# Horse does not accept fly mask



## PineMountDakota (Jan 4, 2010)

Would you insist on putting a fly mask on a young horse who has not been properly desensitized to accept it? Or would you work with the horse for however long until he has accepted it before expecting the horse to wear it daily?

(This is kind of a rant...)
There is a 2 year old gelding at my barn who has a lot of holes in desensitizing and accepting new things, including something as simple as being rubbed on his left ear (right ear is fine). The owner bought him a fly mask (with ears) for the summer and has been putting it on him daily. I do self care with her and we take care of each other's horses once a day each. I usually do the evenings so I am not usually the one putting it on him, only taking it off. So a few days had gone by with him wearing the mask before I had a morning when I finally had to put it on him. I was expecting him to be an expert. Well, he is horrible!!! I had to basically back him into the corner of his stall, put it on his neck, and then slide it forward over his face where he continued to fight himself when it was on. I could not believe that anyone had been putting this mask on him all these days! It took me 10 patient minutes with him to finally get it on like that but he had no trust in me and wanted nothing to do with that thing going on his face.

I decided to tell the owner that I would not be putting his fly mask on until he would stand properly, accept it going on, and that I would work with him on it. I spent 3 10-20min sessions to get him desensitized to a plastic bag at the end of a whip and now he is good with that all over his face and body. He is also better with his left ear. He is still only about 85% accepting of the fly mask though. I can rub it all over him for the most part but when it goes in front of his face he raises his head, steps back or sideways, completely tries to evade it still. Once before he had ran over the top of his owner when she was trying to put it on him so he is improving.

I use the advance/retreat method and only push him as far as I know he can be successful. If he moves then as soon as he stops moving I take the pressure off, etc, and I have had a lot of practice with this where as the owner hasn't and he is doing fantastic! His response is textbook but I know that it is still going to take time and I am ok with that. This horse is so smart and proved that to me with the plastic bag and he will be fine with the fly mask eventually but he is just not ready YET. She calls him a little S*** all the time when really I think he is just misunderstood quite a bit for a young horse. First time horse owner/young horse=ugh. 

Bottom line WHY I am writing this is because the owner put the fly mask on this morning. This just frustrates me. I KNOW that he put up his usual fight and resistance but she put it on anyway. I think if it just keeps going like that he is just going to keep resisting and he is always going to have zero confidence and be a PITA to put a fly mask on. Not to mention all the confidence I have been building with him to accept it is being broken when it is forced onto him anyway.

*sigh* Not my horse but I hate seeing decisions made that are not in the best interest of the horse. I guarantee you that horse could care less about wearing a fly mask and that it is only for the owner's own comfort knowing that her horse has a fly mask on. It is not worth it to me!! I would rather teach him something valuable.
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## DraftyAiresMum (Jun 1, 2011)

My gelding was very similar when he was 2. Had never even seen a fly mask, much less worn one. He fought it at first (all sorts of fun with a 15+hh draft cross), but after a few sessions, he realized that it wasn't going to eat him. His biggest hurdle? The sound of the Velcro. He HATED it at first. 

What I did was I would put it on by gently sliding it up his face while rubbing his face with the hand holding the fly mask. The fly mask would be spread, so it could go over his eyes as it should. I would slide it up until I could feel him tense up, then I'd hold it there and talk to him while scratching his forehead with the hand holding the fly mask. It took two or three sessions, but now he couldn't care less about the fly mask. 

I don't think fly masks are useless. And desensitizing him to them is not a useless endeavor. It will teach him that he can't always win and that not everything is going to eat him.

