Shiela & her mare - 09-11-2002 + Update 04-27-2004

Dear Sidney,

I guess it has been eight months since I bought my first fly mask from you. As I told you on the phone, I was desperate to find something to help my friend (horse). I wasn't sure this would do the trick, but I was willing to give it a try.

A little over a year ago, I had the pleasure of riding an animal that stole my heart.  I can't tell you why this particular horse tore at my heart so much, because she certainly was not an easy ride, but she did and I had to own her.  I bought her a month and a half later.

She was an ex-racehorse that had been used as a broodmare for six years.  I see from her registration papers that she was owned by VA Tech for two months, right after her racing owners, and I can see on her body that she must have had a terrible accident.  She had been passed from person to person, I'm guessing, because she was such a handful. She didn't trust people and she was completely wild.

The first time I rode her, I thought I was going to die.  She had only two speeds, stop and run like the wind.  She jigged and was totally unpredictable and unresponsive, but she and I clicked.  I worked with her for months.  My friend (and barn owner) noticed she hit her head sometimes in the stall.  She has plenty of turnout, so it wasn't like she had a small confined area and her stall is big.  About the same time, I started noticing she was afraid to enter the woods on trail rides.  If I got off and led her through the woods, she was fine, but if I tried to have her maneuver her way through the trees and paths, she flipped out.  I spent many hours walking her through the woods.

One day, her left eye swelled so bad I called the vet.  The vet said she had Uveitis!  I was floored.  Not only did I have a horse with problems to overcome; now she had problems with her sight too.  I had already suspected her old injuries caused some discomfort, especially through her neck area were it looks like she is missing parts of her muscle tissue, but now I was wondering if it wasn't her eye that was the culprit.  The vet said she probably had very little to no sight in the left eye.  Since she was such a hand full, I had to have her treated at the vet's hospital.  She spent a week with them, so they could get the medicine in her eye.
When I went to pick her up, she put her head in the corner of the stall with her butt facing the stall door, daring me to come in.  I stood there talking to her for at least 30 minutes before she would let me in.

The vet said there wasn't much I could do for her.  That she would have to live with this and that many horses do fine with only one eye.  I wasn't happy with that!  I hit the Internet and searched on Uveitis.  Your site popped up in Goggle.  I read every single testimonial and every word on your site.  I had nothing to loose.  I called you and decided you seemed legitimate.  I ordered two masks from you.  One for my Thoroughbred and one for my 32 year old Quarter horse (she had teary eyes because her tear ducts are fused shut).  My Quarter horse wasn't real happy with the mask and still does whatever she can to take it off, but her tearing stopped.  And my Thoroughbred is a changed horse.

Your mask was the answer to a great deal of our problems.  Once I started riding her with the mask, she has settled down enough to listen to my aides. I ride her with the sick eye covered and the good eye open.  It looks funny, but it works best for us.  She wears her mask 24/7 and when I'm not riding her she has both eye pieces on.

This weekend, we entered in a local Dressage show.  We placed last, but in my heart we won first place.  One year ago, almost to the day, she tore all the skin off my fingers coming out of the trailer at our first show  (By the way, never try to hold onto a horse's lead rope when they are barreling out of a trailer, you can loose all the skin on your hands or worse, like my friends husband, your finger) and this year she acted like she had been doing this all her life.

We have come a long way and I believe it is in part due to your mask and in part due to a lot of patience.  Thank you so much!  My friend has bought your fly masks too.  Now five out of ten horses at the barn wear your mask. It looks so funny to see these big eyed horses in the field, but the masks fit so much better than others we have tried.

I've included two pictures from our show this weekend.  She is still real tense, but nothing like what she used to be like.

Shiela Haviland  - Bowie, Maryland

Update 04-27-2004

Once again it is wonderful to hear from you Shiela thank you so much for the update on the positive progress with your mare.

Guardian Mask

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