Understanding and Fitting Hoods & Masks

Hoods and masks: How to use them safely

Whether to use a hood or mask on a horse is a decision that needs careful consideration taking a number of factors into account. In this guide, we will discuss some of the factors you need to consider before using a hood or mask as well as best practices for adjustment and supervision of a horse in a hood or mask.

You may also find some of our other guides in this series helpful:

A guide to fitting horse rugs (identifying which issues cause which symptoms)
Horse rug size guide (everything you need to know)
How to adjust belly surcingles (step-by-step guide)
Horse rug care (avoid these common mistakes)

Are hoods and masks safe to use on horses?

There is no black-and-white answer to this question. Horses are unpredictable, and anything that can interfere with their vision has the potential to cause a horse to panic and trigger a fight-or-flight response. No two situations are the same—every horse has a different personality, every paddock is different, the reason for using a hood is different, and every owner's expectations and experience are different.

Here are some things to consider when deciding to use a hood or mask on your horse:

Your horse's temperament

This is probably the most important factor to consider. How does your horse react when it gets in a difficult situation? Is he calm and level-headed or more nervous and panicky? While many horses are fine in hoods, there are some who, because of their nature, you would simply never put in a hood because they are sure to get themselves into trouble. You need to consider your horse's temperament and how it interacts with its environment. If a hood dislodges and interferes with the horse's vision, some horses will simply take it in their stride and stand patiently, while others will take a flight response and run. Which temperament does your horse have?

The horse's environment

The surroundings your horse lives in also play a big part in your decision to use a hood or mask. There are certain situations where we would advise against using a hood or mask, including:

• If horse is in a paddock with other horses. This, of course, depends on the temperament of the other horses. Horses like to bite each other, show dominance, or run as a herd — all factors that can lead to a hood shifting. For example, a horse may lean over a fence and grab the rug of its mate in the adjacent paddock.
• If the paddock has a lot of obstacles, trees, scrub, and the like, that a hood can catch on when walking around the paddock.
• If you have a large paddock. The larger the paddock, the more obstacles and opportunities a horse has to dislodge a mask. It also makes it very hard to regularly check if your horse is safe or to find the missing item.
• If you fencing may snag a hood or mask. A common issue with hoods is damage from fences where the post or picket extends above the top wire. Many horses pace fence lines with their heads over the fence, and as they walk along, the hood catches on the extended post or fencing wire, particularly barbed wire.

A better situation for using hoods or masks on a horse is if:

• The horse is in a paddock on its own.
• The paddock is free from dangerous obstacles that a horse may injure themselves on if a hood becomes dislodged.
• The fencing is suitable and will not easily snag a hood or mask.
• The paddock is small enough that a horse can always be observed without being hidden from view.

What is the purpose of a hood for a horse?

Generally, there are three reasons for using a hood on a horse:

1. For warmth in cooler months and to reduce coat growth.
2. To protect from the sun in the warmer months.
3. Most commonly, for insect protection.

Horses will always scratch their heads, which has the potential to cause a hood or mask to shift. This problem is amplified if your horse is hot, sweaty, or suffering from insect bites and is itchy.

Using hoods or masks on an already itchy horse involves ensuring you are treating the horse to help any existing irritation. We have all seen how itchy horses can rub themselves raw trying to deal with itch. It takes careful management of the condition and creates a chicken-and-egg scenario. You need the hood to protect the horse from insects, but once a horse is itchy and you start using a hood, you risk them dislodging it from scratching. The safest option is to treat the itch or irritation via creams, ointments, fly repellents, and diet management and then only introduce the hood or mask once the initial condition is under control.<?br>

Do I need to regularly supervise a horse in a hood or mask?

The short answer is YES! If you cannot supervise your horse regularly, then do not use a hood or mask. Horses will dislodge a hood or mask at some point. How often you supervise them depends on the factors discussed above.

Make sure you have the right size hood/mask

Sizing is everything when it comes to hoods and masks. Close enough is not good enough when considering the safety of your horse. Making sure you have the right size hood or mask is vital. An ill-fitting hood is going to create problems. We see most issues from customers who tend to use a rug that is too big for the horse, which creates a lot of room for movement. Sizing varies between manufacturers, so if you need help or assistance to get the right size for your horse, do not hesitate to contact our staff. Refer to our size guide here.

Understanding what a poll strap does

Poll straps are attached to hoods and some masks, and they go around the neck of the horse at the top of the neckline. They are designed to help reduce the likelihood of the hood or mask slipping up and over the horse's head. A poll strap is not a fail-safe solution, as even with it, hoods can still be pulled over a horse's head from scratching or getting their rug/hood caught. They will not stop a hood from swiveling or shifting, but they help to keep the hood in place and reduce the likelihood of an incident.

Keep in mind that poll straps are generally only effective at avoiding a hood slipping forward over the face when a horse has its head off the ground. A horse's neck is longer when extended grazing and its head is tilted forward in a grazing position. When grazing, the poll strap is significantly looser compared to when the horse's head is up. In most cases, when a horse has its head down grazing, the actual hood is close to full extension, so there is little risk of the hood slipping up over the horse's head from scratching.

How to adjust a poll strap

The poll strap needs to be initially adjusted with the horse standing with its head up off the ground. Follow these steps:

• Adjust the poll strap so that on the underside between the horse's throat and poll strap, you can insert 2 to 3 fingers vertically.
• With this adjustment made and the horse's head off the ground at normal height, you should find that if you try to push the hood forward at the point of the hood where the poll strap is sewn to the hood (just behind the ears), the strap should be adjusted enough that the hood/poll strap cannot be pushed up past the horse's ears easily.
• Next, check the poll strap when the horse has its head down grazing. (The poll strap should be significantly looser as described above.)
• When the horse has its head down grazing, ensure that the hood length is adequate. It should not be so tight that it is pulling the hood backward and not so loose that there is potential for the hood to slip forward over the horse's head.

