Fly mask turnout to halter or not to halter?

[Bugs_s_Mom]

My horse managed to almost completely rip off his lower eyelid overnight Sunday and is now being treated for the injury. My issue is he will now be wearing a fly mask for the duration of fly season as we have a lot of gnats that like to swarm his eyes and cause constant rubbing. He will be back out with his buddy next week and they play hard, so I am concerned about his fly mask staying on. I have never been a fan of 24/7 halter use but would be willing to consider it with a leather halter if that will help secure his mask. Does anyone else have experience with this type of situation and advice for handling it?

Side note, we aren’t sure what he got hung on but we will be working on cleaning up all fence lines this weekend and removing as many potential risks as possible. Fingers crossed they don’t find anything else to injure themselves on but horses will be horses.

If there is already a post about this please let me know and remove mine, thanks!

I am super new to this forum so hello everyone

[Highflyer]

I think the halter does help. I have had the best luck with the regular Farnam masks with triple lock velcro and no ears.

[2DogsFarm]

Horses are absolute magicians at getting injured.
You may never find the offending eyelid-ripper :no:
My TB managed to cut his lip needing 7 stitches to close.
In his stall, where we could not find a single spatter of blood, sharp object or anything he might have sliced it on.
On a Sunday, so emergency vet was Xtra pricy :rolleyes:

Agree with @Highflyer
The triple lock velcro really keeps a mask on, halter is added insurance - maybe one with a leather breakaway crown?

[ASB_Stars]

I use soft nylon halters that are made for me in the Amish country, over top of my fly masks. The halters absolutely DO help hold the masks on. I love the ones with ears, and the best buy- for durability and price, has been the Defender masks on horse.com.

Good luck!

[trubandloki]

I have found, like some of the others, that the masks with out ears are harder for the horse to remove.
Less is more in this situations. Adding a nose cover, for example, seems to make removal easier.

I think a break-away halter with the fly mask is the most likely way to keep it on.

As far as how he did this, do you have water buckets? Are the loops made by the handle taped so there is no space to get any stuck in there? That is a really common place for eye injuries.

[mmeqcenter]

Yes I would leave a well fitting halter on. Leather or breakaway.

[bluepece2]

A well fitting fly mask and a leather halter work well for us. I found the Rambo mask to stay on very well and the mask doesn’t interfere with their eyes, I find that a lot of the others smash into their eyes.

[Bugs_s_Mom]

Thank you everyone for your advice! I am looking for some used leather halters now as I don’t want to sink money in one that will be out in the sun constantly. I just received the Cashel Crusader fly mask without ears. I ordered it as soon as the vet left. I will also look into the other masks suggested as I am willing to try anything at this point :sigh:

As far as buckets, we have two large black rubber water tubs that have no metal parts. The feed bucket is a unibody plastic one that hooks onto the fence with no metal. We do use the metal carports as run ins and we have some metal fencing as well as wood fencing. I will be taping all stall buckets though as they do have metal handles and I didn’t think about them being a hazard. He did this out in the pasture as he is pasture boarded unless we have severe weather.

Alternatively I could just attempt to bubble wrap him right? Seriously though if I could, I would!

[Toblersmom]

I have a Cashel Crusader for my guy and it stays on pretty darn well without a halter (but he doesn’t have any issues that make the fly mask a more pressing necessity, either–I might well use a halter as insurance if I had that going on). I have to have it snugged up pretty good, though, the fabric corners on actually overlap slightly, so the fuzzy Velcro tab end goes well past the corner it’s supposed to intersect with. I just fold over the free “hooky” flap so that it engages the fuzzy for as great a length as possible and he has an odd little tab that sticks out.

[bluepece2]

I just get the least expensive leather halter in the tack shop, my mare is out in hers at least 4 hours a day every day. I’ve never oiled it or cleaned it and a year on it still is fine. It’s not beautiful but it’s still doing it’s job

[IPEsq]

I don’t like to halter for 24/7 wear. I would get one without nose cover, which is easier for the buddy to grab onto.

