Flies - help and advise please

[Lorian]

Hi guys,

My horse is never normally bothered by flies but tonight he has come in cover in little black ones. They were all attached to him down his neck, on his chest, under his arm pits and on his belly by his sheath. When I brushed the flies off they left behind small scabs and a bit of blood. Where they had been biting him was all swollen and lumpy. I had put his normal fly spray on but obviously this hadnt worked on this type of fly.
The wierd thing is that he shares his field with another horse but she had none on her?
I know a lot of people use fly rugs but im not really a fan of them so dont really want to have to get one.


Does anyone know what type of flys these are, which fly sprays stop them biting or what else could stop them biting? Ive never seen this type of fly before...

 

[Skhosu]

Same here, mine has them even round his willy, and is quite annoyed by them. Will be watching carefully!

 

[johnsongreyhorse]

When my horse is bothered by them in his armpit and in front of sheath area I usually smother those areas with petroleum jelly, then the little bu@@ers can't bite!

 

[Theresa_F]

I had these on Cairo 2 years ago - they bit him raw on his belly and where his jaw joins his neck. Horrible little black things - looked like a large thunder fly.

Used a lot of sudocream and developed my fly spray which allowed him to heal and kept them at bay. I also used a fly blanket for a few weeks.

Nothing last year - whether due to the fly spray or not the right conditions I am not sure.

 

[bracken1]

spray loads with fly spray good one is power phaser and try feeding fly free by global herbs