I have always used fly masks with ear covers on my guys because we have such an assortment of nasty flying nuisances here for a few months each year. Recently two people I know have sworn they are inherently dangerous because insects can get inside and drive the horse to run in a frenzy until its hurts itself. They use halters with fringes attached. That raises other issues, such as the dangers of turning out with a halter and the fact that fringes don’t protect their ears. I know that there has to be a bit of a space between the horse’s jaw and the mask or they will get rubs but honestly I’ve never, in over twenty years of using masks, had a problem. Other than a horse rubbing it off and then using as a play item… Interested in your perspective.
There is absolutely nothing associated with a horse that is 100% safe. Period.
In the grande scheme of horse things I think fly masks are pretty darn safe and work well for their intended purpose(s).
My bigger worry about fly masks is that they’ll get caught up on something and then the horse will be stuck and struggle and hurt itself. I’ve had only one time when a horse was irritated by a fly mask and it was one with ears on it. He ran around as if he had a bee in his bonnet and so I took it off and he was fine again. Changed to non-ear fly masks and he was fine.
One of mine doesn’t wear a fly mask, she doesn’t seem to attract flies for some reason. The other one was going without a fly mask until the smoke from the fires got really irritating here, then his eyes started running, then the flies started bothering him.
I don’t think they are inherently dangerous.
You have to change your question 
CAN a fly mask be dangerous? Yes. Horses are built to lean towards self-destruction and will somehow find a way to make a problem for themselves. That doesn’t mean they’re all dangerous. If someone is really that concerned about a fly getting stuck under the mask, then um, just be careful about putting it on?
Yes an insect can get inside a fly mask. Is a horse going to be driven to self destructive insanity if one does? Probably not. CAN it happen? Sure. Will it likely happen? Probably not.
I don’t think their inherently dangerous. I mean horses seem to be pretty much born trying to injure themselves, so I’m pretty sure everything you put on or around your horse could cause some sort of injury. I don’t put them on my guys simply because they are used as tug-of-war toys and then I get the fun of a scavenger hunt in the field as a bonus. I can say I’ve worked at an awful lot of barns and put countless fly masks, sheets etc on horses and I’ve never seen the trapped bug scenario personally
Too true! Horses are born to self-destruct with the least provocation. I never thought about fly masks being a problem until I heard the stories of trapped insects. My guys like them and will wait at the door until I put them on before they go out for the day. We get swarms of gnats that just make a bloody pulp of the inside of their ears and face or eye flies from August onwards that torment them and make their eyes runny. One friend had an ex-racehorse who got a bee under his mask and just ran until he went through the fence and fell down, hurting himself. That sounds like a rare exception to me and he was prone to self-injury anyway. On balance I think they are a good thing.
I spray my fly mask with fly spray before I put it on, same with the fly bonnet when I trail ride. I figure it helps keep the flys away from the face a little better. I can get spray the mask/bonnet pretty heavily.
I had one horse who hated having a fly bonnet I think at least once he got a knat under it and in the ear. He was normally pretty calm and would suddenly start spinning with the bonnet on. This was before I started to fly spray the bonnets.
If only I could find one of those masks that are work to get off. :lol:
I gave up putting a mask on my one mare, she gets them off way too quickly and I got tired of searching for them.
For the win.
G.
My biggest problem is walking the pasture to find the darned thing that has come off because the velcro is not so strong with bits of hayseeds in it.
Fly sheets have caused me grief when a stinging insect got caught under it.
We only have the broodmare wearing a make now, velcro fastening is fairly easy to take off. I actually added more velcro because there was only an inch holding it on. She wears the Warmblood size for enough eye clearance, but doesn’t have massive jaws to use up extra fabric there. She did get it off a couple times because it was not tight enough when rubbing head on a foreleg. The new Cashel mask has a double velcro fastener with elastic for several urea fastening. However it did not let me tighten it enough, so I cut off the outer velcro tab and sewed part of it back on the mask, further up th cheek. This has worked well on her. She is out with foal, no one trying to pull mask off her. She has ear covers, which I like.
