Bonnet help

[IPEsq]

My horse made his dressage debut over the weekend. Originally intended for hunterland, he really loves his ear plugs. He has super duper hearing, and they help him focus. And he also hates bugs in his face (has some headshaking triggered by bugs, dust, wind). So, we have been trying those noise dampening bonnets since ear plugs are not legal for dressage. But they are a huge PITA. He can shake them off very easily, and he even shook his whole bridle off at the show despite an appropriately tightened throatlatch. I think perhaps he got extra sweaty.

He has extra large ears too, so he needs something that comes in XL/oversize generally. This also limits brands. I tried a LeMieux one, and after shaking it off several times (though not the bridle), I made a throatlatch for it which I tied into the crochet parts. Because it was very hot at the show, he wore this one the first day and thankfully only shook one ear out in the warmup and it stayed put the rest of the time. I also have an Equifit which we tried before the show and it stayed put. It is even hotter, so I saved it for day 2 when the ride was at a cooler time. But the bugs were worse. Thankfully it happened on the exit to the arena, but this is when he shook so hard everything came off. Good news is he was calm about it.

Both days after removing the bonnet for the checks, he was much more spooky and worried to go back to the barn through all the commotion that didn’t bother him with the bonnet on. But it’s clearly quite dangerous to have the risk of losing the bridle!

My super old school (25+ years old) Dover one with the tassels doesn’t make him shake at all, although it doesn’t help much with sound. I think having the thick ears on the silent bonnets plus more sweat plus a big head/big ears just gives the bonnet too much momentum to start flying off. But I am worried now about moving to a more appropriate looking non-silent bonnet for the flies and just dealing with more spookiness since it seems all of the new styles have no throat strap.

Any suggestions?

He wears a bridle that has a lot of poll relief, so I’m thinking this is not helping matters either.

[AEQ817]

De La Coeur makes good ear bonnets and I have heard they are easy to work with for customization. I could see it getting pricey though.

I’ve tried and used the equiline, but I wouldn’t say my horse has extremely long ears. He still had room though.

Have you tried clipping his head/ear area? Might help with the sweat and heat when using it.

[slp2]

Have you tried the Schockemohle bonnet? I can confirm that the ear “size” is very generous. The regular size fits my husbands big draft cross with YUGE ears! :winkgrin: However, not sure it helps with the problem of them being shaken off. My husband has experienced that too. It only happened once, but the bridle came off with the bonnet—just as you described. It seems to be a problem that you see mentioned in the reviews for all of the padded ear bonnets.

https://www.smartpakequine.com/pt/schockemohle-silent-ear-bonnet-12233

[IPEsq]

@slp2

Have you tried the Schockemohle bonnet? I can confirm that the ear “size” is very generous. The regular size fits my husbands big draft cross with YUGE ears! :winkgrin: However, not sure it helps with the problem of them being shaken off. My husband has experienced that too. It only happened once, but the bridle came off with the bonnet—just as you described. It seems to be a problem that you see mentioned in the reviews for all of the padded ear bonnets.

https://www.smartpakequine.com/pt/schockemohle-silent-ear-bonnet-12233

I read someone complain about this one in the h/j forum for the same reason–whole bridle shook off. Good to know on sizing, though.

[IPEsq]

@AEQ817

De La Coeur makes good ear bonnets and I have heard they are easy to work with for customization. I could see it getting pricey though.

I’ve tried and used the equiline, but I wouldn’t say my horse has extremely long ears. He still had room though.

Have you tried clipping his head/ear area? Might help with the sweat and heat when using it.

His summer coat is extremely thin, and he’s got basically no mane. Another bonus of the bonnet is it hides his really sad looking forelock. :lol: There’s really nothing to clip, and his ears get trimmed up a bit so that we can school in the plugs without me pulling his ear hairs too much. I think it’s just these thicker materials for the silent bonnets that get super sweaty, but the entire poll area got sweatier with the Equifit than the LeMieux even though it seemed like a more technical fabric and is non-neoprene.

[knic13]

I can confirm that the cheaper horze silencer bonnet does the same thing. I’ve used lots of different bonnets on the same horse with the same bridle but the horze one is the only one that came off, bridle and all.

[IPEsq]

@Absolut Equestrian

Take a look at options from the Hangry Mare. Beautifully made from breathable material, customizable for color and size, and VERY reasonably priced as well!

Will do. Love that name, btw! This gelding sure gets hangry all the time :lol:

[RideHard]

Another vote for the hangry mare, I got a beautiful bonnet last year and I believe it has some grippy strips on the underside.

[IPEsq]

Ok, so looking at hangry mare… perhaps the trick is the silicone underneath? I suppose I could ask my local cycling apparel company how they find silicone strips for their clothing. But I’ve seen some hacks online that apply silicone caulking material from the home improvement stores for some DIY clothing grip. I wonder if I could add something like that to the bonnets I already have? Might start with the cycling clothing company for this one… I could glue or stick a strip on. I just did a lot of googling and didn’t come up with how to get silicone that’s not infused into some kind of elastic. Of course that is not used any longer on these newfangled laser cut fabrics, needless to say it would add more bulk than I’m looking for to use the elastic.

[xQHDQ]

My horse shook off the Schockemohle bonnet along with his bridle at a show. Rider bailed and landed safely. Bridle broke into a million pieces. Horse ran back to the barn at top speed through the show grounds, and luckily was unhurt. That brand does have very large ears - my horse has a very small head, so maybe that contributed somehow.

[Puddin_Pie]

There is a PS of Sweden bonnet that has Velcro straps to attach to the bridle. I don’t know if this would help with shaking the bridle off or not.

