Stressless double dose really took the edge off of mine who had to move barns mid stall rest and was pacing the fence line.
1 Like
Sending you positive vibes @RooTheDay.
Your post made me laugh, though.
Also: if anyone has a synthetic saddle with grippy equi-suede or even a western saddle. I used both at different points when my horse liked to spontaneously explode.
Another suggestion - calming music. Through a Dog’s Ear is my go to. It’s on Apple Music. The more you listen to it, the better it works.
In the “as cheap as possible” category, a friend uses foam cat toys as ear plugs for her horses. Something like this: https://www.amazon.com/GINFH-Indoor-Kitten-Interactive-Sponge/dp/B0CR8DHSF5/ref=mp_s_a_1_2_sspa?crid=1SURDUL9BGZL4&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.TIiMhRTw6SNM3yvtmDHzNC2dbwTSz_H2a3_nsxerjQTCyXlvH61yUlwRckN-EnKHiXvoIv1Yu4yyKi2kwbcKYXXiJiH-mpNwKVEC1XEXKYFdT6tWn60OskXHPJ8XfO1kGtPq1-MT7TvEUjkUt7kw7OUdBnLgB1B_BQhnxJYRI5WfUlEx_pP7ohMCXWIit7B0nQPnawZXQtwyodrphgMTzg.bhR97HJPfpFZ2uZ3pUyMTd8JR0k3DajLdmyny2ZfaWg&dib_tag=se&keywords=foam+cat+toy+balls&qid=1740140961&sprefix=foam+cat+toy%2Caps%2C127&sr=8-2-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9waG9uZV9zZWFyY2hfYXRm&psc=1
ETA: Well that link looks terrible, sorry. I don’t know how to pretty it up.
I can attest to these! I have these and a set of the Pomm ones and they are remarkably similar. Both had the same result on the mare.
ETA: I also made some DIY soundproof bonnets with foam from Joann Fabrics. Cut to shape, sewed the long side so it was into a cone shape and shoved them into my regular bonnets with slightly larger than needed ears.
1 Like
Cat toys work great and they’re way cheaper than the foam ones you buy. You can even take a Sharpie to them and make them black for shows (at home I like them colorful so I don’t forget to take them out). At some point, someone realized people were using cat toys and decided to market them specifically for horses at a much higher cost.
3 Likes
I only say this because I always want my links to be pretty too: for Amazon links, the “ref=” and everything after can be deleted.
For nearly all other links, whenever you see a ? you can usually delete everything after that.
3 Likes
Important life lesson update: When your (wise, clever) coach suggests to you that you buy the anti-murder bonnet for your stall rest horse, just buy the damn anti-murder bonnet.
Don’t dither and contemplate and try to decide whether it’s really worth it, whether you can tolerate crocheted vs. one you find more attractive to save money, whether you can get away with horse size or if the ears the size of 55-gallon drums demand oversize.
Just buy the damn anti-murder bonnet. And the Fenwick mask, too.
Even if it all costs $300 in total, and even if that hurts you in your soul, and even if a popular unit of measure for Horse Stuff Cost[1] around your household has been–ever since that junior who has since left the barn to seek her fortune elsewhere suggested it–the $130 Custom Embroidered [REDACTED PROGRAM] Team Bonnet[2], and even if you have to drive two and a half hours each way to avoid waiting for shipping.
(You want to avoid waiting for shipping.)
Anyway, she hurt me, as I knew she inevitably would at some point during this process. I had gotten off hastily to avoid being yote (which is something I had ample opportunity to contemplate: better to be on the ground near the flying hooves or on the back co-starring in the rodeo impersonation?) and she knocked me over, ripped the reins through my hands, and went on an entirely unauthorized canter jaunt around the farm.
So I took my ring off so it wouldn’t swell, taped my fingers together and rode the third one, and then went and got quite drunk with a friend. I got a lot of practice doing a lot of things with my fingers taped together, since it ultimately lasted long enough that I gave in and went to the ortho (which cost almost as much as the stupid anti-murder bonnet would have), which is also why I didn’t update this thread sooner, because it’s unsurprisingly hard and painful to type with your fingers taped together.
And then I made time to go buy $300[3] worth of anti-murder supplies.
Five stars, no notes, works great.
Except the note about–and I repeat, once again–JUST BUY THE DAMN ANTI-MURDER BONNET.
[1]: Other units include the $1300 Horse Nebulizer, as well as the horse itself.
