Use aloe sun gels twice a day till recovery.
In order to get the ESV MAXX, it looks like you need to spend extra for the ears and nose piece.
@Belowthesalt - I am going to likely be away for most of summer 2020…would you recommend for a horse that’s going to be kicked out or will it get/retain to much dirt? She LOVES to roll in the mud.
@hlra11 - that does look good! I could definitely buy and try that. What’s the durability for a horse out 24/7 that will be left to go feral next year? Any idea?
I don’t know about roiling in the mud. I guess it depends on whether he REALLY rubs his head into it. The larger portion of the Equivisor was fine - the part on the head-eyes-cheeks. The problem for me was that when he ate, the entire nose portion got gummed up and yucky and hard to clean.
I get what you are saying. Does your horse eat soaked type feed or dry feed? From what I recall of fly masks we have had with extended noses, we didn’t really have that issue, but material of this mask might make a difference in how well food adheres to it.
Are you sure it’s sunburn? My horse and another in the barn get contact dermatitis from something in the field. I know that it’s not sunburn because my horse has a south facing stall in a shedrow and hangs his head out of his stall all day - rain or shine. The only thing that makes the blisters go away is to take him off the grass.
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I dampen it slightly so the pellets aren’t dusty, but it’s otherwise dry (oops - except for a cup of apple cider vinegar). But even when I didn’t dampen it, the nose portion got really gummy and dirty. the Equivisor seems to be of the standard polypropylene like the Farnam fly masks. Where he lives now, he has a “porch” so he can go out o his stall and move around without going into the sun, though he does both. So mostly I just use a regular non-nose mask and sunscreen the &*())^+@# out of his very big, pink nose every day. Seems to do the trick. He’s only shown signs of sunburn once in the past five years.
My mare had a bald face and would burn if we didn’t do anything for her. Had success with the Crusader Long Nose fly mask and Blue Lizard sun lotion (available at Target now). Hope he heals quickly.
I have a horse with a wide blaze who also suffers from sunburn. Right now, the Desitin is working for us, but I have seen this company’s products in some local tack shops and I have been eyeballing the nose protector. It might be worth a look for you. https://naghorseranch.com/
I have a paint with an all white head (minus his brown ears) and blue eyes, and I use this mask on him. It works great and they are super durable. Yes, pricey, but you can easily get 2-3+ seasons out of them. The ear mesh rips easily, if you get the ears, but the mask but is very strong and my horse rolls all the time. Velcro is strong, too, he almost never gets the mask off. So, worth the price to me (plus, my horse has had squamous cell carcinomas in both eyes, so I don’t have much of a choice- he wears a mask year round!). I haven’t noticed my horse getting sunburned on his nose at all.
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I use a simple Walmart brand sunscreen on my mare at least daily. She hates me putting it on, but it definitely helps. I can’t remember what SPF rating it is. She also wears a fly mask which covers her nose/mouth.
Without these, she’ll get some burns on the sides of her nose usually, nothing on her lips.
Considering that I get, on average, 4-5 years out of each $20 Farnam mask I buy, an $80 fly mask would need to last a heck of a lot longer than 2-3 seasons to be worth it to me!
OP, I’ve never had any luck with extended nose fly masks staying on, even when the extended nose is just added on to a fairly standard fitting mask, like the Kensingtons. I’ve had limited success with sunblock - human baby products have worked better for me than the equine versions or Desitin. My current yearling’s babysitter is a bald-faced paint, so I do feel your pain! Luckily, he’s smart enough to spend lots of time in the run-in shed under the fans, so he gets burned but not blistered the way some horses do. I do keep a mask on him to protect his eyes, but it’s not an extended nose style, because he won’t keep one of those on for more than 10 minutes.
My horse must be a lot harder on his masks 😂 he looooves to roll and scratch and rub…mostly the soft ears that rip, the mask itself is more durable. But, regardless, I don’t have the option of just using a cashel or kensington type mask 🤷 oh well.
Stupid question I am supposing those are not domestic blackberries. ie thornless?
No they have thorns. Somehow he manages to eat them without stabbing himself. :lol: He will also eat the honeysuckle flowers.
He hasn’t sunburned himself in a few days so I’m hoping that his Cashel flymask + sunscreen is working. Of course it’s also been raining here so I won’t really know for a few days.
I tried a new sunscreen this year - Banana Boat Simply Protect Kids. It’s working better than anything I’ve used in the past few years. 
Nice soft white nose!
I had one a couple of years ago that actually made his nose (and mine!) burn worse than if I’d used nothing!
I bought the fly mask with fringe. It will be here next week and I’m a bit excited, also can’t wait for my trainer’s reaction!
We were talking about the fly masks and I mentioned the $80 option. She was as leery as me - I want to know it lasts several seasons and is going to fit her before putting down that kind of money.
