PLEASE DON'T USE LYCRA FULL HOODS!!

I've used fleece and lycra hoods indoors for years without a problem, I wouldn't say its because I'm lazy but I don't like washing stains out of my grey before a show at the crack of dawn in the winter because its freezing and I don't like travelling them wet!

I don't like the idea of turning out in them unless needed for sweetitch etc but providing the fit well, and are well made I happily use them inside.

I suppose its like anything with horses, if there is something they can injure themselves on they will do, no matter how careful they are!

I've seen horses stuck in haynets, legs stuck through rug straps, horses caught on post and rail fencing...but people still use these...I think it is near enough impossible to completely safe guard a horse!
 
My mare wears one, it comes all the way down her neck and velcros behind her front legs, cant say I have had a problem with it (touch wood)

She does how ever have one for turn out which is just for her head and that has slipped before but mainly beacuse she has rubbed it off so I have managed to attach it more securly now.
 
I also purchased one of these hoods from a certain well known company and was mortified to find that it had twisted completely round covering the eyes of my horse... I rang the company to let them know about this and I was told by a very stroppy young lady quote " we cant guarantee that its not going to twist round and stop your horse from going out into the field to die.....'' I then thought maybe I had just spoken to a complete idiot so I emailed the company to inform them of what id been told on the phone and I pretty much got the same reply in the email...
 
I've used Snuggy Turn out hoods on both my horses for the last 3 winters (turned out 24/7) and not had any trouble at all. Obviously they need to fit correctly - mine do. They keep the horse warm aswell as clean, and as mine have the added ears, I don't have to have an argument about trying to get the dried mud out.

I would never, ever turn one out in a lycra hood though - those were never designed for t/o so you're bound to have a problem, surely!!?
 
stacey_lou said:
My mare wears one, it comes all the way down her neck and velcros behind her front legs, cant say I have had a problem with it (touch wood)

She does how ever have one for turn out which is just for her head and that has slipped before but mainly beacuse she has rubbed it off so I have managed to attach it more securly now.
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It was this sort that fastens behind her front legs and it has done loads of damage! I was not using it for cleanliness, she was raised in someone's kitchen and feels the wind keenly so it was to help keep her warm used under her proper rug hood.

Please be careful, I used thses for years because no one told me, the vet is adamant this is not a freak incident, they see loads of these injuries.

It WAS a good make, it DID fit properly and it WAS nearly new so in good condition. Please don't just touch wood, cut the face off it!!!
 
Baggybreeches said:
Horses and ponies have hair to keep their necks warm, only lazy people want to keep horses clean. I fail to see why anyone would choose to use a hood. Some people use the 'plaiting the night before' argument, doesn't wash with me, if you are so hard up for 20 minutes that you can't plait in the morning before a show then perhaps you don't have time to go showing.
Hope your horse recovers fully.
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Couldn't have put it better myself. Thanks BB.
 
Thanks for posting this. It is regular practice for many on the yard to use them overnight prior to a show. Most of those that have them cannot plait up in 20min (more like 60-90min), and already leave home at 4am to go showing, so I can actually understand them wanting to save time in the mornings if they do not in fact know that the horse/pony is at risk.
 
Faracat said:
This type is much safer.
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Do you know where you can buy these online?
 
I've been lurking for a while but thought I'd finally register & reply to this because I had a similar experience with one of them :(
I didn't even realise you could get the ones without the eye holes (duh!) at the time, I was going to use it overnight to try and encourage the mane to grow the same way after he'd had to have it hogged off (scrubbed most of it due to sweetitch).
It was brand new, a good quality & fitted perfectly, he's not at all active in the stable so I wasn't worried about leaving it on overnight - but went to check him in the morning and it had got stuck over his eye and it was SUCH a mess, i was absolutely horrified. Poor boy, I threw it out the same day because I couldn't bear to think of it happening again. Luckily his eye recovered fine, but I felt awful about it for ages. I definitely would never use one with eye holes again, it was so scary and could've ended up horribly.
I hope your horse recovers okay, as others have said, please don't blame yourself, you weren't to know it was going to happen and it's obviously happened to quite a few of us
 
To be honest I dont think warnings should really be needed! as the dangers of these things is pretty obvious when added to the horses normal behaviour of rubbing face (esp if it has blinkin annoying lycra stuck to it). If it goes on, it can move once on!

I dont accept the it takes so many hours to get ready for the show that theres no time to plait in the morning argument. If that's more important than horses sight (and potentially their life given the outlook if they are blinded in both eyes), then showing really is beyond the pale.

Of course horses do injure and kill themselves on all sorts of things, but they are generally things for which there is either no alternative (having fenceposts to hold up a fence to keep horse safely contained) or where the benefit of using them is (or should be) for the horse's welfare eg using haynets to enable soaked and limited quantity hay to be fed to laminitic or prone to lami horses and ponies. Not things which are nothing to do with welfare and to do with owner convenience. Only in the case of a pony with sweet itch would I say the risk is potentially a justified one.

Thankyou for the original post OP, looks like you have saved some other ponies sight, good luck with your outcome.

Those who use them in the field and have never had any problems, I hope you continue to be lucky!
 
I have a fleece hood which dosent seem to move anywhere and i am very pleased with it! I try not to use it but my most recent show i left it off overnight and his plaites had been destroyed! Has anyone had any problems with fleece hoods?
 
Reading this thread has totally put me off i was about to buy one for my boy.
A girl on my old yard had one on her horse which rubbed and he now has scars on his face from it. Someone said it was tight on him but i wouldnt like to say if it was.

Either way im staying well clear now
 
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