mynutmeg
Well-Known Member
I don't.
And I hate hate hate HATE those fly masks. I think it must really irritate the horse to not be able to see properly, and I've also seen flies get under them. I'd NEVER use one.
It irritates my girl way more to have multiple (like 20+) biting gnats making the inside of her ears drip blood!
I would much prefer for her to be out naked in the summer however she gets very itchy and upset by flies so is rugged most of the time. I don't use sprays unless riding as they don't last very long and if she's rugged then no need. I do put gloopy stuff on her udders usually as she gets badly bitten there and it can't be covered.
She simply can't go outside in the summer without her ears covered somehow. In the field she has a well fitting mask (you can actually see pretty well, I tried it myself first) and then she has one of those crochets ones for riding. When I first got her, fetching in from the field or riding down the lane was accompanied by fairly dramatic head shaking / tossing frantically because of the gnats biting inside her ears so she now has them covered. She has huge ears with very little hair inside them in the summer.