Cashel Quiet Ride Bug Armor - Experiences?

[sublimequine]

I am just at my wit’s end with the bugs! :mad:

My mare is really sensitive to bugs. She lives in a fly sheet all summer, but when I want to hit the trails, even if I literaly SOAK her in fly spray… she’s still twitching and kicking and swinging her head around constantly to get the bugs off her.

Does anyone have the Cashel Quiet Ride Bug Armor? Does it really work well? Is it really one size fits all? My mare wears an 82 blanket and has a HUGE butt (QH with halter breeding… need I say more? :lol: ).

I just can’t stand it anymore, our trail rides are just getting RUINED by the bugs!!! :no::no::no:

[Trakehner]

I ride in the Cashel face covering for my guys…I haven’t tried the armor yet.

[MintHillFarm]

I ride in a Cashel face mask as well and am very pleased with the protection it offers my TB.

I have not tried the armor however…

[sublimequine]

[QUOTE=Trakehner;4261968]
I ride in the Cashel face covering for my guys…I haven’t tried the armor yet.[/QUOTE]

Ironically, she never really gets upset about her face. It’s her shoulders, belly, and flanks that get bothered the most.

How do you like the mask, though? Is it high quality, durable, long-lasting, etc?

[MintHillFarm]

I have had the same Cashel mask for 5 years or more. It has held up great! I do not use it for turn out, so it is well cared for…it is well worth the money!

[sublimequine]

[QUOTE=MintHillFarm;4261998]
I have had the same Cashel mask for 5 years or more. It has held up great! I do not use it for turn out, so it is well cared for…it is well worth the money![/QUOTE]

Good to hear! Obviously the riding gear wouldn’t be for turnout either… I’ve got a Kensington fly sheet for that.

[kcmel]

So do you guys use the long-nosed mask? Does it bother them? Do they get hot? Can you cut it off (my guy has a short nose:lol:).

[sublimequine]

[QUOTE=kcmel;4262052]
So do you guys use the long-nosed mask? Does it bother them? Do they get hot? Can you cut it off (my guy has a short nose:lol:).[/QUOTE]

My mare had the turnout version of the long nose mask… didn’t bother her any, but she was very good at removing it. :lol:

[camohn]

I too have only used the mask…had it for years until last week when hubby accidentally put it on as a turnout flymask and it got ripped by the rambunctious boys.

[Auventera_Two]

I’ve been using it for at least 7 or 8 years (my same original set.) I LOVE IT. I used to use it on my big Appendix mare and she was 16.1 hands and looked half Draft. It fit her just fine. I now use it on my smaller horses and its baggy but works fine.

Here we are last year: http://www.hphoofcare.com/Nicolet%20forest%20bug%20suit.jpg

My mask met an untimely demise with a lawn mower so I didn’t have it in that photo, but I bought a replacement.

The stuff wears like iron and is very effective.

[Drive_NJ]

For years I rode a hackney horse with cobbed tail
He was tormented int he summer by bugs and almost impossible to deal with.
One time we were at Martins Carriage Auction and I bid on an antique fly net and won the bid.
We would use this while driving (the only way we could drive safely in bug season) and then I tried riding with it. It worked for us! I put the saddle pad UNDER the flynet - then the saddle. Our original antique net had a breast strap and I made a tail cord to keep it in place.

We have since found the same type of nets (and use them for driving - I cant ride anymore) Check out this site - one of the best prices and great people to deal with
http://www.bigblackhorse.com/HorseTackFlyNets.shtml

The cord face masks also work well. What makes it all work is that the cords swing and move so bugs rarely land.
I would be cautions about using it if I were going through dense brush/bushes etc
I use the draft size on my size 84 blanket DraftXPerch
most horses should do OK with the horse size and the used to make a pony/cob size that friends have used on a 14H morgan. I should be fairly easy to downsize as its nylon and could be cut and heat sealed the new edges. (It is made to attach to a harness neck strap in front, but you can ignore that)

My concern about the bug armor is IF any of those vicious greenheads or deer flies got under the net, they couldnt get out
We DO have a friend with an driving and endurance arab who uses the Cashel armor both riding and driving and she likes it. My old horse was very leary of approaching her horse the first time he saw the full get-up, but he got used to her once he realized that they WERE a horse.
My hores ( 5 have used it now) have had no problem getting used to wearing the string net
the face masks they show also work well - we used them riding for years before Cashel came out with their facemask
Also love the crochet earnet you can get at most tack stores

and one more thing - we always used to ride with a flywisk. (crop like stick with horsehair tail attached) those things are great because YOU can flick off the flies where your horse cant reach

[sublimequine]

Thanks for the input folks, I appreciate it!

A2, did you notice any of your horses getting hot or anything under it? And also, does it allow full range of motion?

[Auventera_Two]

@sublimequine;4262610

Thanks for the input folks, I appreciate it!

A2, did you notice any of your horses getting hot or anything under it? And also, does it allow full range of motion?

The whole thing is open weave mesh so any heat underneath has to be minimal. I never noticed any problems. Of course when it’s above 80 I don’t ride because I detest heat. So if you’re riding in 80+, then I don’t know???

No restriction of movement at all. The whole thing is just a baggy mesh that hangs over the horse.

The only problem I’ve ever had is sometimes while galloping, the hindquarter piece will flip over on one side. But I don’t think you gallop your horse in the fields so that’s probably not an issue. When we’re done with our romp, I just flip it back over the way its supposed to be.

[Auventera_Two]

@Drive NJ;4262534

My concern about the bug armor is IF any of those vicious greenheads or deer flies got under the net, they couldnt get out

I had that happen once. I got about 4 or 5 of them under the hindquarter piece. I just grabbed it, pulled it up around my saddle, swatted the flies, then put it back down. That’s the only time its ever happened.

The suit isn’t strapped down to the horse so you can’t get it off or up in a hurry. All you have to do is grab it and pull it up or sideways if you need to in a hurry.

[sublimequine]

[QUOTE=Auventera Two;4262739]
The whole thing is open weave mesh so any heat underneath has to be minimal. I never noticed any problems. Of course when it’s above 80 I don’t ride because I detest heat. So if you’re riding in 80+, then I don’t know???

No restriction of movement at all. The whole thing is just a baggy mesh that hangs over the horse.

The only problem I’ve ever had is sometimes while galloping, the hindquarter piece will flip over on one side. But I don’t think you gallop your horse in the fields so that’s probably not an issue. When we’re done with our romp, I just flip it back over the way its supposed to be.[/QUOTE]

85 is about the hottest temp I’ll ride in, so it sounds like it won’t be an issue.

And no, I don’t do a ton of galloping. A fast canter is usually about it. :lol:

[Certifiedgirl]

I haven’t tried the armour, just have the face mask and I never leave the trailer w/o it! My mare was miserable before I got it, and no fun to ride because she was tossing her head constantly. We just did our first 30 a few weeks ago and the face mask worked great. I do like the Cashel products, have couple of their felt pad liners and they have held up really well too, they are good quality and seem to last.

[Boomer]

I ride dressage and use Bug Armor. The front Armor piece will not fit over my warmblood’s huge head, so I only use the quarter sheet portion. It works well except when we take walk breaks… then the horseflys will sometimes go under my gelding to bite him on his sheath and they can get stuck under the quarter sheet.