Also, if you don't get him used to a fly mask now, what happens if the other lady sells him and he's much bigger and doesn't tolerate a fly mask, but the new owners want him to wear one? He becomes their problem? That's not fair to him or the new owners.
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## CAP (Jun 18, 2014)

all my horses are taught at young ages to accept a fly mask, all react differently, it just takes time and patience more take longer then others, I usually have a rope halter on them to help control them while doing it, making sure the fly mask is one I can eventually get the rope halter off while the mask is on, then it allows me to control their face a little, my yearling is going through this program now, and all I do is bring the fly mask up to her nose and slowly travel it up her head at the pace she's comfortable with, she'll sometimes try to raise her head but once she realizes she can't normally tries to back up a few feet, I just stay with her and when she becomes still I finish putting it on. Today was the first day she just stood there after 4 or 5 times putting it on, next will be teaching her to lower her head instead of raising it, which she already knows with the halter, so I'm just adding an extra step, then it will be without a halter. I'll be honest I don't do any desensitizing to them other then what I have explain in teaching them to accept a fly mask and all my horses have no issues with them. But if its being thrown on them to quickly get the job over with making it a scary thing, then I could see there being issues and I'm kind of thinking that's what has happened with them being a first time horse owner with a young horse, desensitizing with unexperienced hands can sometimes be worse off.. thankfully the horse has you helping them!


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## PineMountDakota (Jan 4, 2010)

I did not mean to say that getting him used to a fly mask was useless, I meant that throwing it on him every day just to have it on is not beneficial for this horse at this point until he can stand still and accept it better. I would rather spend how ever many sessions and hours getting him to accept the fly mask hassle free than to deal with him doing what he is doing now and then have a horse that is great with a fly mask especially for when/if he is sold to another person. Sorry for the confusion there.

It has been 3 weeks and this horse has been no better than he was the first time putting it on until I started working with him. There are 2 other ladies that have also put it on him in an "at all costs because that's what the owner wants" just making the situation worse. The owner never practiced putting it on and off, and I don't think he ever got rewarded for any steps that have been taken to accept the fly mask. The only goal there has been is to get it on his face for the day and it's on until it is taken off at night. The people do not understand why he would not "like" the fly mask and oh doesn't he understand that it will keep the flies off his face?!

He actually doesn't care about the Velcro, cool! But I think it's just been forced on him so many times now that he has a sour attitude towards it and possibly thinks the correct way for it to go on is by raising his head and trying to get away.
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## .Delete. (Jan 7, 2008)

When he moves you take the pressure away? My theory would be the complete opposite. Keep the pressure till he stops moving then release, he will learn much quicker that freaking out only makes it worse. It's the same principal with clipping, breaking to saddle, etc. 

He needs to learn that the fly mask is no big deal and you taking it away when he freaks out, moves, whatever, re-enforces that indeed it IS a big deal.


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## jaydee (May 10, 2012)

I'm not sure what you mean by her insisting he has it on? Unless she's beating him up physically so he associates the mask with pain I don't see how her insisting he has it on rather than giving in to him is such an awful thing - I'm inclined to think its better he learns to deal with it than for him to risk eye infections and irritation from flies
If he's so awkward with just one ear she should get him checked out under sedation - could be he has mites, spiny ear ticks, some infection that needs treating
Sometimes you have to get a little tough with horses for the greater good - as long as you're not abusing them and they get lots of praise afterwards - and a treat if you use them for reward - it can be the only way to deal with some things - after all if he's been having that fly mask on for a while now he should be well desensitized to it


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## PineMountDakota (Jan 4, 2010)

Delete, no, this is a major misunderstanding. I said that if he moves, then as soon as he STOPS moving I take the pressure away. Pressure stays on as he moves and then when he does what I want the pressure stops. Horse training 101, so yes we're on the same page.

I would have thought that having the fly mask on for so many days that he would just eventually get used to it but that is not the case. He has gotten a LOT better with his left ear so I do not think that it is for any other reason than it has become a habit. He does not even jerk his head when sliding his halter off over his ears anymore like he used to. It was just never identified as a problem and worked with.

The owner does not have a lot of time to spend so I am talking about a horse who not only wasn't really touched until he was 6-8 months old but even now he doesn't get worked with a lot. He is good with many things because of his natural demeanor but he definitely has holes in his ground training. He doesn't accept sprays of any kind either very well. Although while everyone else had him freaking out and running in circles while trying to spray him, I got him to where I could stand there spraying his face and he was still as a statue and enjoying it. The owner was shocked. Well, it's all in how you communicate with the horse and how you approach the situation.

