Anyone NOT use fly spray/rugs/masks?

My old boy has a mask on and spray as he can come up in lumps and scabs from the bites, and seems to get really irritated when they're on him. my young welshie has a mask on (if he keeps it on) and sometimes I spray him but he doesn't seem bothered by the flies.
 
I mask two of mine due to 1 being an appy with lots of white and her mum who is coloured who also has lots of white showing, its more for sun protection but it does help keeping flies away and causing infections which the appy had one year. I do have one field which has loads of horse flies during the fly season and I will fly rug up any horse in there if it gets bad, I also pop on some home made spray now and again if they are being tormented but not on all of them (only the ones who get irritated by them) oh and I pop some fly cream on my older mares udders who gets quite swollen and sore there.......oh cripes I do use lots of fly protection dont I lol
 
I have just bought mine a fly mask today.
He has a pink nose which burns, and he won't let me put cream on it. The last few years, I've had a nose net attached to a fieldsafe headcollar, but he just rubs on the fence until the net sticks up at 90 degrees.
I am hoping that he will find the fly mask a little more comfortable, and a little less easy to flick up, although the way he was playing his favourite "bitey face" game with his mate this afternoon, I suspect it won't last very long!
 
My mare is covered head to toe as she gets very bothered by flies (gets huge lumps coming up) but my yearling is naked with not a jot on him! I have a vague recollection of reading a paper on sweet itch which had found that if they're exposed as youngsters to flie bites they're less likely to develop sweet itch etc, not sure how accurate that it but it's what I remember plus he doesn't seem bothered so he can stay naked :-)
 
My boy has mild sweet itch- until this year he's been wearing sweet itch rugs and masks pretty much all summer.

Started using Neem oil this year- and sweet itch rug is still hanging up! Its on standby, but there have been no signs of itching ao far, and the flies and midges never seem to be around him anymore :)

Saving me a fortune of fly sprays no doubt, I was going through a bottle or three a month last year, with little result!!

Ax
 
My boy wears his fly mask when it is hot and sunny, if the flies are bad and he has nothing he just stands in the field nodding his head and not eating so i'd much rather he was covered even if the flies aren't always that bad. It does him no harm and he's always willing for me to put it on :) I usually use fly spray but its such a bloomin waste of money i'm wondering if there's any point!
 
I just use deosect - spray once a month and then no problem with flies, not too much effort really
I hate seeing horses with flies all around their eyes, it looks really uncomfortable...
 
I agree it depends on where you live and I also think the colour of the horse, both my greys have been less bothered by flies than the ones that have some colour on them. Nickel hates sprays of any kind, so that is a no go and he lives in a field with rug rippers so masks never stay on and fly rugs destroyed within days of going on. So he has nothing, but he doesn't seem bothered by flies at all.
 
Yes, depends on the horse I think. I have three horses - one I use traditional fly spray on. One I use deosect on once a month and one has a mask and fly rug - not sure he needs the run actually but being black he actually seems cooler in his white rug. He does need the ear protection though after 24 hours without both his ears were a mass of bleeding pussy scabs on the inside.
 
Most of the time, no. But I do get the Coopers out when those horrible swarming midges start attacking the gelding's sheath - he's pink skinned and ends up all bloody, poor thing. But most of the time no need so I leave the chemicals and rugs off.
 
Mine have long tails to swish at flies and long manes which protect their eyes. Have never used a fly rug or Mask. Mine have a stone barn in their field which is cool in sumer and they go in there if flies are bad. As I live on a hill flies are not as bad as some places, I always feel sorry for horses I see kept by rivers with no where to get away from the flies and midges which are much worse by water.
 
Haven't ever used sprays, fringes or rugs. I was criticised at pony club for not cutting my pony's tails, which are full to the floor, and do a very good job of keeping off the flies. Same with forelocks, although some grow longer than others. We are convinced one of the Dartmoors is obedient because he can't see where he's going ;)

Surprised at people using Deosect regularly for flies. It's fantastic stuff, which I've used in the past to eliminate lice, but it's very very nasty, and I wouldn't want to use it regularly.
 
