As your horse grazes, the halter moves against your horse. This movement and friction can be around the crown piece behind the ears, near the cheekpieces, but most commonly near the noseband.
The first thing you will see is some ruffled hair. This crumpled hair is easier to spot when your horse has a winter coat, but you will also see damaged hair with a short summer coat.
The hair will eventually rub away as the irritation continues, leaving unprotected skin that can open into a sore.
Easy and affordable solutions exist for all rubbing situations, and fleece could be the perfect remedy to protect your horse's face. Or, explore some options to prevent rubbing from a grazing muzzle.
Alternatives to fleece for hair loss and rubs
Fleece covers for your horse's halter come in two primary materials - natural sheepskin and synthetic fleece. Both can protect your horse, and both can be laundered. Sheepskin is a little more care-intensive and requires specialty laundry detergents.
Another downside to fleece is the drying time if it gets stuck in the rain or snow or if your horse rolls in the mud. You may not want soggy fleece next to your horse's skin.
Halter Rubs
Halters are necessary for many reasons, not the least because they hold your horse's muzzle in place. Regularly check for hair loss and rubs from halters around the cheek pieces, over the poll, and behind the ears, and the noseband area.
As horses pick up and place the grazing muzzle, sometimes the noseband rubs their face, regardless of muzzle fit.
Lycra fly masks are the easiest way to prevent rubs, and they keep your horse free of annoying insects.
Prevent rubbing from the halter
Use a bug-eye fly mask under your horse's halter to prevent rubs. For best results, use a lycra bug mask long enough to rest under the noseband with plenty of extra inches, just in case. The area behind the ears should also extend further to protect the poll area and mane.
These handy lycra fly masks make for easy washing, are lightweight, and dry quickly if caught in the rain. They also don't have any velcro to get mucked up with hair and dirt, and they stay put.
It's also helpful to use a specialty muzzle that has a connection between the noseband and the crown piece. This strap helps stabilize the muzzle, reduce chafing, and keep the muzzle from flipping under the chin if your horse is a Houdini horse.
Ensuring your horse's halter is wide enough is crucial to preventing halter rubs. When adding fleece, you may need to widen it. But, when worn over a lycra fly mask, the halter has more flexibility in the noseband width.
Use breakaway halters
Breakaway halters are usually halters with a leather crownpiece. Other styles include a breakaway latch instead. Should your horse become stuck on something, the breakaway feature snaps to safely free your horse. With these necessary halters, you can also use fleece coverings and bug-eye fly masks.
Muzzle Rubs
Horses are habitual creatures; no matter how we adjust their grazing muzzle, they may develop a rub. You can alter the muzzle itself to prevent this.
Prevent rubbing from grazing muzzles
Using unique, slippery stickers inside the basket gives your horse's chin something slippery to slide against instead of catching on the back of the muzzle. Duct tape can be an option, but it's too thick and textured for many horses.
You may also need to adjust the distance between your horse's mouth and the muzzle bottom. If you use a halter with the additional strap between the noseband and crown piece, this, too, can be adjusted to allow more room for rub-free wear.
Horses gnaw on the muzzle if the grass is too long or too short. Keeping pastures from being overeaten and mowing tall grass creates leaves that easily fit inside the openings, acting like a slow feeder that your horse wears.
Specialty stickers that are smooth fit right into your horse's grazing muzzle to prevent rubs.
More tips to prevent rubbing from grazing muzzles
Monitor your horse closely in the first few weeks of trying the muzzle. As they eat, notice how they move their body and head to reach the grass. As a starting place, their basket should be parallel to the ground, and their chin and nose are not touching inside the basket.
If you start noticing any rubbing, adjust the halter and muzzle fit. You may need to add a little fleece, a fly mask, or some strategically placed tape to your horse's gear.
It could be a fit or sizing issue that needs fixing, and we are more than happy to help you with that.
For more information on a proper fit, see our Fitting Guidelines, as a too-small muzzle with the straps adjusted too short is the most common cause of rubbing, which can be corrected without fleece. Read our Rubbing Issues: Most Common Culprits article for more on the most common problems.
