Fly rugs and masks at night?

[chocolategirl]

Do you leave fly masks and fly rugs on at night on your horses that live out 24/7? The flies are bad at the moment and I go back at dusk to remove masks and rugs and replace in the morning. I am wondering if it is better to leave both on overnight but wonder how well they can see with a mask on at night and whether it is not good to leave fly rugs on all the time or am I being over cautious?

Yep always have done ?

 

[Follysmum]

Never used to but flies have been awful so have left masks on 24/7 recently. I do bring them in after a few days and take off for a few hrs then pop back on. They come off really easy if caught up.

 

[pansymouse]

Mine has her fly mask on 24/7 - plaited in in case she decides to try and ditch it. If I don't the flies get in her eyes and make them run horribly which really upsets her. I don't use a fly sheet.

 

[Widgeon]

That is the point, the body of the rug can rip quite easily but the binding and fastenings does not. That is how they get caught up and have accidents.

Mine ripped his fly rug all the way across the back the other week, i.e. (unused) leg strap D to leg strap D. He then climbed out of the hole and took the rug off over his head, leaving the chest and neck still done up. I was horrified when I found him and the rug and was expecting a) injuries and b) reluctance to wear a rug after that. But no. Nothing. Not bothered. Little monkey. He will always have leg straps on his rugs after this, I'm not making that mistake again! I don't think he'd have got his foot through the body of the rug if it had been tied down with leg straps....

 

[M1lbie]

Thank you all for your replies, think I’ll continue as I am taking it all off late in the evening. None of them have sweet itch but there are a lot of flies this year so removing it all earlier at tea time seems to defeat the object of putting it on in the first place. I would worry about them getting caught up having heard some of your experiences. They are on my own land so it is easy for me to do. It seems fly masks are easy for them to get off so maybe that would be no problem anyway

 

[SpotsandBays]

Masks 24/7, unless it’s a colder day/due rain etc in which I’ll take them off
Edited to add I don’t use fly rugs

 

[irishdraft]

I leave masks and rugs on on 24/ 7 lots of mozzies around at night

 

[dominobrown]

I do, they come in during the day and if its windy etc they will have 'naked' time, but we have trees, rivers and lakes, we are near Scotland too, so we have the dreaded midge and they are most active late evening and early morning.

 

[Chianti]

Fly rug and mask on 24/7 due to very bad sweet itch unless its pouring with rain and then the mask comes off. A couple of years ago one of the yard workers helpfully took them both off in late September as she thought the flies had gone. In an hour he was covered in fly bites and looked like a very large piece of walking bubble wrap.