I never leave masks on at night because of reduced vision. Two old sensible, QUIET, been-there horses were out masked, when we got home late, in the dark. I could NOT walk up to them, they wanted to fight!! They were back-to-back, looking for danger!! It took a lot of sweet talking, time, before they let us approach and halter them to pull off masks. They acted very spooky leading back to the barn, kept sniffing us for knowing we were safe people. It was a side we had never seen of them, did NOT want to see again!! Could easily have hurt themselves or us, being so frightened or had spooked to run. So no night masks on anything here. Just asking for trouble with this experience.
As others said, horses can get hurt on anything, some are suicidal. You can’t change their nature. Spraying the masks sounds like an excellent idea, in prevention of insects under the mesh. Even naked horses will hurt themselves in a stupid moment. I would NOT do halters with fringes, even more things to snag on.
Blasted auto spell! Can’t edit either. Should be broodmare mask, not make.
Yes, they apparently are masks that blind horses according to the little old lady that had to drive to our barn and let us know. She said the horses can’t see so that’s why they were ‘leaning’ on each other for comfort. I kid you not…
They can be dangerous. I know I’ll never ride with one again. That bright idea just about got me killed when a big horsefly got underneath it!
I’m also hesitant to put flymasks on when it’s raining/forecast of rain, because I worry the mesh, when wet, would be impossible to see through.
That being said, I don’t bother with flymasks at all anymore, because the horses seem to get them off so quickly it’s not really worth my effort.
I always used flymasks on my horses in Colorado. I haven’t used it once on my retired pony since moving him to South Carolina. Flies aren’t the real problem where he is boarded–it’s the tiny no-see-ums. They would get right under a mask, so there doesn’t seem to be much point to using it. Instead, I wipe fly spray on his face and ears.
Rebecca
Rebecca - the masks actually do seem to protect my guys from those nasty little gnats. I don’t know why, because they certainly are small enough to get under the mask. But they don’t seem to - when I take mine off at night there are no gnats, but if I leave the masks off their poor faces are black with them.
I think my horse Conjure may be allergic to them. I have to coat the underside of his jaw and the midline of his belly with Swat or he develops huge raw sores from the gnats.
So looking forward to fall!
My horses wear fly masks all summer, day and night (checked regularly, of course). I’ve never been aware of any issues with insects under the masks, nor any evidence of anyone going berserk, nor running into anything because they can’t see properly.
I also find them on the ground often enough to believe that if there was an issue (like getting hung up on a fence) they would be able to free themselves pretty easily.
I did have an incident with horses going berserk and a fly mask once - but in that case they found a black fly mask on the ground and thought it was a monster, and went berserk.
I’m still willing to risk it.
We normally have 8-12 horses on the property and we use fly masks all the time. Been using then for over 15 years. Never had a horse get a wasp or bee under the mask. The horses do manage to wiggle out of the masks from time to time. My guys would be miserable without the protection of their masks and would pace the gate without them. The mask provide UV and insect protection. They come off when the horses are inside. We use the Cashel masks. Minimal rubbing. Very durable and easily repaired by the blanket lady when needed.
OneTwoMany, I use the Cashel masks as well. I like the double lock Velcro. I get the ones with the forelock opening because they seem cooler for the horse and the forelock on the outside helps anchor the mask a bit. I can’t imagine my horses going through the summer insect assault mask less. You also make a good point about UV protection.
@pAin’t_Misbehavin’, thanks so much for the advice! So far, fly spray seems to be doing the trick, but I’ll try going back to the mask if the gnats start bothering him. My main concern is to make sure his mask comes off before it gets dark, as he has never liked being in the dark with a mask on. He will just stay in one place until someone comes to rescue him. Sometimes that makes for awkward timing on making sure his mask comes off when it should. I try not to load too many things with specific timing requirements onto the BO. It was different when he was at home.
Rebecca
