Fly Masks & Mane

[Elissa]

I want to get a fly mask for my gelding but I wasn't sure it would be safe to leave on all the time. He lives in a paddock with one strand of barbed wire at the top of his fencing (not my choice to have it there but it can't be helped at the present)would it be too dangerous a risk to have it on at least during the day time and possibly have it caught? If he was in a bigger pasture I wouldn't worry but he gets bored and I worry.
Also, this afternoon when I went down to feed him there was a large chunk of his mane lying on one of his "rolling" spaces (he has two places flattened out in his paddock, he rolls there so often). I checked his neck where it came from and there was no scratches or any other signs, it was a clean cut. It looked as if he had rubbed it off while rolling - but it was an awful large chunk. Anybody have any ideas why this might happen? :confused: Is it because he rolls too much? Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.
~ Elissa :)

[bren]

I've seen some flymasks that stay on with velcro..if he gets it caught on the fence it will just undo (get kind of expensive after you replace a few though).

[LindaAd]

I don't think it would be safe to leave a flymask on all the time, especially if there's barbed wire for him to catch it on. He could get his foot hooked, too, if he's scratching his ear. We just use fly repellent cream in their ears unless we're actually riding. You can also get a fly-repellent collar that fits quite tightly and is fastened with velcro, so it's safer.

[Laya]

I leave my Farnam fly mask on my horse. At the time, though, I don't think he has it on. It has velcro so it is easy to get off, but this mask is way better than last years, because Justin demolished it in a short amount of time. This one I've had for two weeks, and it doesn't have a hole or whatever in it. I usually take it off if it's raining, about to, some other precipiataion, or if the bugs weren't bad that day (since they are usually horrible) and won't be the next. It's off I believe right now.

Leaving a mask on is solely your opinion, just as people deciding if they'll keep a halter on or not, solid or break away. A fly mask in my opinion is safer than having a halter on.

[Daventry]

Most of our horses have fly masks on 24 hours and we have a lot of barbed wire. They do up with velcro, so if they get caught up in something, they come off or rip (this is better than having an accident!). I don't think they cause a safety hazard because they will undo easily. We have hardly any fly masks rip or go missing in the pastures.