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 Expert
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Location: The best kept secret in TX | Oh my....
I just came across a "mask" for sale for $300. It said: "Mask, used once, tried on once. Activated. Can be reset." Thought Hmmm, looks likes Hidez USA is being replaced but what do they mean "Activated"?
.... Did a google... Whispered: "What in the world?" while at my desk and well... now I'm here. Anyone else scratching their head? Why not put a barn light on a timer from 4 to 11? ..... Seems cheaper....
 https://equilume.com/ |
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 Balance Beam and more...
Posts: 11511
Location: 31 lengths farms | They are masks with lights to help bring mares into season earlier... |
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Expert
Posts: 3815
Location: The best kept secret in TX | run n rate - 2018-10-05 11:41 AM They are masks with lights to help bring mares into season earlier...
I read and understand what they are marketed for as far as breeding goes. They are also marketed toward performance horses.
But what I don't understand is what makes them any different than barn lighting?
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  That's White "Man" to You
Posts: 5515
| Depends on what value you put on your time. |
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 Expert
Posts: 1520
Location: Illinois | That's way too much work. So much easier to just flip a light switch or set a timer. Imagine having an entire barn of mares to bring into heat, you'd spend 2 hours a day taking them on & off. Seems silly to me |
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Location: Not Where I Want to Be | JLazyT_perf_horses - 2018-10-05 2:07 PM That's way too much work. So much easier to just flip a light switch or set a timer. Imagine having an entire barn of mares to bring into heat, you'd spend 2 hours a day taking them on & off. Seems silly to me
does it still seem silly if you leave them on 24/7 like they are designed to be used.
Also, I'm fairly certain they are not targeted at folks breeding "a" mare that lives in a barn.
I have several broodmares that live outside like horses and stalling them every night is not only not feasable it's sort of dumb. |
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| Not everyone has a barn with good lighting, nor the ability to keep a horse stalled. The mask can also be used while the horse is turned out, which would be nice for people who don’t like to or can’t stall their horse. Their studies have also shown it works great on TB yearlings to help them shed out earlier.
I’d personally like to test it out on a couple of our mares. We don’t get much sun in the winter or early spring, nor do we have access to a barn with the proper lighting (unless we want to pay $$$ every month to board). If you have a mare you want to bring into heat early and track her cycle to match her up with a recip mare or two, this might be a great alternative to keeping them all stalled. |
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Expert
Posts: 1520
Location: Illinois | I personally would never leave a $400-700 mask on a horse in a pasture, I do not make that kind of money. I have had to cycle 20+ mares that were outside and have cycled them in barns as well in previous jobs. The ones outside we just fed in the outdoor arena at night, locked them in & turned the arena lights on a timer. The ones in the barn just had the double tube lights you see in a shop. All you need is a 100w bulb for each horse in a stall, it doesn't take fancy expensive lighting. I can cycle mine into shedding early with regular 60w even, just takes about an extra week longer and the mares come into cycle typically mid to end of Feb under regular lights. For the people who can afford the high risk of finding many of those masks torn on the ground & broken, then buy them. If I had the money to pay for an unlimited supply of them I probably would too. These have been around for years, I don't think they're a fad. But it is a very specific market and for the majority of breeders not very cost effective unless you sell your colts for really good money. I'm just picturing it if I were to use them, I find 1-2 fly masks a day torn apart and my horses are in pens alone with no trees/debris. I'd have to buy new masks every other day, I'd rather use lights.
By the time you put masks on 20 broodies you just spent $10,000. If you buy the $400 masks they're seasonal with an average 5 month lifespan, you can't replace or recharge the batteries. Assuming you can turn them off, you'd get 1-3 seasons out of them if the battery lasts that long even turned off. The $500 masks have replaceable batteries. And for $700 you can get the rechargeable one. You guy's might be ok with spending that on a pasture mare to cycle her in, but I certainly would not.
ETA: Just spoke with reps, and the replacement battery is $250 which typically needs replaced every other cycling season according to them. Even when stored and not in use the battery can lose life. So every 2 years you have to add $250 to the cost of that original $500 mask.
Edited by JLazyT_perf_horses 2018-10-05 2:42 PM
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 Hog Tie My Mojo
Posts: 4847
Location: Opelousas, LA | IRunOnFaith - 2018-10-05 12:04 PM run n rate - 2018-10-05 11:41 AM They are masks with lights to help bring mares into season earlier... I read and understand what they are marketed for as far as breeding goes. They are also marketed toward performance horses.
But what I don't understand is what makes them any different than barn lighting?
Because if they are in the pasture with masks, you don't have to clean stalls! |
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 Expert
Posts: 5293
| Let nature take its course= FREE |
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 Reaching for the stars....
