fieldsafe headcollars

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impresario08

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Does anyone use a fieldsafe headcollar on their horse when turned out? Looking to put one on mine to help keep his fly mask on (playful field mate always pulls it off), but am terrified he's going to hang himself on something...!
 
The Velcro type I would avoid. They are no safer than any other head collar. My horse got caught while wearing one and in the end it was the metal ring which gave, not the velcro!
 
I used to use one all the time. Tried the ones with the rubber rings, which work but in order to replace the ring once it's broken you have to cut it, put it on the headcollar and then stick it back together with superglue. And if more than one ring breaks at the same time you lose the bit of the headcollar those rings held and you have to buy a whole new headcollar.

So......I got a Cottage Craft one which has Velcro in various places and also a plastic D ring which you attach the clip to (like a normal headcollar) when in the field and a metal D ring for leading. Great design.....except that the metal clip rubbed my mare's fur away and I had to stop using it as her skin was going to be next. I may go back to this in the winter when she has a thicker coat, but I'm expecting to have to stop using it at some point.

So.....I bought an ultra lightweight, soft headcollar with Velcro. The hooky part of the Velcro was only about an inch long, so the slightest pressure opened it and it's now somewhere in the field. I had to take a normal headcollar to catch her in because the field-safe one wasn't safe to use to lead on the road.

Now that the Spring grass has finished she's OK to catch again (famous last words!) so she's out without a headcollar. I've thought about a leather one, but not convinced it will break when needed, so I've given up. There's a big market out there for somebody who can come up with a safe design that doesn't rub!
 
Mine are out in them all the time as one is very spooky to catch. Can't be doing with the faffy ring style ones. I'm currently using high viz ones that I get on ebay - similar to the cottage craft ones but cheaper. The cottage craft ones I like but they do seem to rub sometimes. I also got some called Eclipse once from my tack shop. They broke much more easily than the cottage craft ones. Having said that though, spooky beast has safely broken all the types I use in her assorted spookings, so whilst I'm sure freak accidents can happen with them I am quite confident that they will break when needed.
 
Cowpony said:
So......I got a Cottage Craft one which has Velcro in various places and also a plastic D ring which you attach the clip to (like a normal headcollar) when in the field and a metal D ring for leading. Great design.....except that the metal clip rubbed my mare's fur away and I had to stop using it as her skin was going to be next. I may go back to this in the winter when she has a thicker coat, but I'm expecting to have to stop using it at some point.
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I bought one of these, I didn't have any problem with rubbing and can state the plastic rings do break quite easily if the horse panics (as proven when the YO's husband startled my mare by giving her a friendly slap on the bottom, plastic ring broke without a problem when she pulled back)
 
You've just reminded me that I lost a plastic D ring when my mare pulled her headcollar off and the Velcro holding the D ring opened. So it definitely does the job! They give you one spare plastic D ring, after that I guess you have to buy them.
 
When my old horse had to be turned out in a headcollar I used am old leather one a size to big that someone else was throwing out as it was broken. I roughly mended it with bailer twine where needed so it was fixed enough to hold together unless a lot of pressure was applied. Plus as it was a size too big it meant he could wiggle out of it if it got caught.
 
My maybe-I'll-be-caught-today-maybe-I-won't Welsh D wore a Horseware Fieldsafe.

Flighty sec B has a tiny head and wears a velcro IVHorse one. She does get it off sometimes but when she is in a won't -be-caught mood it is a godsend.
 
My mare is easy to catch but can be as*d to get a leadrope on & I use a nylon headcollar with a leather headpiece.
I have made extra holes in the leather top to weaken it further.
I haven't seen any of these on sale for ages but easy to adapt a double buckle headcollar or to get a saddler to aletr a standard type.
An old leather one is good but I prefer nylon nearer the muzzle as it dries quicker.
 
impresario08 said:
Does anyone use a fieldsafe headcollar on their horse when turned out? Looking to put one on mine to help keep his fly mask on (playful field mate always pulls it off), but am terrified he's going to hang himself on something...!
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I found them useless. I tie elastic to the hood then attach it to the top of the neck cover so when head is down it stretches and at least if the git removes it he carries it round and I don't need to search for it.
 
I have the Cottage Craft one with the velcro and the plastic D-ring as mentioned above by another poster. The velcro did give way when he pulled back, so it works...unfortunately, that was when I was trying to catch him, so I ended up taking the other horse on a hack that day, and spent some time and much carrot getting the headcollar back on him later!

I tried the rubber ring one on him a few years ago, but it was obliterated in short order.
 
If I need to leave a headcollar on in the field I normally use a leather one. Have plenty of broken leather headcollars lying around the tack room!
 
I have the rubber ring type and what you need to do is buy some leather shoe laces, then remove all the rubber rings and replace them with leather loops made from the cut down shoelaces. I used two leather loops for each rubber ring, but one would do if you have a more gentle horse.
 
The rubber ring ones break with the slightest pressure and the replacement rings wont stick with superglue , gave up with that one.
I am using a fieldsafe with the Velcro, it hasn't been tested yet ! Those of you using leather headcollars are they flimsy leather. I have
an old leather one but the straps are about 1 " wide
 
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