Anyone NOT use fly spray/rugs/masks?

[muckypony]

One of mine has sweet itch so is covered up to his eyeballs in rug and lotions. Thankfully the other two don't and have long manes so the have nothing at all apart from a little neem on their winkys and inside their ears!

 

[happyclappy]

Me. Use nothing and seem to be pretty fly free so far again this year. One has always had bad sweet itch but he is ok if he has nothing to rub on.

 

[Fiona]

I put on some long acting fly spray from the vets, but no fly rugs or masks...

Fiona

 

[siennamiller]

Mine has a fly mask on, but nothing else. Fly sprays are generally rubbish, I don't like breathing in the spray and I feed brewers yeast so she's not too bad anyway.

 

[WandaMare]

I usually use fly spray and masks but I have just bought a pony who is very 'anti' any fly relief. She rolls on the ground rubbing her head until her mask comes off (apparently she learnt how to do this with her previous owner who tried her in a muzzle) and she plays up badly when trying to get fly spray any where near her even applying with a sponge. She's been lovely in every other way so I have decided not to upset her with any of it as she's still settling in. She has a field shelter so at least she can retreat in there when the flies are bad. She's a funny little thing

 

[Phoebe+Sophie]

My mare wears a equilibrium fly mask because her big beautiful eyes attract lots of flies which causes her to rub her eyes. Other than that her and my gelding just have homemade fly spray with citronella, tea tree and need oil in it along with vinegar and tea. I do have to sponge it on her though because she's a grumpy old lady! This is more effective than bought fly spray with no nasty chemicals. I would use a fly mask on my gelding but he's still slightly head shy so he wouldn't tolerate it. I keep their tails long as well so they're happy.

 

[pricillapony]

I think it depends on where you are. At our old yard Pony never wore any fly protection and was never bothered, I think we had one lumpy fly bite in seven years there. The fields had a nice sea breeze and were out in the open, so no cows, deer or long grass to encourage insects. The yard had almost 100 liveries and almost every one at the yard insisted on spraying their horses twice a day and I would say that at least half of the horses wore at least a fly mask, if not full on fly rugs, despite there being little need to.

However since moving she has to wear at least a fly mask in the field, and I try to put fly spray on every day too. At the new yard we have forests on one side and farmers fields full of cows on the other, I have honestly never seen so many flies. Pretty much every horse has a fly mask on, the same with fly spray but there are only one or two that wear fly rugs as well.

If there is a medical reason to kit your horse out in all the fly gear then go for it. Although it does seem as though some people put these things on their horses, not for their well being and happiness, but because it is expected and they don't want to be seen as cruel. Personally I would rather keep the chemicals and the hassle to a minimum.

 

[Welshie95]

I tried a mask once because his eyes were really bad, within ten minutes it was swinging from a tree so we gave up! He also rolls as soon as I turn him out so doubt the sprays would be very effective afterwards..

 

[Tern]

Only masks as I have one head-shaker and one that gets puffy eyes.

They get sweaty in fly rugs to given up on them and Fly Spray never bloody works.

 

[Lammy]

Both of mine have fly masks on, at the bottom of the yard there's an old stream that gets a bit marshy in the winter. Flies love it in the summer so we do have quite a few especially in the fields nearest to that old stream. Don't bother with sprays as I don't really think any of it works especially not for a long period of time. I do however love any anti-fly cream for scratches/small wounds, despite the yellow stains you get after.

I think if you cut your horses forelock/mane short and you get a lot of flies then you need to be replacing their natural protection somehow either with a fly fringe or mask. If they have long forelocks they can sort the flies out themselves!

 

[Janah]

Don't have a horse at the moment. I bought my last boy a fly rug and witching one day he had trashed it, and I mean trashed!

I gave up using spray as I had to apply with a sponge as he didn't like the spray and didn't seem to work anyway.

he had a tail and a good for lock which I kept long for protection of his eyes.

When he was at home I kept him in during the day in the worst fly times, he just put himself to bed and snoozed the day away.

I did try fly fringes but he decorated various hedges with it.

 

[Copperpot]

I've given up with fly rugs. I spend a fortune on the and they just destroy them. I do spray them with coopers every other day though. More for my own peace of mind.

 

[pottamus]

I just use a fly mask as he hates them around his face and eyes. He also has a field stable to go into to escape too and he uses that a fair bit.

 

[Gentle_Warrior]

Never used fly rug until I moved! 10 years without one. Flies bad at new place.

 

[madmav]

I'm a bit meh about the whole fly rug thing, and all the others. Being old, I now can't believe our horses survived in the bad old days without all of this stuff. But guess you have to embrace progress.
Fly spray is useless. But like Anti-mozzie stuff for humans when on hols. They don't work!