Please suggest a fly mask that stays on?!

[rubyrumba]

One of my horses eyes are very weepy from the flies but the fly mask is off everytime I check him! Very annoying, surely there is a make that stays on better??

 

[becstew]

I got mine a Roma Lycra Eye Saver last week & I really rate it. Mine hasn't managed to get it off

 

[wilkinson1]

Premier equine masks are superb. I ave also just got one of those equilibrium masks and that also appears to do the trick! I just find the Rambo ones come off very easily.

 

[competitiondiva]

My cob got his full face mask off every day, but keeps a horseware (rambo) face mask, without nose extension on? He just doesn't like anything over his nose I don't think! I have to say from personal experience the best ones are the equilibrum ones (onto it's 3rd year on my older girl) but am not paying that price for ones for the youngsters as they love to colt play, so for cheaper ones they have the pvc shires one and rambo and they stay put despite hard play, I think it all depends on the fit on the individual horse.

 

[rubyrumba]

I've tried an amigo one and a roma one and they are no good!

 

[nuttynugget]

I have a cashel crusader mask which I got last year and (fingers crossed) he hasn't got it off yet! it also has a nose cover which protects his nosey against the sun

 

[Magicmillbrook]

I have a cashel crusader mask which I got last year and (fingers crossed) he hasn't got it off yet! it also has a nose cover which protects his nosey against the sun

Ditto - very robust too, one of mine is three years old now

 

[treacle_beastie]

shires - i have tried about 7 other ones and this has been the only one that stays on my horse that likes to roll a lot

 

[LaurenM]

I just put a headcollar on top of the mask. My horse swears that he's related to houdini and it's the only way it'll stay on

 

[rubyrumba]

I can't leave a headcollar on him, i don't dare! He would get caught on something invisible!

 

[Supertrooper]

I put a cashel quiet ride mask on the horse I share, i know it's not designed for use all the time but I think because it's lighter material it doesn't bother him so much, it stayed on a record amount of time last week!!!

 

[tobysg]

Shires. I've had it 2 years and it's never fallen off.

 

[Lydz13]

I got a blue Roma fly mask from Countrywide for about £9 hasn't come off yet!!!

 

[Bosworth]

my youngster has an eye missing, he was born without the eyeball, but has an empty socket so I have to have a flymask on him. On his own he has no problem keeping most masks on - put him in the field with my others and my TB sees it as his duty to remove all fly masks any horses near him.

 

[fornema]

Defo rate the roma eyesaver, hasnt come off, cheap, worn ecery day in summer for past 2.5 years and only just got a hole in , no headcollar needed

 

[rubyrumba]

I have a feeling that the problem may be other horses taking it off as this morning it is ripped quite badly. Grrrr, its only 2 days old!!

 

[LaurenM]

The other horses probably are pulling it off. I've got bite marks on mine.

 

[vallin]

Cashel crusader, brilliant

 

[Meowy Catkin]

I have one mare who keeps her Cashel on all day, the second mare gets her Cashel off regularly. The filly has a Equilibrium fly mask which I tried on the second mare and it stayed on!

^ It's this one.

 

[indie999]

I use just a face mask and my cob does roll it off in phases I usually have to go hunting round the field. But at the moment it stays on. I bought the last one off ebay and I suppose its finding the right one to fit his face. Last year I decided to buy one with a nose flap and he hated it(he gets sun burn so I thought it would help as well as cream) but it annoyed him.

I usually spend £ 9-13 on a mask with velcro under the chin. thats it simple. I do buy cob size which he is(he has quite a square head and I have had to buy full size headcollars before).

 

[Spyda]

I just put a headcollar on top of the mask. My horse swears that he's related to houdini and it's the only way it'll stay on

I have the same problem keeping masks on mine (who gets VERY runny eyes in summer without on), and I tried the 'putting a headcollar on over the top' method last week. All I ended up with at the end of the day was a badly torn VERY EXPENSIVE fly mask which was still pulled off and laying on grass in the middle of the field. In my case, it's the other horses in the paddock pulling mine's off. Grrrrr

 

[rubyrumba]

Is there anything you could put on the fly mask to stop the other horses taking it off? I need to try something, his eyes are really bad.

 

[Meowy Catkin]

The only thing that I could suggest is to plait a section of his mane on his poll but just behind his ears. Put a baler twine loop on the headpiece of the mask, then put the plait through the loop and secure with a plaiting band. The plaiting band should break for safety's sake if the mask really does need to come off (eg it gets stuck in a tree. Yes, my horse has done this rubbing her face on a branch. I found the mask hanging from a twig).

 

[Spyda]

Is there anything you could put on the fly mask to stop the other horses taking it off? I need to try something, his eyes are really bad.

Thing with contemplating applying anything unpleasant smelling or tasting to the mask as a deterent to other horses biting at it, is your horse has to wear it on his head at close proximity to his eyes and nose. It's fairly likely that anything really effective as a deterent would be pretty unpleasant for the wearer of the mask, especially when it rained.

I've tried attaching the fly mask to a headcollar (a field safe one) but the other horse/s obviously just tugged harder at it and ended up ripping the mask off.

I've now moved my mare into a separate paddock where she's out on her own. At present she can reach the other horses over the leccy fence to socialise and it will be interesting to see if the mask is pulled off tomorrow. If it is, I am going to have to put up another stretch of leccy fence to keep her from reaching across to their side; But fingers' crossed it doesn't come to this