This is the first summer our horses have worn fly masks. Well, at least SOME of them have! Cali, of course, was very calm about the whole thing..."ho hum". She could have cared less. She just wanted some attention! Gigondas, who had a THING about people touching her head and ears, accepted hers with the quiet dignity that she now has and didn't even put up a fuss. She rather enjoys hers! And, Scout, the "wild one" calmly accepted one when I offered it to her. That's quite a bit of trust from a mustang! And, of course, Quad readily accepted his. He's a pro at this kind of stuff. I actually take his off every now and then. I haven't put one on Sunni...too much "drama". I notice that some of our horses need them...not the mustangs, but the thoroughbreds and Sunni, the quarter horse, and Lady, the grulla. And, it doesn't seem to be their color. Both mustangs and Quad are light colors, while Sunni and Gigondas are darker. Any ideas or thoughts about why some horses need fly masks and others don't? I do add some apple cider vinegar to their water. ABC Wednesday for August 26, 2009.
12 comments:
I have seen horses here that have fly masks. They seem like a good thing. No idea, though, why some would need them and others not.
ABC Wednesday always teaches me something knew. I had never heard of fly masks.
An Arkies Musings
Just wondering...can they see through those fly masks? It's a good idea to keep the flies off, though.
I have seen horses with the masks on before and always wondered why they were on them. Interesting post.
Some horses seem to have more sensitive skin, or eyes, than others. I keep my three in masks unless it's going to be so muddy the masks will get caked up or cool/rainy enough that the flies aren't as much of a problem. We also have one quite old horse at our barn who wears a mask every time he goes out, every day, because he has chronic uveitis - and the mask helps prevent flare-ups - and also tends to poke his eyes because he doesn't see all that well due to cataracts.
Yes, horses can see through them. I actually held one up myself to see what it looked like! It is a mask with little holes. BUT...it keeps the pesky flies away. Some horses do attrack more flies than others, however. And, like I said, our two mustangs do NOT seem to attrack flies like our other horses! Must be a mustang thing?
Lovely horse photos as always
One of the joys of ABC Wednesday is meeting people from all over the world and learning new things...I have seen Horses with these fly masks on before but did not know what they were or why. Now that I know the horses can see through the masks it all seems wonderful!
Happy ABC Wednesday!
Sherry
I love this post. I didn't know they were called fly masks, and that answers my question about the comment I made on your blog the other day. This is a great post for the letter F. It's amazing how much we can learn just by visiting others blogs. I love it. I like all of your horses too. :)
You've done so well with your shy horses! I'm impressed.
I don't know why it is that some horses are affected and some not, but it's the same with people. I get bitten by everything going, my husband, not much at all.
Certainly hadn't even thought about fly masks; i learn something new - thanks.
Panama tends to have a lot of problems with flies laying eggs in his ears, but I haven't tried a fly mask. I've heard that they're hard to see in at night, and I can't get out there twice a day to take it on and off! Besides, as small and hard-to-fit as his head is, the idea that a fly mask off the shelf would fit him is laughable. Luckily, fly spray in the ears a few times a week seems to keep the flies at bay!
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