Fly mask for horses
AssigneeNoble Rider, LLC
InventorMatthew Edward Chrostowski
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A fly mask for horses has a cage structure supporting a mesh, the structure being formed of semi-rigid plastic splines which hold the mesh away from the eyes and most of the surfaces of the horse's head. In a preferred form the fly mask has protruding lines at the location of the splines, protecting the mask against excessive wear due to rubbing of the mask against posts or other building structure when worn. A detachable protective nose guard can be included.
Claims17
An equine fly mask assembly to shield a horse's head, eyes and upper snout from flies and other insects, comprising:
- a flexible mesh with openings to allow air flow but a barrier to flies, of sufficient size to cover the horse's head from at least the brow down to the mid-snout of the horse,
- a plurality of semi-rigid splines forming a cage configured to hold the mesh away from the surface of the horse's head so as to prevent the mesh from pressing against most of the surface over which it lies, including the eyes, the semi-rigid splines including a sagittal spline positioned to lie centrally on the horse's head and extending at least from the brow and down to a forward edge of the mesh, a pair of opposed side splines extending generally horizontally from approximately below the ear, to just behind a rear edge of the horse's mouth at the forward edge of the mesh, and a transverse brow spline extending essentially perpendicularly to the sagittal spline and across the upper end of the sagittal spline with each of two ends of the transverse brow spline terminating at one of the side splines,
- each spline comprising an elastically bendable strip of different material from the mesh and attached to the mesh and being in an arched configuration so as to bow outwardly from the horse, the splines being connected and holding most of the mesh away from the horse including at the eyes,
- a forward transverse strap secured to the forward edge of the mesh to essentially encircle the snout and jaw region of the horse's head, and
- a closure means for closing the mesh at a bottom side of the mesh.
A fly mask assembly configured to fit over and to shield the head, eyes and upper snout of a horse from flies and other insects, comprising:
- a flexible mesh with openings of a size to provide a barrier to flies, and the flexible mesh being large enough to cover the horse's head from the ears approximately to the throat of the horse,
- a plurality of semi-rigid splines connected together and forming a cage configured to hold the mesh away from surfaces of the horse's head thus to prevent the mesh from pressing against most of the surfaces over which it lies, including the eyes, each semi-rigid spline comprising an elastically bendable strip of different material from the mesh and attached to the mesh,
- the semi-rigid splines including a sagittal spline positioned to lie centrally over the horse's head when worn, and configured to extend at least from the horse's brow and down to a forward edge of the mesh, and a transverse brow spline connected to an upper end of the sagittal spline and extending essentially perpendicularly to the sagittal spline with each of two ends of the transverse brow spline extending down approximately to the level of the horse's jaw when worn,
- each spline being in an arched configuration so as to bow outwardly from the horse when worn, holding most of the mesh away from the horse including at the eyes, with the brow spline's ends tending to push outwardly from the horse when worn, and including support means secured to the mesh for restricting outward movement of the ends of the brow spline,
- a forward transverse strap secured to the forward edge of the mesh to essentially encircle the snout and jaw region of the horse's head when worn, and
- closure means for securing the forward transverse strap and the mesh together at a bottom side of the mesh.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.