Not going to this year- in the past I have used sprays and masks but this year I am going to stop and see what happens…… apart maybe for my elderly TBx who sometimes comes in from field covered in massive lumps (this has happened once this year already) but we will see……

I have never used fly rugs….. an old livery of mine used to rug her Welsh D every minute of every day because she was convinced he hated flys, rain, wind, sun etc…… he used to get so hot and sweaty under his fly rug in summer- he even had to be rugged in his stable at night in case a fly got in there!!!! I used to hate seeing him always in a rug like that……. and he really didn't have a problem with flys or anything else- he was just a normal horse!

Do totally understand that some horses have medical issues that require this though but on a normal horse- come on!
 
I've stopped using fly spray, costs a fortune and half an hour after putting it on they are back! Occasionally use a fly mask but majority of time nothing and he is no more bothered by flies at all. Some of the horses on our yard are coming in sweating buckets under fly rugs...
 
Just seen this thread found it very interesting! I must admit I do find fly sprays a complete waste of money - half an hour if that and the flies are back. I have bought the more expensive black bottle one (name mentioned on here) with deet and that does seem a little better but honestly I agree it's just another money spinner. Was in my local equine shop today and I couldn't get over the number of potions and lotions that were available and not cheap either - just trying to make money out of people !

Must admit I do use a fly mask as mine is out 24/7 - guessing they dont get as many in a stable ? But these days it's getting harder and harder to put on him as taking it off spooks him! Why oh why can't they come up with some non noisy Velcro !!
 
been too bloody cold and windy to worry much this year! I don't bother with sprays but I do use fly rugs-one pony has them on most of the time as is a little itchy, the other two have them on when it's horrid. Lots of trees and water in the fields = blackfly and midges and there are no field shelters in their summer field.
 
One of mine doesn't have one on....the others do for various reasons including sun burn. He has to be clipped all year round and has pink skin.
 
I wish I didnt have to bother, hate seeing them permanently in rugs but he comes out in massive lumps. Im having trouble at the moment with fly masks as he loves to roll and then obstructs his view which I think is dangerous so I tried without but then he gets stressed with the flies. I do think some horses attract flies more than others though and typically my boy seems to be one of them!
 
I used to at my current yard when the horse flies were atrocious. Now I don't bother. Fly masks never stayed on long & rugs would often be found, intact, on the ground 😧 I will spray deosect on before I ride, if the horse flies are particularly bad.9
 
1 of mine gets terrible reactions to fly bites so wears a fly rug but the others don't. I put fly spray on that i make myself, it works for 15 mins then seems pointless !
 
I have fly masks and fly rugs and fly spray but only ever use them occasionally as we live near the sea and always have a sea breeze which seems to keep the flies away.
My daughter on the other hand has to have her 2 covered from head to tail as where she now lives, they have the biggest and nastiest horse flies I have ever seen. The flies are so bad the horses run around the fields trying to get away from them if they are not protected.
 
I think really it's one of those "to each his own" matters, I wouldn't judge someone either way. For my boys I use fly masks and spray mostly, not every day, but when there seems to be a lot of flies about. They have rugs, but I use them less often. The reason I use masks is because one year one of my horses ended up with conjunctivitis and it cost me a lot of money with the vet. My mare lives on low lying ground, she has fly rug and mask, there are clouds of flies there in the summer and she is much happier with her protection.
 
Pops' summer field at new yard is right next to the river so he gets a fly mask on when the flies are particularly bad to give his poor eyes a rest and I always spray his sheath area and his scars (he's grey and his scars stand out/the flies seem to be really attracted to them) but other than that I tend not to bother with rugs - I've tried different sorts and they all seem to rub him/make him sweat - plus he hardly ever comes in with bites.

P
 
I use fly spray only because ponio gets really bad fly eye. I would use a fly mask instead but the sod pulls it off- somehow managed to lose a bright pink one in a flat field! So fly spray on the face it is, seems to work. I wouldn't use anything but it does get bad.
 
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