6 Common Reasons Owners and Trainers Cover Horses’ Eyes

Horses are strong, graceful, and versatile mammals. You can find them dancing in the show ring, pulling carriages, racing across the field with their pasture mates, carrying soldiers into battle, and jumping incredible heights. You also might see horses wearing eye covers like blinkers, masks, or towels and wonder what they are for. There are many common reasons owners and trainers cover horses’ eyes. Let’s dive into six reasons and explain why!

Why Do Owners and Trainers Cover Horses’ Eyes? 6 Common Reasons Explained

Horses are majestic yet flighty, easily startled creatures prone to injury. This is due to their large frame, fast speeds, fragile legs, and wide field of vision. They are also prey animals, which means they are always scanning their environment for threats and have a natural “fight or flight” instinct.

Since you’re wondering why horses wear eye covers and how they see with them on, here are six common reasons why owners and trainers cover horses’ eyes with blinkers, masks, or towels.

1: To Calm Them Down While Traveling

Traveling is a stressful event for animals of all shapes and sizes, especially horses. This is why you might see a horse owner or trainer cover their horses’ eyes with a blinker hood or blinders.

Blinkers are a piece of horse tack that attaches to the bridle. It prevents the horse from seeing behind, and sometimes to the side.

Even horses who travel regularly to show or compete need to wear blinkers sometimes. That’s because these animals live 24/7 at a barn, rotating between a field and a stall their whole lives. They get fed at the same time each morning and do well with routines.

That’s why new experiences, like trailering to a new place, can make them anxious. The sights, sounds, and smells they experience in these new places can be overwhelming. Covering horses’ eyes keeps them calm and reduces stress to hopefully prevent them from injuring themselves while they’re traveling in the trailer.

2: To Keep Flies Out of Their Eyes and Face

The most common reason you see owners covering their horses’ eyes is to keep the flies out of their faces.

Having house flies, horse flies, gnats, bees, and other flying insects around is inevitable since horses live outside. They are bound to be surrounded by them, but they don’t have to be bothered by them.

Owners cover their horses’ eyes with fly masks, mesh face covers designed to be worn during turnout time, to provide relief from the bugs buzzing around. You can even use fly masks while riding.

Fly masks are helpful for many reasons:

• To protect horses’ eyes and face from bug bites
• To reduce itchy eyes due to allergies
• To shield sensitive skin from UV rays
• To provide relief during turnout

3: To Focus Their Field of Vision on What’s Ahead

Blinker hoods or blinders are commonly used in horse racing or on carriage horses. Remember that horses have a wide field of vision (almost 360-degree view) due to their large, wide-set eyes. Horses have some of the largest eyes of any land mammal.

But why do horse owners cover the horse’s eyes with blinkers during a race? Trainers might recommend blinker hoods for easily distracted horses during a big race. These hoods have cups that cover their eyes, not completely but just enough to narrow their vision, in the hopes of improving their focus on the task at hand. Secretariat famously wore a blinker hood when he won the Triple Crown!

Another type of horse you might find wearing blinders is a carriage horse. Owners and trainers often attached blinders on their teams’ bridles to prevent them from getting distracted or panicking about what they’re pulling behind them. They can still see perfectly fine where they need to be looking — forward.

4: To Protect a Wound in or Around Their Eyes

Horses love to scratch their faces on fence posts, trees, food buckets in their stall, and even you (if you’ll let them). If they develop an injury to their eye or around their face, owners might use a protective mask or ophthalmic hood to cover their eyes, keeping them clear of debris and free of infection.

These masks and hoods do not blind horses. They protect against insect bites, scratches, and further injury.

5: To Help Them Relax During a Procedure

Did you know horses require regular dental and vet appointments? Just like you might have anxiety during a procedure, horses also get anxious.

Bright lights, loud noises, and unfamiliar people can all stress horses out. This is because they have a natural “fight or flight” instinct. You don’t want this to kick in while they’re in crossties, so owners will often cover their horses’ eyes with a towel during dental or vet procedures to help them relax.

This temporarily blinds the horse, but for good reason. Using a towel to cover horses’ eyes during a routine appointment can be a great option to calm anxious horses without resorting to medication or sedation to relax them.

6: To Protect Their Sensitive Skin From Sunburn

Just like you, horses can get sunburned. All horses feel the effects of the sun, but those with pink skin or less fur on their face are extra susceptible to the harmful UV rays.

If owners or trainers keep their horses turned out in the field for most of the day, those horses usually wear a mask to protect them from the UV rays.

Many UV-blocking masks exist. There are also UV-blocking masks that also double as fly masks!

Summary of the 6 Common Reasons Owners and Trainers Cover Horses’ Eyes: