Flair Nasal Strips - Who uses them?

strides-eventing

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As above really. They say they are "are suitable for all, from pony club ponies and riding club horses right up to top level eventers" and I am just curious as to who actually uses them, what level you compete and what you think of them.
:)
 
Maybe Themule will come on here and explain but I have a feeling the horses nasal capacity is a engineering marvel and that it's impossible for the strips to do what they claim or else you would see them racing.
 
I use them. Used them for the first time at osberton when it was very hot as my theory was they can't do any harm. My horse recovered really well, probably due to the fact he was very fit, but I'm superstitious so he will continue to wear them!
I might be wrong but I believe they aren't allowed in racing.
 
They are not allowed in racing. A lot of people use them eventing but I would have thought they were a waste of money at a low level/in one days. If the horse is struggling in a 6 minute XC then it probably needs to be fitter. They may help in a 3 day but I haven't heard of any definitive proof. However, when they first came out, a horse I knew who failed the vet for his wind was put on a treadmill. Nothing showed but he was an abnormally loud high blower. They put a nasal strip on him just to see and the noise was significantly less. As high blowing is not a problem, I don't know what that proves but they obviously do something!
 
I seem to recall footballers went through a phase of wearing the human equivalent a few years ago (Robbie Fowler iirc? I'm actually amazed I can name a footballer let alone a gadget one used:eek:!) but don't really see them so much anymore - or least I don't when I give Football Focus/Match of the Day more than a nanosecond of my attention!

I can't really see how a strip of fancy elastoplast :p stretched over skin on fairly hard cartledge(sp) can open up the airways enough to allow more air in but heyho I'm no medical expert and I'm sure others will be able to enlighten me!
 
The only one who does is Reg, who is with a pro eventer doing doing 3 and 4 star tracks. Our babies and those out at lower levels don't use them at all.
Reg is quite a loud horse, and the strips do lessen the noise so in theory we guess they're a positive. As it is, he's happy running with strips, so we won't be changing anything on the off chance they don't work - they aren't doing him any harm.
 
I'm looking to get a couple for my boy when we start venturing out and about! He's had EIPH in the past and I've been told they're fine for that. Will be reading this thread with interest.
 
I seem to recall footballers went through a phase of wearing the human equivalent a few years ago (Robbie Fowler iirc? I'm actually amazed I can name a footballer let alone a gadget one used:eek:!) but don't really see them so much anymore - or least I don't when I give Football Focus/Match of the Day more than a nanosecond of my attention!

I can't really see how a strip of fancy elastoplast :p stretched over skin on fairly hard cartledge(sp) can open up the airways enough to allow more air in but heyho I'm no medical expert and I'm sure others will be able to enlighten me!

They sell them for snoring people too they're sort of rigid and springy to open up the nasal passages... Also rappers like Nelly stick plasters on their faces to open up the nasal tissues a bit more! It does make the nasal passages feel wider but sadly not much use to combat snoring *reaches for earplugs*

I don't think it would do anything unless the horse had abnormally narrow nasal passages and needed a bit of help but worth a go I guess!
 
I did a study on these at uni, can't remember the exact results as was a long time ago but basically they do help a little particularly in horses with breathing difficulties but their main advantage is for when (quite rarely), during high intensity exercise one of the horses nostrils can collapse, so these help to hold it open so the horse can still breathe properly.
 
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