Custom Fit

The black flies are really brutal this time of year and they just love donkey ears - all that acreage with a lovely blood supply, its just what black flies loves.  Fortunately, Cashel makes a really nice fly mask with donkey sized ears.

Unless you happen to be Ben, then even Cashel falls short.

I have bought Ben several fly masks and they were all too small.  I finally bought him a warmblood sized mask with mule ears and the ear portion was STILL too small.  I had to squash his ears into them and the tips of his poor little ears folded over by about two inches.  What's a mammoth donkey owner to do?

I turned to Riding Buddy because she and her mother are excellent seamstresses.  We did a fitting and she replaced the too-small ears with longer, fuller, plus-sized, custom fitted ear protection.

It helps to have friends in the right places.  We wouldn't want those poor, dainty, little appendages getting chewed on now would we?

The Class Clown

The black flies have really been chewing on Ramsey's ears and they bother Emma's eyes so I finally broke down and got them some fly masks.

I've been reluctant to maybe waste money on masks as I am not sure how they will work for my donkeys.  I do like these Crusader masks made by Cashel, they are well made and they actually make them to fit donkeys.  Four ears up for Cashel!

The sizing is a bit tricky to figure out and these are just a little too big for Emma and Ramsey, but better a little big than too small.  They are close enough, even if the slightly overlong ears do flop over at the tips.  They add a whole new element of absurd cuteness every time Ramsey twitches an ear. With every flop I am am torn between wanting to make them fit better and wanting to find some little bells and ribbons to attach to the tips.

Most of the time, when the bugs are bad, this is where everyone can be found.

The fly masks fit well enough and work well enough, but I am still a bit dubious about how well they will work....

Maybe if I put bells and ribbons on Ramsey, Emma will just run away.  I suppose that could help get them more exercise at least.