Jumping a horse that wears a fly mask

[sophie]

My Tb mare is very sensitive to bugs and missing part of her nostril, and in the Summer I always ride her in a fly mask / nose net outside.
I have jumped her in this set up without problems, but when we went schooling xc this week we had some awkward jumps and I wonder if the flymask was a factor.
Twice, over Novice jumps that were half in shade and half in sun, she almost stopped and then heaved herself over - hitting a jump on landing once and skinning her hind leg just above her boot
I did jump them again without trouble.

Thinking back, whenever I jump her at home in her mask, it’s in full sun, no shade, except ONE time late afternoon when the sun was hitting a bench at an angle, throwing a long shadow in front, and she did take a long one and over jumped that one and I was a bit left behind…
Now I feel bad…

[Flyingfish]

I live in Australia, where the flies are pretty bad in summer, and we tend to ride with horse and human fly masks / veils (and sometimes fly repellent), but only ever for flatwork or hacking. I always take them off the horses for jumping, as I have always been taught they can interfere with their depth perception and ability to judge a jump.

I don’t think you’ve done terrible damage, but I’d remove them - our horses let you put them on and take them off while mounted, which does make life easier!

[DancingArabian]

It might be better if you changed to the kind of fly veil that is more sheer when you ride, or one of those long fringe browbands.

[Christa_P]

If you’re worried about the nostril they sell nose nets that attach to the noseband for head shakers.

[sophie]

@Christa P

If you’re worried about the nostril they sell nose nets that attach to the noseband for head shakers.

Yes that is what she is wearing, plus a Cashel “quiet ride” mask.

Fortunately the bugs are pretty much gone now, even with the warm and muggy weather we’re having, so I can ride her without her “netting” now.

Thanks for the comments guys.