I usually use Cashel but SmartPak has some different (at least they look different to me) fly masks out this year that have a HUGE velcro closure without as much stretch as Cashel, so while I don’t love putting them on super tight (I mean, they have to use their jaw), you could snug it up a fair amount to deter removal.

[drafting_dots]

For the halter, you can find cheap ($20ish) single stitched leather online. I buy the Royal King brand because they carry oversize. I like them because they’re only a bit thicker than a breakaway crownpiece (this is also why they have bad reviews lol)

Other cheap leather halters are practically nylon they’re so reinforced and plasticy. I don’t turn out in mine typically but it only just broke after a year of use and storage out on the fence. And about 5 cleanings and maybe 3 moisturizings the whole time.

[Bugs_s_Mom]

Thank you!

So an update on the wonder child. He is now going on antihistamines because he will not stop rubbing his face:eek:. I am going to the tack store Saturday to look for a leather halter. He and his pasture mate like to play halter tag so I am confident they will rip off a a fly mask once reunited.

The Cashel does seem to be sturdy and has good velcro closure. I am borrowing a Kensington as a backup for now but may see what the store carries as well. My issue with this particular Kensington is he didn’t seem to be able to see as well with it. At this point whatever I can do to protect as much of his face as possible I will do. If I could put him in a bubble he would be there already:no:

[drafting_dots]

@Bugs's Mom

Thank you!

So an update on the wonder child. He is now going on antihistamines because he will not stop rubbing his face:eek:. I am going to the tack store Saturday to look for a leather halter. He and his pasture mate like to play halter tag so I am confident they will rip off a a fly mask once reunited.

This happens to my horse every summer Last year he went on antihistamines for two weeks and he was fine for a month after, then he was back on and fine after. This year I gave him a week of antihist and then did some googling and heard about putting baby oil on their faces. I’ve been doing this for a month and so far so good. I’m pretty pleased because last year he got to the point of creating pussy wounds! Might be worth trying, it’s cheap and easy.

[Bugs_s_Mom]

@drafting_dots

This happens to my horse every summer Last year he went on antihistamines for two weeks and he was fine for a month after, then he was back on and fine after. This year I gave him a week of antihist and then did some googling and heard about putting baby oil on their faces. I’ve been doing this for a month and so far so good. I’m pretty pleased because last year he got to the point of creating pussy wounds! Might be worth trying, it’s cheap and easy.

I will try it. At this point I will try anything! I feel so bad for him because I know he isn’t comfortable at all. Baby oil is dirt cheap, antihistamines not so much. He has a 50+% white face that gets sunburned easily should I be worried about that with baby oil?

[IPEsq]

@Bugs's Mom

I will try it. At this point I will try anything! I feel so bad for him because I know he isn’t comfortable at all. Baby oil is dirt cheap, antihistamines not so much. He has a 50+% white face that gets sunburned easily should I be worried about that with baby oil?

Yes I would worry about sunburn with baby oil on pink skin. But perhaps you can moisturize with something else and add SPF?

[drafting_dots]

@IPEsq

Yes I would worry about sunburn with baby oil on pink skin. But perhaps you can moisturize with something else and add SPF?

ah, yeah… mine is black so I didn’t think of that! They sell a kind with aloe and vit e which would help with moisture. Do they make UV fly masks?

[Bugs_s_Mom]

I do have a can of A&D, the stuff for diaper rash that I have used before. I also read that neem oil is good for the skin and insect repellent. I am all about something natural so this peaked my interest. Does anyone have any experience with this? I currently use lemongrass and eucalyptus essential oils for fly spray and could easily add neem oil.

​

[LovieBird]

My horse busted his head open (think face lift incision) and I did the same thing- flymask + halter. I really like the Cashel fly masks- they don’t gape open as much as some of the others.

[IPEsq]

@Bugs's Mom

I do have a can of A&D, the stuff for diaper rash that I have used before. I also read that neem oil is good for the skin and insect repellent. I am all about something natural so this peaked my interest. Does anyone have any experience with this? I currently use lemongrass and eucalyptus essential oils for fly spray and could easily add neem oil.

​

Maybe you can try one of the Equiderma products?