how do you know when to use these with a horse, and do they actually make any difference to them?

when jockey says could have settled beter but no guarentees on any of them working

Or you could just ask the headlad but make sure the horse doesn't hear him talking to you lol!! Butchers knife at the ready

Have you used them successfully when the jockey says that? I've never tried it because they are supposed to liven the horse up more. I thought it es only when the head lad/jockey says the horse 'may benefit from a pacifier' or that it's 'racing lazily'...

Correct.

It would only further unsettle a horse racing freely to apply a pacifier to them, and it only works if your horse gains the comments 'raced lazily', and it doesn't seem to matter which one you use as they all appear to have exactly the same effect.

Once you've taken time to breed the quality into your lines you won't have to worry about using headgear as your horses will be genuine and will go quick without the need for a pacifier.

Hope this helps!

duke is right this breeds out after several gens

how do you know which of these to put on the horse, when jockey is saying things like couldnt settle, i always thought visors were for horses who pulled?

The only thing that will help a horse settle within the game is gelding it, and even then it isn't guaranteed to work.

Blinkers, visors and cheek pieces are all to help horses concentrate more on what they're doing and therefore liven them up. Nosebands are a little different but they're not in the game anyway. I sell any fillies who don't settle and geld and colts/stallions who get the 'not settle' comment in their form and from the jockey in 3 races running.