I feel like pushing the horse to the end result (putting the fly mask completely on ONE time each day) when you can't even get it up to his ears comfortably, then he needs to be worked with more before skipping all the steps just to get him to wear it. More on/off/on/off and actually teaching him to accept it. I've learned my lessons about skipping steps. You get major holes in the training and a lot of times it blows up in your face when the horse decides to escalate its resistance.
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## jaydee (May 10, 2012)

While I commend you for spending time with this horse in an effort to help - it isn't your horse or your problem and as long as he isn't being abused or neglected I don't think you should be worrying about it or doing anything with it unless asked too.
I've learnt from experience that giving advice unless its requested or is maybe going to prevent an accident and interfering with other peoples horses unless asked always leads to problems and bad feeling
I would also never spray a horses face with flyspray - these things all contain irritants - even the 'natural' ones and the risks of tiny particles getting into the eyes, mouth or up the nostrils is too great. Put some spray onto a sponge or a cloth and carefully wipe onto the face avoiding the eyes, mouth and nose.


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## PineMountDakota (Jan 4, 2010)

Jaydee it was water. Not fly spray  forgot to mention that. We didn't want to waste a bottle of fly spray practicing of course so we just used water for that session to get him used to sprays in general. I don't ever spray fly spray on a horse's face.

Thank you Jaydee for your other statements. I will try to be a friend and offer my advice when she wants it but otherwise I'll have to deal with how she wants her horse to be and definitely not complain. I know it's not my horse but I just have a hard time watching someone who is truly ignorant, has never trained a horse before, and while she means well she doesn't really know what she's doing. She's already been kicked and run over so I really want to help her but I do not think after showing her training exercises (or sending her good training videos) that she does not take them seriously or doesn't have the patience for anything other than leading and lunging him around in circles when there is so many other things she could be teaching him. She is always thanking me for working with him because she doesn't have a lot of time and sees the difference in what he learns so I will do what I can to help her when she comes to me with a problem and I enjoy working with him. It just irks me when she tells me that he is acting so bad and so the next day she plans to work his a** off the for it when all he needs is shorter sessions more often and they don't have to be running him around all the time (and her getting terribly tied up in the lunge line). The horse is already arena sour :-/ After 2 sessions with me he finally walked right in but before he would plant his feet at the gate.
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## DraftyAiresMum (Jun 1, 2011)

Funny thing about horses that I've learned from training my own gelding from a barely handled 2yo stud colt to now at 5-years-old and fairly well-mannered. You'll fight with them for weeks on something and just when you're about to give up and say "To heck with it," they finally accept it and act like they've been doing it for years. That's how my gelding was with the fly mask...and me picking his feet...and the list goes on. The only things he's been a hold-out on are the farrier (fairly certain he was abused by the previous owner with a pair of nippers), the clippers (again, fairly certain something happened there with the previous owner because he's been EXTREMELY ear-shy since day 1 and nothing has helped), and blankets (big, scary, horse-eating monsters that they are :lol: but we don't need them because he gets a ridiculous winter coat).


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## PaintHorseMares (Apr 19, 2008)

^^^ I call it the "light bulb" moment and it happens all the time with the young ones.
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## jaydee (May 10, 2012)

I have a horse that's not particularly intelligent and it takes her way longer than other horses to learn something and she can get very anxious if you push her too hard yet when she suddenly grasps it she retains it much better than most


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## PineMountDakota (Jan 4, 2010)

I think that is how this guy is. When he is reactive he does not do well with anything and will not give in. When he is thinking though he is very reasonable and easy to work with. He has problems with having his sight taken away even for a second. If the fly mask is rolled up I can put it on his head and around his ears ok but when it comes up to cover his face when it is open and he can't see, he gets really protective. I have started taking a rag and just rubbing it on his head, over his eyes, and then I will open it up and practice lifting it over his face like the fly mask would. He makes progress each day but I still think if someone were to try and put it on his face with him resisting just to get it on for the day really messes with his confidence.

The one way to get it on him right now is to put it on his neck and then slide it over his head so he doesn't see it coming. He used to not like it on his neck! He is super about that now so I know it'll just take time and he will be fine.
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