have fitted the muzzle properly and the muzzle is the correct size it will work. If you find too much grazing room, ensure your fins are snugly secured to your halter. The fins should not move along the noseband. If it does simply pull the cable tie tighter.
Additional Fitting Tips
With the horse’s head in the upright position, it is OK if the muzzle lightly touches the lips. Horses spend most of their time with heads at ground level. Lower their head to check there is about a half inch of clearance when the horse is in grazing position.
If your horse is attempting to eat out of the sides, this generally means they are not able to get grass through the center hole. The size of the center grazing hole needs to work with other variables such as the height and thickness of the grazing grass.
If the problem persists, check the horse’s fit while in the grazing position.
a) Lower your halter and make sure your muzzle is not on the top hole, the more “leggy” the fins are the easier it is for them to try to eat out of the sides. Raise the entire muzzle up several holes. If this does not work you might need a smaller muzzle.
b) Make sure the fins between the front (or back) fin and the side (attached to the square ring) are evenly spaced. If you have the fins neighbouring the centre front or centre rear too close to the centre one the horse will be able to eat out of the sides rather than the grazing hole.
The closer you fit the muzzle to your horses’ lips the less likely it is they will step on the muzzle and tear it.
Care Instructions
- First, you can place the grazing muzzle in a net washing bag and wash on cold water with detergent and a teaspoon of bleach.
- Second, more extended clean, stick it in a bucket with dish soap and a cap full of bleach.
