I have had a great experience with the Guardian Eye Mask. My horse had a corneal ulcer that was being treated, but changed quickly into a melting ulcer. It required a stay at the horsepital for intensive treatment, then continuing treatment at home. The GEM worked great, and was approved by my opthamologist vet.
There is another product called the Eye Saver, I believe. It is a rigid cup in a mask, much like you would see on a TB race horse that has blinkers, only a complete, solid, opaque sphere. There are different versions, but my vet was afraid my horse would still be able to rub the affected eye, or get other rubs from trying to itch the eye, due to the design of the cup. It covers the eye, but the eye cover of the GEM is much larger in area.
The GEM did not cause rubs, the horse wore it 24/7 for a good three months to protect the eye as it healed. Horse was stabled initially for treatment, then lived outside which was her norm. Of course, I was monitoring the eye and mask on a daily basis, and several times a day for treatment and progress checks.
I had no issue with shavings, while the horse was stabled, but I occasionally had to remove a piece of hay from the body of the mask (not the eye covers). Feeding hay from ground level helped prevent any debris getting under the mask. I had several spare eye covers so I could change them out and keep them clean.
The covers are offered in different weave densities/opacities, for high light blocking and lower light blocking. I kept the high weave cup on the injured eye, and the lower weave on the normal eye. In your situation, check with your vet about which one would be right for your horse. FWIW, my vet said that horses adapt very well to the different opacities.
The stiffness of the Velcro is one of the things that maintains the shape of the cup, and prevents ‘denting in’ of it. Think of a disk of mesh, with Velcro at 90* to the surface of the disk. The Velcro attaches to similarly oriented velcro on the mask part. It takes a bit of practice to remove and replace the eye covers, matching up the Velcro so the cover is matched to the mask.
That Velcro is mightily strong---- I never had a cover come loose or gap in any way. It was very good at preventing the horse from rubbing the eye. And I know the horse tried! The mask stayed on, even when another horse in the paddock tried to play halter tag with it.
The biggest issue is sizing, so that you are sure the horse’s eye will be near the middle of the eye covers. There are specific instructions on the website for measuring. But call and you can get help easily.
I have to give the GEM company kudos, because they understood the urgency and how quickly I needed it. I loaned my set out once, after I was given the all-clear from the vet. It went to someone on another BB. After weeks and months with no response when trying to get it back, I bit the bullet and bought another set.
I’d much prefer to have it when I need it, and have it available to barn mates if needed. The cost is reasonable for the workmanship, design and durability, IMO.
ETA: the horse healed so well that after about four months the only sign of an injury was a tiny dot in the iris, and no visual deficit at all. A couple of months later, it was not noticeable at all unless I pointed out the faded tiny dot.
