Facemask tug-of-war

I think it is time to have a discussion about fly masks.

For those of you that aren’t familiar with them, fly masks are the things our humans strap to our faces to keep the flies out of our eyes. The mask serves two purposes: It keeps us more comfortable (I am sure you don’t like flies in your eyes!) and it stops us from getting infections and diseases in our eyes.

The masks are made of a fine mesh that wraps around our faces and goes behind our ears. There are many, many types, colors and styles, which is good because not every horse likes the same kind of fly mask.

People new to the horse world think we are blindfolded when they see us turned out in fly masks, and they get rather upset with our owners until it is explained to them. “Yes, the horse can see just fine.” “No, my horse isn’t blindfolded.”

Horses have differing opinions about fly masks, of course. As you know, I despise flies and can’t stand having even one fly on me. Up until this year, my mask was your normal run-of-the-mill mask that covered my eyes and part of my head. This year I have the best fly mask ever! It is super deluxe! (Not sure WHAT took my mom so long to get it for me?!) It covers my ears and all the way down to the tip of my nose. No more constant head bobbing to get the flies off my lips. I can finally sleep in peace during my naps.

But all horses are different. Take Oreo, for instance. He hates the fly mask that covers his ears. (Probably because they are kinda big ears.) If his human turns him out in a mask with ears he takes it off in protest. He tries to lose it in the pasture; hint, hint, hint! But humans are really good at finding things and back it would come. Finally, his mom got the message and a new fly mask appeared, this time without ear covers. That one stays on and Oreo is happy.

Leo isn’t picky about his fly mask, but he thinks it is fun to take everyone else’s fly masks off. And we think it is a fun game too, until all of a sudden our faces are covered by flies. Unfortunately, Leo isn’t any good at putting the masks back on and we have to wait until the Short One comes out and saves us. It is pretty apparent what has happened because everyone except Leo is mask-less. He gets fussed at, but that doesn’t stop him. What a jokester.

My brother Biggy and I have great fun with our fly masks. He is in the stall and patio next to me in the evening so we have plenty of time to hang out and get into trouble. (Boys will be boys?) Biggy starts it by hanging his head over the fence and says, “I bet you can’t get my mask off.”

Of course, I have to prove him wrong and I immediately get to work removing his mask. I start by chewing on it. Then he pulls one way and I pull the other until it finally slips off. Then we have a great time playing fly mask tug-of-war. When I get it I like to swing the mask around and hit him with it. Eventually it falls on the ground and the game ends. Sometimes we go to work trying to get mine off next, but usually we just go eat some hay and leave his now soggy fly mask on the ground. Inevitably the Short One finds it and puts it back on him, so we can start over. It is a game we never get tired of and there seems to be an endless supply of fly masks no matter what we do!

Until my next Taco Tuesday, bye!