These images demonstrate how a poll strap should be adjusted correctly when the horses head is up and how much slack will occur on the poll strap with the head down grazing. The fitting of the poll strap is the same on a hood as it is in the mask above.

What can go wrong when using a hood or mask?

Horses will continue to amaze us all with the predicaments they can get themselves into. The number of possibilities and combinations are endless based on the horse, the environment, the fit, involvement of other horses, and the list goes on.

Hoods coming over the horse's head or swiveling

This is probably the most likely incident horse owners have with their hoods and something a poll strap helps to reduce. When a horse panics, it can be a real danger to itself and others.

It can happen in any number of ways but most commonly from:

• Incorrect fit for the horse. As shown in the images above, when the poll strap is done up correctly, it is only effective when the horse has its head up. When the horse is grazing, the poll strap loosens significantly, and if a hood is too big, it can potentially pull forward.
• The hood gets caught. Hoods have buckles and clips, and there is always the possibility these may catch on a fence line or similar (often when a horse has its head over a fence), the horse pulls back, and the hood can be pulled over the horse's head.
• Excessive scratching. An itchy horse will scratch — and if there is no suitable object nearby (such as a tree or post), they will scratch their heads between their front legs.

Strangling

It would have to be an extremely rare chain of events for strangling to occur. This is because:

• At Caribu, all our poll straps use plastic clip-lock fittings. Should a horse become snagged because an object like a tree branch or similar gets caught under the poll strap during scratching or rubbing, the amount of pressure the horse can apply will break the fitting, releasing the strap. This is the very reason why we do not use buckles on our poll straps. While it is inconvenient that the plastic fittings do break from time to time and need to be replaced, it’s a much safer option. Most people would rather replace or repair a clip on a rug than injure a horse.
• Our clip-lock fittings use a sliding keeper for adjustment, and it is not possible for the poll strap to adjust any tighter if it comes under pressure.
• The amount of pressure applied by the poll strap varies depending on the position of the horse. The poll strap is a tighter fit when the horse has its head up but becomes significantly looser when the horse has its head down grazing. So much so that even if a horse owner disregarded our fitting instructions and tightened the strap up tightly, when the horse drops its head to graze, the strap loosens considerably.
• Unlike humans, horses have a separate trachea and oesophagus, which means a horse can be suffering from choking but still breathe normally. The amount of pressure and restriction that would need to be applied to a horse to block the oesophagus and cause suffocation would have to be very extreme.

Ears shifting

Occasionally, you can have an ear become dislodged from a hood or mask and be folded over under a hood or mask or under the poll strap. Depending on the circumstances, it is certainly going to be uncomfortable for the horse but unlikely to cause any lasting issues from reduced circulation as long as the situation is not left uncorrected for an extended period. This is another reason for regularly checking your horse if using hoods and masks.

When to choose an attached hood versus a separate hood

Certainly, in our opinion, an attached hood (i.e., hood sewn to a rug) is a safer option than a separate rug and hood set. With an attached hood, the hood is held in place more securely and is less likely to get caught on objects. Also, you are not having to deal with elastics that attach the hood to the rug, which come with their own set of issues.

Considerations when using a fly bonnet

The poll strap adjustment and fitting of a fly bonnet is the same as mentioned above. However, generally, fly masks and bonnets can be more of a problem to keep in place than a hood. This is simply because fly masks and bonnets are more intrusive, and horses who use masks are often suffering from insects and itch, so they tend to scratch themselves more often and dislodge their fly masks.

There is no fly mask or bonnet that is guaranteed to stay in place. They will always get pulled off or dislodged at some point. Making sure the mask fits well is the number one priority. Simply put, if a mask does not fit well, do not use it.

Eye cover construction

At Caribu, we only offer bubble eye covers for our hoods and fly bonnets. They sit out well away from the eyes. Eye covers come in all sorts of variants, from nylon mesh to fiberglass and aluminum.

We use ballistic nylon mesh, which is very similar in weave to your window fly screen but significantly stronger. It holds its shape (away from the eye) very well and is extremely hard to tear. You can see in the image below a demonstration of how well the mesh holds up to a Stanley knife.

Our ballistic mesh does not retain heat, and if left in the sun, from tests we have done at 33°C in full sun, the mesh maintains the same temperature as the ambient air. The mesh is fine and has a large surface area in contact with the air compared to its volume, so it can’t build up and hold heat.

Caribu ballistic mesh is strong and offers high visibility.

Eye cover size and viability issues

We now only use black light weight ballistic mesh. Some masks on the market use light coloured mesh which reflects excessive light into the eye of the horse and apart from being uncomfortable has the potential to cause eye damage in the long term. Black does not reflect the light and is very easy to see through.

A traditional eye hole on a hood is around 12 to 14 cm in diameter. In our fly bonnets we use very large diameter bubble eye covers – approximately 24cm in diameter. This is done for a number of reasons. The eye covers are less intrusive and allow the horse better uninterrupted vision, but also if the mask swivels it needs to move about 30 degrees before any vision is lost and if the mask moves past this point, the large diameter will ensure the horse generally has vision in at least one eye in most circumstances.

This image demonstrates the large circumference of the bubble eye in comparison to the horse's eye.

This image demonstrates what can happen if a horse dislodges their mask.