Fly masks - wide / good eye clearance

Fieldlife said:
I think that the beekeeper rambo vamoose fly masks have the best eye clearance. The cob sized fits my full size horses. And the full size is generous. The hoop keeps well away from eyes.

I have used the Lemieux lycra and the eyes are reasonably spaced out, and mask fairly hard to remove, not many full sized in stock though. Other lycra designs / brands I have tried, mesh has been too close to the eyes.
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I've just ordered 2 of the le mieux lycra bug control ones they were half price so thought I would give them a try, I got large as I find there stuff is a bit small I hope they fit and stay on, I have Cashel ones at the moment but they are looking a bit old and holey and are expensive at £35 so thought I would try something else.
 
Our mare also has issues with the Shires masks - we have tried different styles/sizes but she always ends up with an eye infection, despite the masks looking like they give plenty of clearance.

We have changed her to the Premier Equine bug mask and all eye issues resolved, but with them comes another problem as she keeps hooking it off when browsing in the hedge rows! We did use a field safe headcollar to keep it on - this worked well until it started to rub....!

We have tried her without, but she gets too distressed by the flies not to wear a mask so will persevere with the PE one.......roll on Autumn/Winter!
 
I have a horse with very sensitive eyes and the only mask that has worked and stopped her needing vet help is the equivisor with black fly mask over the top. I did pad the throat attachments and poll areas with sheepskin. I used the lemieux set off their headcollar range.

The equivisor is very expensive but very effective and saves a lot of pain for my horse.
 
I’ve recently bought this style (but in lavender)… it’s structured to be off the eyes/ offer protection.
It’s the Horseware Rambo Plus Fly Mask 88DACD9A-244B-413A-BD08-9A13A1AC38A8.jpeg
 
Emmsp said:
I’ve recently bought this style (but in lavender)… it’s structured to be off the eyes/ offer protection.
It’s the Horseware Rambo Plus Fly Mask View attachment 96150
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I bought two of these for my IDs. Looked enormous but actually were far too small and I gave them away. Both my horses wear Shires full size masks which are plenty roomy so although they are big horses they are not exceptionally big.
 
I have had issues with the normal Shires ones coming too close to the eye, or developing folds in the mesh that bring the material too close. Once that happens it's really hard to get rid of. I've even tried ironing them out but it doesn't help.

At the moment mine is in one of these, but XFull are like hens teeth:

Screenshot 2022-07-20 at 07-51-21 Shires Ultra Pro Fly Mask with Ears and Nose Free UK Delivery.png
 
I’m just about to order the Rambo beekeeper. I think cob size will do for his lightweight head but he does have very long ears.?
 
I have a Shires one for my Welsh and a Le Mieux Armour Shield for my Arab. She used to have a Cashel one but I thought the visibility wasn't so good with the thick, white mesh, and she has cataracts so ideally I wanted thinner/ black mesh. Unfortunately the Shires ones just don't fit her - Cob, which my Welsh has, was miles too big, and Pony was too small. The Le Mieux Armour Shield was recommended by my YO and I really like it - it fits well, has excellent clearance over the eyes, and excellent visibility. The only downside is that it doesn't offer anywhere near enough UV protection for her on the nose, but I have fashioned an extra layer for the nose visor out of an old fly rug, which seems to be working well.
 
I'm about to give up ordering fly masks! Have this week tried 2 versions of Shires after his old Shires has started to rub. Neither has enough eye clearance, and on one of them the seams are really rough to add to that. Lemieux one has ridiculously long nose bit but not such a bad fit elsewhere, Harrison Howard no better than the Shires. Now have a Rambo beekeeper style on order (thank you to Hope Valley recommendation here) and keeping everything crossed that this does the trick... will report back.
I didn't think his eyes were that wide but there you go! (British Riding Pony, high % Arab).
 
I think the beekeeper ones are best too, they are generously sized and I can put headcollars over the top on their normal holes easily.

The amigo ones are a good second imo, though not for the habitual remover as they come off quite easily. Both the horseware designs have ginormous ears.

I don't think my shires ones have as much eye clearance as either of those.
I've got a Harrison Howard too which is a rip off of the shires but not as well structured.
 
I like the idea of the beekeeper ones but I use fly masks for UV protection (v pink nose!) and the beekeeper ones just don't cover enough of the nose.
 
I struggled for ages trying to find one with good eye clearance and the only ones I’ve found are the Rambo beekeeper and Equilibrium masks. She wears the equilibrium one most of the time but has the Rambo as her back up just as the equilibrium fits her so perfectly that there is no risk of a fly sneaking underneath.
A tip with any mask is to make sure you store them correctly and don’t let them be squished, when I wash mine for example I hang it on a door handle and have a towel in it to maintain its shape. So often I put on liveries masks and they are all collapsed in on the eyes as they have previously just been chucked on the floor in a heap.
 
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