I feel so bad!

Like... very, very, very terrible. I put a fly mask on "my" (free lease) pony, because the flies were starting to bug her, that was two days ago. I was in a rush when I did the night feed, so I left it on, I didn't think it'd be a problem, and I go out today to catch her, throw the halter on over top and notice that she starts throwing and shaking her head, I lead her to the barn, take the fly mask off and holy cow.
She's rubbed herself raw behind her ears, the hair is gone and she's bleeding.

She didn't seem to be in pain, I was advised to go for a short ride anyway, loose bridle and "be easy" with her, and other than a few headshakes at the beginning she was fine, love her to bits, but I feel awful.
I doused her in MTG, she seemed 'relieved' but still... gah! What do you guys recommend for something like that, MTG? I know it works for rainscald and what have you, and have you experienced this? Are there 'better' fly masks to get? Or an alternative? Or...? I feel terrible. ):

I'm geussing it was on much too tight if it rubbed her raw in one night...

I have left my mare's mask on at night every once in a blue moon, when it's really windy to keep some of the dirt out of her eyes, and it's never been a problem.

I like corona for those kinds of things. I'm not a fan of MTG personally, it smells horrible, and I'm not a fan of products that have warnings on them to "wear gloves to apply"...Lol!

I'd strongly advise against using a bridle/halter/fly mask for a while because that will only rub off what's trying to heal, only use it when you need to.

Mom2pride: it wasn't on too tight, it was a little bit loose, a touch too big. I'm thinking it irritated her and she rubbed on something else, maybe? A fence or something because I thought it was odd too, that it had rubbed her so badly.

And I agree, my sister swore she could smell it from halfway across the arena- GROSS, and I didn't wear gloves, hopefully my hands don't fall off, haha.

Roro, I've got a strange halter-thing that doesn't sit anywhere near the area that was rubbed that I can use. It was custom made for a friend of mine, for a horse with sensitive ears, maybe we'll dabble in halter and clip-on riding for a bit, could be interesting...

Poor thing, I hate it when things like that happen and you don't know about it. I've had my fair share of things like that and you gotta live and learn, then spend the next few weeks sucking up and pampering the horse to make up for it. Never repeated any of those instances and its made me a lot more cautious and a lot better horsewoman.

I would definitely use that halter you were talking about it you have to use something at all.