Fly veils.....

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Am I missing something? I seriously do not get them. I know I'm an old timer now :p but horses never used to wear them unless they were hyper reactive and sensitive, nowadays it seems everyone is selling them as a 'matchy set'?

I am feeling old.... :p :D :D
 
CrazyMare said:
I've just started using a set of sound minimising ones for a super sensitive gelding.
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Now I get that entirely, and I would do the same (assuming it was 'legal' under the relevant rules if I was affiliated!) - surely every matchy matchy person cannot have a super sensitive horse? :)
 
I just got a fly veil - partly, yes, because I am about six years old inside(!) - and partly because it's quite hard to work a horse that I swear is the object of worship for an insect cult, because she has a swarm following her around all day, every day, whenever the temperature is 13C+.... no matter if you use more fly spray than there is water in the Atlantic ocean, or none at all.

I think more horses are sensitive than people realise (particularly, no offence intended OP, the matchy sceptics - if the horse has to wear a hat it may as well be a pretty one!? ;) )
 
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Chinchilla said:
I just got a fly veil - partly, yes, because I am about six years old inside(!) - and partly because it's quite hard to work a horse that I swear is the object of worship for an insect cult, because she has a swarm following her around all day, every day, whenever the temperature is 13C+.... no matter if you use more fly spray than there is water in the Atlantic ocean, or none at all.
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Well I know it must be a nightmare for you and her, so I'm sorry about that, but the description did make me smile :)
 
I use a high viz one for hacking & I do find it helps with seasonal head shaking in the summer.

In the winter, well I just think they can look smart :D
 
Lévrier;13700965 said:
Now I get that entirely, and I would do the same (assuming it was 'legal' under the relevant rules if I was affiliated!) - surely every matchy matchy person cannot have a super sensitive horse? :)
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It is legal, that's why I'm trying them. Didn't think there was much point if I couldn't use them at events.

I don't think many actually need them, lots just like the picture I think, and I suppose it doesn't do any harm...
 
I don't use them daily, but for my now retired horse, I used them for competitions (just because, who doesn't want extra bling :D ) and also in heavy rain, as otherwise he can only go backwards or sideways, because rain in the ears/head apparently is deadly :eek:
- I make them myself, then I can get all the bling I want (sorry, I'm 10 yo, when it comes to accessorising the horse :p ) and also make some with water resistant fabric on the ears. At the moment I'm working on one with high viz thread chrocheted in. So they can have their uses, but mainly I believe they are used just to look good.
 
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Cos I like them...
And they look pretty in pictures... :p

If for some reason I have to justify it to people as I have done on here before, mines a pain in the butt with horseflies. I hack out like this from most of summer an she still gets annoyed with them.
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For the rest of the year I can get a way with just the ears and fly spray but horseflies drive her demented.

At the end of the day there are far worse things that I could do in the name of fashion, I don't boot and I don't bandage or have random bits of tack. I want to spend my hard earned on something that I like and it's matchy sets with ears.
 
I tried one on my horse as he always has a cloud of flies around his ears in the summer despite lots of fly repellent - he found the fly veil more annoying than the flies! 😂
 
Without one in the summer my horse gets very annoyed, but he is ridiculously sensitive to flies. Hates the *******. Even one can annoy him. He is in a fly veil to ride from around March to October. In the field between these months he is also on full face mask, fly rug and covered in neem oil to stop him stamping every five seconds!

I also have the acoustic ones as he can be very reactive in the school-I didn’t think they wood make a difference but was worth a try. I was amazed! They are now called his ‘magic schooling ears’ haha

One or two of the ones I have do happen to match a paricukar saddlecloth though so guilty as charged-howver II am only a recent convert to matchy things. Unless all my previous stuff being black counts?
 
I'm surprised that people think they look pretty.
I love the look of bare unadorned equine ears; round or pointy, sleek or woolly, all different and all gorgeous
 
Mostly use mine in summer when out hacking, midges are really prolific on our area and without the ears summer hacks are full of head tossing and general annoyance.

I also use them because I think they're cute, I don't bandage so how can it be matchy matchy if you just have a pad? Probably falling into a marketing ploy of some kind there but hey ho.
 
There's not really anything to 'get'

Like most things they have a form and a function. Some people find the function useful but care little for the former, some like the former but have no real use for it, for some both form and function appeal and for some, the opposite.

I don't understand what people think there should be to 'get'. It's a bit like me saying that I don't get lamp shades
 
DabDab said:
There's not really anything to 'get'

Like most things they have a form and a function. Some people find the function useful but care little for the former, some like the former but have no real use for it, for some both form and function appeal and for some, the opposite.

I don't understand what people think there should be to 'get'. It's a bit like me saying that I don't get lamp shades
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What I was meaning was I don't 'get' why suddenly everyone is using them, when only a few years ago you rarely saw them around - bad phrasing on my part I guess

At least I now know that lots of people use them just because they like the look - I had thought that might be the case, but since personally I don't like them it was useful to check ;)
 
I use them because my pony is extremely fussy about flies on his ears and gets cross if anything dares to land on his oh so delicate ears... this is why I use them for dressage too-we have been known to lose marks at him crossly tossing his head at a fly at the crucial moment! If/when I get round to doing a freestyle I'll buy some noise cancelling ones as he also doesn't like loud noises very much and gets a bit tense. I think they look smart, but I generally prefer more subtle ones that match the binding of my matchy sets, I don't like to go bandages, saddlepad and ears all a bright colour as then I think it's a bit much when you have colours such as neon pink...
 
Lévrier;13701461 said:
What I was meaning was I don't 'get' why suddenly everyone is using them, when only a few years ago you rarely saw them around - bad phrasing on my part I guess

At least I now know that lots of people use them just because they like the look - I had thought that might be the case, but since personally I don't like them it was useful to check ;)
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I think it's a perfectly reasonable question :) I totally get why people would use a new innovative item of equipment if it benefits the horse. I don't get why you would subject a horse to wearing it just because you think it looks pretty or happens to match your saddle pad.

Does that mean that people wouldn't use a useful and/or necessary piece of equipment because it didn't look pretty? :)
 
Turitea said:
I think they look silly and should only be used on horses who really need them.
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Don’t get me wrong despite the fact I use them and that they may be colour coordinated I only use them because it makes him more comfortable and I love the colder months when I can just leave his Ears bare :)
 
Rowreach said:
I think it's a perfectly reasonable question :) I totally get why people would use a new innovative item of equipment if it benefits the horse. I don't get why you would subject a horse to wearing it just because you think it looks pretty or happens to match your saddle pad.

Does that mean that people wouldn't use a useful and/or necessary piece of equipment because it didn't look pretty? :)
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It's a question that has been asked on here many times before - people seem to have a real hang-up about fly veils for some reason. The same question never gets asked about saddle cloths for example....

I don't get putting shoes on horses if you don't need to use studs, I mean, what's the point? Do people just like the sound of them on the road?
 
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