[2]: I did not, in fact, purchase the $130 Custom Embroidered [REDACTED PROGRAM] Team Bonnet.
[3]: The bonnet and mask together were a little north of $200, but I also had to replace my dressage whip, which was a casualty of a different day.
13 Likes
Yote? Is this a term I do not know or just an autocorrect? I am googling.
ETA: no help from Google.
1 Like
I assume a past tense of the term yeet? Google should have that one but it would be to throw her off
8 Likes
Fascinating. I’m not all up on the slang these days, being a lady of a certain age. Or just completely oblivious. I don’t think I was much more aware when I was younger 
Old enough to own and appreciate my nerdiness 
2 Likes
Inquiring minds need to know which bonnet specifically is the anti murder bonnet?!?
6 Likes
Past tense of “yeet”, said cheekily. The meme is mostly just “creative conjugation” vs an established form.
(My personal favorite is ‘the Lord yeeteth and the Lord yoinketh away’ 
)
Also @RooTheDay your post had me cackling. Hope your hand is okay!
10 Likes
Have you noticed any difference using this? Debating on getting one for my horse when we trail ride since you can get it where it covers the ears and he can be soothed at the same time if it works.
Oh no! I am so sorry you got hurt, but my are you funny! Fingers (but maybe not yours) crossed for an uneventful healing and continued positive updates.
3 Likes
An exceedingly reasonable question, @axl. @fivestrideline nailed it (and may in the process have added a new quote to my arsenal.)
This is also a great question! It’s the Equifit SilentFit shown here in Parachute Size (aka O/S.) And yes, her ears Really Are that big:
I personally went for versatility: I got the earless Fenwick mask (in XL, in case anyone’s wondering about sizing reference; a L probably also could have worked but I like the looser fit best), the aforementioned SilentFit bonnet, and a pair of the Equifit contoured ear plugs.
Two out of three of these things worked.
With one emphatic shake of her head, one ear plug sailed straight into her water bucket and the other somehow popped OVER the 8’ stall wall into her neighbor’s territory. Still don’t know how she managed that but it was enough to terminate the Great Ear Plug Experiment.
To actually answer your question, though: The difference between no bonnet/no mask and bonnet + mask is amazing. She was previously on 11 150 mg traz 2x/day plus I was acing her for every ride and she was still blowing through the ace almost every day despite the fact that I’d come out very early or very late when things were quiet. She’s now on 5 150 mg traz 2x/day, I only ace her when something’s going on (maybe a day every couple weeks), and yet the pendulum has still swung back to Boredom vs. Terror. (These are the two emotions when dealing with a stall-rest horse.)
But I haven’t done science on Mask No Bonnet vs. Bonnet No Mask vs. Bonnet Mask, and while I am usually very pro-science, in this specific instance I have surprisingly little desire to do so. (Since there is no real scientific evidence for why or how the mask would work, that also hurt me in my soul. But broadly, I would rather that my soul hurt vs., say, some of my bones.)
That said, they put one on her during her previous rehab stint (the one where I paid people, instead of DIYing it) while she was on the water treadmill and she seemed very chill about it, and a few people at my barn have them and seem to think they help. So… can’t hurt anything except your wallet, I guess?
5 Likes
Snurk
1 Like
Thanks, I think. I am of an age and from a geographic area when this word was primarily used in the question “yeet yet?” And the response would be something like “Nope, what’s for dinner?”
8 Likes
My riding teacher’s “personal” horse wears a Fenwick Face Mask with Ears a few years ago. She puts it on EVERY ride. With it on he stays mostly calm, he listens to his rider, and he “deals” with stuff without freaking out.
Without it he is on constant ALERT–POSSIBLE DANGER about every movement or rustle in the brush. Horse killing tigers are hunting HIM, cleverly lurking in the underbrush (no matter how sparse the underbrush is.)
I put the Fenwick Face Mask with ears on every horse I ride nowadays, every single time I ride them, even though the horse might not “need” it. I have MS and bad balance and this piece of gear lets me have calmer rides.
Clearly still not topic related - Another option is to make the link not show and just have whatever words you want to show in its place.
Like this -
random link to this very thread being used as an example
This is accomplished by using brackets around the words you want to show and parenthesis around the link. That above link with spaces added so it does not show as a link.
[ random link to this very thread being used as an example ] ( [Anti-murder efficacy update post #16] Anti-murder bonnet recommendations? )
1 Like
