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Is this new or have other horses wore nose nets before? Itv when showed Calgary Tiger looking at fence before race mentioned it and showed it saying it’s meant to help them settle by intimidating the horse
. I’ve never seen it heard of it before on a racehorse 
Vf x
I remember Callisoe Bay wearing one, way back when.
Edit: that was in January 1995; I was at Sandown when he ran in the Tolworth Hurdle and clearly remember mentioning it to my then girlfriend.
So not seen often, it first time I seen nose net used on racehorse.
I know other horse disciplines use them ie dressage it’s legal but others disciplined eventing it maybe, not allowed to use themVf x
Think there was a good horse trained by Guy Harwood many years ago that used to have one.
I recall Spinning, a talented if enigmatic horse trained by Ian Balding for Paul Mellon, sported a net sometimes.
CAS,
Timeform Racehorses of 1991 confirm that Spinning ‘has worn net muzzle’. The fact that he’s rated 110 but with a TF squiggle probably explains it. But there’s no mention of him wearing it over hurdles and that’s confirmed by the pictures of his various wins in Chasers and Hurdlers.
My memory of that era is that the net muzzle was the 20th century equivalent of the modern day red hood. Horses would be fitted with a net muzzle going to post and for most, it would be removed at the start.
There’s nothing about it in the form books of that era, as even wearing one in a race didn’t have to be declared. It was one of those things you only knew about if you saw it on the racecourse.
Are net muzzles basically a restraining device designed to prevent a horse pulling too hard, by exerting pressure on the tender nose?
Running your hand over a horse’s dry and velvety nose is a pleasant and sensual experience, unlike doing the same to the wet and sticky noses of cattle and dogs
Their excrement is relatively pleasant too, as all we gardeners know
Might be wrong but I seem to recall that the psychopathic St Leger winner Moonax was tried in a net to prevent him taking chunks out of his fellow runners and connections in general
I think the Harwood one was horse called Hibernian Gold maybe , something Hibernian is in my mind as it is unusual gear .
Callisoe Bay was a huge powerful horse i recall , i may have been at that Tolworth also in 95 .I recall Arcadian Heights, trained by Geoff Wragg, was cut from the same cloth as Moonax. He tried to bite equine and human opponents, so I am fairly sure he had to sport a net muzzle in order to continue racing.
Thanks AP. I remember Spinning receiving the dubious honour of the Timeform squiggle. I think it was removed after he won two races in the same week at Glorious Goodwood.
I had almost forgotten he had gone hurdling. If memory serves, he won the Swinton Hurdle at Haydock.
Balding and Mellon had a small but select team of hurdlers back in that era. Crystal Spirit won the Sun Alliance at Cheltenham.
Spinning had his quirks but he was certainly good when on a going day.
Spot on with Hibernian Gold. There’s a picture of him winning the Brigadier Gerard Stakes in Racehorses of 1991, and the net muzzle is clearly shown.
I’ve only seen nose nets used as an anti-headshaking device for horses with allergies or sensitivity to insects. They only go over the top of the nose so would not stop a horse from biting.
First time I remember seeing a horse wearing a net muzzle was the aforementioned Hibernian Gold at Windsor in 1988. I’ve seen a few since then but they have been few and far between.
. I’ve never seen it heard of it before on a racehorse 
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