f you’re like most owners, summer months If you trail ride your horse often during the height of mean waging a full-on battle against flies and other bug season, you may want to invest in Cashel’s Quiet biting insects. Not only are flies a general nuisance to Ride Fly Mask. Just like the Crusader Fly Mask, the your horse, but they spread disease and some Quiet Ride Fly Mask provides optimal protection from have serious side effects from insect bites. The first flies while keeping your horse’s comfort foremost in Istep to winning your war against flies is to keep your mind. The Quiet Ride Fly Mask is made of a lighter facility clean and tidy and to ensure you’re performing material that protects your horse’s eyes, cheeks and good horse-keeping practices. Along with insecticidal forehead from flies and the sun without impeding sprays, repellents and ointments available to combat his vision. The mask easily fastens securely over your winged pests, there are additional measures you can horse’s for a comfortable fit. take to protect your horse. Fly Sheets Fly Masks Insect hypersensitivity is the most common cause of Your first line of defense is to protect the most allergies in horses as well as the most common reason vulnerable areas on your horse, and at the top of that for horses to itch. Horses can be allergic to many list is your horse’s face, especially his eyes. Flies are different insects, such as black flies, horn flies and naturally attracted to the corners of horses’ eyes, where flies, but it’s the tiny gnats called Culicoides or they feed on the tender, moist flesh around the tear “no-see-ums” that to the seasonal skin allergy ducts. Along with irritating the eyes, flies may deposit known as “sweet itch.” Proteins in the gnats’ saliva eggs within the folds of the eye’s lower lid. Removing cause the horse’s skin to react, which causes them the eggs requires thorough flushing with sterile saline to itch. Horses with sweet itch develop a rat-tail and solution, or veterinary attention. One of the most effective methods for providing protection to your horse’s face from flies and other biting insects is a fly mask—a see-through mesh shield that covers the eyes. Fly masks provide a stress- and fly-free environment for your horse. At the ranch, Clinton uses Cashel’s Crusader Fly Mask to give his horses added protection. The fly mask is designed to put your horse’s comfort first and to stay put while your horse is stalled or turned out in the pasture. Along with protection from flies, the mask’s soft- coated nylon micro mesh blocks 70 percent of the sun’s damaging UV rays. Horses with pale coats or sensitive skin are especially prone to sunburn, and the fly mask offers protection to the areas most susceptible to getting burnt. The Crusader Fly Mask is available in seven sizes and comes in a variety of styles: standard, long nose, Cashel’s Quiet Ride Fly Masks fit securely over your and long nose with ears, as well as standard with horse’s bridle and ensure rides stay fly-free. ear variations.

No Worries Journal | SUMMER 2017 45