Posts: 12708
| JLazyT_perf_horses - 2018-10-05 3:35 PM I personally would never leave a $400-700 mask on a horse in a pasture, I do not make that kind of money. I have had to cycle 20+ mares that were outside and have cycled them in barns as well in previous jobs. The ones outside we just fed in the outdoor arena at night, locked them in & turned the arena lights on a timer. The ones in the barn just had the double tube lights you see in a shop. All you need is a 100w bulb for each horse in a stall, it doesn't take fancy expensive lighting. I can cycle mine into shedding early with regular 60w even, just takes about an extra week longer and the mares come into cycle typically mid to end of Feb under regular lights. For the people who can afford the high risk of finding many of those masks torn on the ground & broken, then buy them. If I had the money to pay for an unlimited supply of them I probably would too. These have been around for years, I don't think they're a fad. But it is a very specific market and for the majority of breeders not very cost effective unless you sell your colts for really good money. I'm just picturing it if I were to use them, I find 1-2 fly masks a day torn apart and my horses are in pens alone with no trees/debris. I'd have to buy new masks every other day, I'd rather use lights. By the time you put masks on 20 broodies you just spent $10,000. If you buy the $400 masks they're seasonal with an average 5 month lifespan, you can't replace or recharge the batteries. Assuming you can turn them off, you'd get 1-3 seasons out of them if the battery lasts that long even turned off. The $500 masks have replaceable batteries. And for $700 you can get the rechargeable one. You guy's might be ok with spending that on a pasture mare to cycle her in, but I certainly would not. ETA: Just spoke with reps, and the replacement battery is $250 which typically needs replaced every other cycling season according to them. Even when stored and not in use the battery can lose life. So every 2 years you have to add $250 to the cost of that original $500 mask.
Ditto to this - I can't keep $20 masks bult on the same basic mask on mine. They rub it off or a friend pulls it off. But I do completely understand the basis for the mask and lack o desire to keep broods in a barn. |
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Location: Not Where I Want to Be | JLazyT_perf_horses - 2018-10-05 3:35 PM I personally would never leave a $400-700 mask on a horse in a pasture, I do not make that kind of money. I have had to cycle 20+ mares that were outside and have cycled them in barns as well in previous jobs. The ones outside we just fed in the outdoor arena at night, locked them in & turned the arena lights on a timer. The ones in the barn just had the double tube lights you see in a shop. All you need is a 100w bulb for each horse in a stall, it doesn't take fancy expensive lighting. I can cycle mine into shedding early with regular 60w even, just takes about an extra week longer and the mares come into cycle typically mid to end of Feb under regular lights. For the people who can afford the high risk of finding many of those masks torn on the ground & broken, then buy them. If I had the money to pay for an unlimited supply of them I probably would too. These have been around for years, I don't think they're a fad. But it is a very specific market and for the majority of breeders not very cost effective unless you sell your colts for really good money. I'm just picturing it if I were to use them, I find 1-2 fly masks a day torn apart and my horses are in pens alone with no trees/debris. I'd have to buy new masks every other day, I'd rather use lights. By the time you put masks on 20 broodies you just spent $10,000. If you buy the $400 masks they're seasonal with an average 5 month lifespan, you can't replace or recharge the batteries. Assuming you can turn them off, you'd get 1-3 seasons out of them if the battery lasts that long even turned off. The $500 masks have replaceable batteries. And for $700 you can get the rechargeable one. You guy's might be ok with spending that on a pasture mare to cycle her in, but I certainly would not. ETA: Just spoke with reps, and the replacement battery is $250 which typically needs replaced every other cycling season according to them. Even when stored and not in use the battery can lose life. So every 2 years you have to add $250 to the cost of that original $500 mask.
you are obviously not the target demo
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 Accident Prone
Posts: 22277
Location: 100 miles from Nowhere, AR | Barn lights attract bugs badly. May not matter where you live, but we have year round mosquitoes here. |
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Veteran
Posts: 103
| My barn is not set up with the ability to do the type of lights needed all winter so these might be a good option. |
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Regular
Posts: 78
Location: TX | They work fantastic for sales prep horses and broodmares alike. We weren't set up with electricity at our barn yet, and they allowed us to bring mares into heat earlier without having to keep them stalled, so they were much happier. We used the same masks on sales prep yearlings, and again, didn't have to keep them confined to stalls as much and they kept slick and shiny coats. For us, it was cheaper at that moment that installing the electricity to the barn or paying someone to prep our colts or keep mares under lights. They are durable and the horses didn't seem to mind them at all, customer service was great. We had the rechargeable models that shut off automatically when they sensed natural light was sufficient so we didn't have to take them off and on constantly for the mares. We do not have huge numbers of horses though. We were using on two broodmares and using the same masks at a different time for two colts. |
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 Veteran
Posts: 126
Location: Ohio | I wanted to keep my lights on longer this season to keep my gelding slick as I plan on running all winter. I have stalls with runs off of them. He stands outside in his run while my very bright lights are just wasting electricity. Well this isnt going to work. I have thought in this case if I really wanted to keep the hair off of him the masks would work well in my situation. |
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 You get what you give
Posts: 13030
Location: Texas | They are pretty useful actually... and people have had results with keeping horses slick during the winter. I have treated one horse for a corneal ulcer when the mask slipped and lord knows how long she was outside with it digging into her eye. |
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 Expert
Posts: 4625
Location: Desert Land | They're not new at all...they've been out for a few years and the feedback from those that are using them or have used them is great.
I am planning on purchasing a couple masks myself. I have a new mare motel with adequate lighting to start cycling mares early, but I have a couple of mares that want no part of being locked up in a stall for any period of time. The one wouldn't quit pacing earlier this year after she foaled. So after a day of obvervation and vet exam she got kicked back out. She's unfortunately open this year and there is NO way she's going to tolerate being locked up. |
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Expert
Posts: 3815
Location: The best kept secret in TX | Three 4 Luck - 2018-10-06 12:02 PM Barn lights attract bugs badly. May not matter where you live, but we have year round mosquitoes here.
Ooh didn't think of this.  |
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Expert
Posts: 3815
Location: The best kept secret in TX | Great points of view on the "New to me" mask.   |
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Folks on-line