Goggles are hard, clear plastic. Like the
lens in a pair of eyeglasses people wear. If something hard -- like a big
bug -- hits the goggle it splats and doesn't dent like the net on a fly mask
will do. Plus the goggles are solid. Just little pin points around
the edges of the plastic goggles for air to circulate around the eye. Dust
and dirt can't get in.
I don't want air blowing directly into my horses'
eyes when I'm going down the freeway at 55 mph. Have seen to many studies
from universities that are showing more and more horses coming in because of eye
injuries from 'dirt participles' that become imbedded in the horse's
eyeball. The participles go through the netting on fly nets. (I had
a vet in Kentucky tell me during a clinic that if a horse is unloaded
from a trailer and its "eyes are watering" or a horse that is "hauled a lot
suddenly has tearing eyes" the horse is getting "to much direct wind into
the eye when being hauled which can lead to eye damage".)
We'll be riding with a friend who has a slant load
-- I'm not a fan of slant loads but for 250 miles, it will be OK. But I
want goggles on my horse! Not a fly net. (She has the slant load
with the open slatting. Horse can look out, air can rush in.) I
know, I know -- I'm being to careful!
I've tried the race tracks. They have half
blinkers for racehorses but no solid goggles. Some people call 'em
'medicine goggles'.
What's the advantage of using goggles instead of
a fly mask?
Cindy
Do any of you guys
know where horse goggles can be bought? I used to use them in the 60's
when hauling in an open trailer. They are clear, heavy duty
plastic that fit over head and eyes --holes cut out for ears and they strap
under chin and lower part of head. They fit like motorcycle
goggles on a person but these are horse goggles for
horses.