[IPEsq]

@Puddin Pie

There is a PS of Sweden bonnet that has Velcro straps to attach to the bridle. I don’t know if this would help with shaking the bridle off or not.

I am not sure if that would help either. At first with the LeMieux, I tied it to the crown. He shook it off his ears and it stayed attached to the bridle. It does a little better with my added throat strap, though I found he can still
get his ears out if it’s not quite tight enough. The Equifit looked like a better option because it extends back down the neck more. At least in our practice use. But apparently that isn’t good enough either.

There is a local person who makes some custom bonnets. If I can figure out some kind of sporty silicone grip solution, I will ask her to go into business on a shake proof soundless bonnet ;). I can’t tell if the hangry mare type ones would still work with thicker ears. I would like to avoid putting spray adhesive on, though :lol:

Or maybe USDF should just allow plugs since they are allowing these bonnets, but that’s another issue I guess.

[HungarianHippo]

Highly recommend F.U.N. Bonnets The bonnets are all made to order and her sizing is perfect. Bonnet stays on my drafty-headed QH/Perch without needing velcro, silicone, etc-- it just fits. I don’t know whether she has a sound reducing version, but worth it to reach out and ask.

[atr]

I think it’s the anatomic bridles that are the issue with the bonnets. With a conventional (ish, it’s a split crown Dobert) bridle, my horse has so far failed to get his Schockemole (extra large) off. Of course he hasn’t really tried as he seems to find the combination quite comfortable. (Now an antomic bridle, he just hates!)

[Arlomine]

Put a loop or two of yarn around and through the back of the bonnet and loop it around bridle crown piece. Tie it to the first braid. Make sure you have the first braid very close to the crown piece/short bridle path.

[Samantha37]

Go custom. That’s what I did with my little tiny eared horse. I paid $55 (including shipping) for noise cancelling ears, 2 piping colors and a cord.

https://www.facebook.com/ifthebonnetfits

I also cut holes in my Schockemole so I could run the throatlatch through on both sides for a horse who tries to shake his bonnet off.

[IPEsq]

I have tried tying to the crown, which doesn’t work. His first braid is so sad and basically 75% yarn, so adding a tie onto the braid is going to be only questionably more secure. He’s got basically no hair, and I almost just roached it all off. I do think the poll relief/anatomic crown isn’t helping, but he appears to have had some kind of poll injury as a baby, so once we discovered that (at which time the nuchal ligament was not very happy), I changed to the type of crown he is currently wearing, and we have subsequently ultrasounded a few times with everything looking good. So I’m hesitant to change bridles.

That is a good idea of running the bridle throatlatch through versus making a separate cord and wrapping that around the throatlatch (which is what I did with the LeMieux with mixed results).

[HungarianHippo]

Have to ask, though, and truly not trying to be provocative, but if the horse is determined enough to remove the bonnet that it shakes off the bridle, I would take that as a sign that the bonnet is irritating. So I’d try to solve that, rather than work on ways to make sure he can’t get it off. Of course I don’t think anyone’s causing their horse pain with a cloth bonnet.

It’s interesting to me to hear multiple posters say that the horse is more reactive without the sound reduction bonnet, but at the same time seems to really want the thing off its head: I sorta wonder if it’s not acting like a twitch. A harmless but potent distractor that makes the horse ignore the other distractor (such as a vet’s needle stick). Just a theory

[IPEsq]

@HungarianHippo

Have to ask, though, and truly not trying to be provocative, but if the horse is determined enough to remove the bonnet that it shakes off the bridle, I would take that as a sign that the bonnet is irritating. So I’d try to solve that, rather than work on ways to make sure he can’t get it off. Of course I don’t think anyone’s causing their horse pain with a cloth bonnet.

It’s interesting to me to hear multiple posters say that the horse is more reactive without the sound reduction bonnet, but at the same time seems to really want the thing off its head: I sorta wonder if it’s not acting like a twitch. A harmless but potent distractor that makes the horse ignore the other distractor (such as a vet’s needle stick). Just a theory

He wasn’t constantly shaking or anything so who knows. He finished his test then did one huge shake when on the long rein, and off came everything. Perhaps it does irritate some I am not sure. He will sometimes be bothered by his ear plugs too but usually does not shake them, so they are worth it for him being more relaxed overall. He doesn’t do those kinds of shakes with the regular bonnet though, and the soundless one is definitely more hot/sweaty, so I’m not discounting that it might not be his favorite thing. I don’t think it’s like a twitch at all. I do think it dampens noise, which is an experience this horse prefers.

I do think there needs to be a better legal solution for noise reduction for dressage. Because clearly there are drawbacks to the bonnets the way they are currently executed. Though some in other disciplines tolerate the plugs a lot less well so the bonnets have some utility for them too even where plugs are legal.

[xQHDQ]

@HungarianHippo

Have to ask, though, and truly not trying to be provocative, but if the horse is determined enough to remove the bonnet that it shakes off the bridle, I would take that as a sign that the bonnet is irritating. So I’d try to solve that, rather than work on ways to make sure he can’t get it off. Of course I don’t think anyone’s causing their horse pain with a cloth bonnet.

It’s interesting to me to hear multiple posters say that the horse is more reactive without the sound reduction bonnet, but at the same time seems to really want the thing off its head: I sorta wonder if it’s not acting like a twitch. A harmless but potent distractor that makes the horse ignore the other distractor (such as a vet’s needle stick). Just a theory

I don’t think the bonnet is that bothersome. My horse just shook his head once like he had a fly. I think it’s more a design with the bonnet and the bridle. The material is more slippery than the bridle leather; the bonnet has more surface area and weight so when they shake it has more momentum to come off. I don’t know.

Would love ear plugs to be legal. They are in QH and jumpers…