FLIES- leaving the horse to it?

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Limbo-the day-

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Does any one here not fly rug, mask or do the sprays? My horse is so sensitive to fly sheet material and always gets a infection when he has a mask on. No matter how clean we keep him or the mask. To be fair the flies p*ss me off more than him. Including the ones that bit his sheath he never really minds and it never swells the only time it annoyed him was when I slapped sudocream on it! Any one else just leave them to it? And the horse is ok?
 
Me.:)

If they don't bother the horse (cause infections) I'm pretty sure all the rugs and masks will bother them more.

I honestly don't understand the amount of rugging that goes on nowadays. When did all ponies/horses get so sensitive?
 
I leave mine to it in general, the one or two that do suffer are rugged, I tend to bring in by day once the flies are out properly, mine are turned out in pairs or small groups so have a friend to help keep flies away and trees in the hedge lines to stand under. I usually spray before riding if they are bad.
They never used to have fly rugs or masks and survived perfectly well, the main issue now is horses kept in individual turnout with no shelter they can really suffer with no way of getting away from the flies or out of the sun, if it ever comes out.
 
I tend to leave mine too it - I have yet to find a fly spray that is effective and just a waste of money.

I also can't get my head around putting a rug on in the height of summer.....if one of mine was really suffering, I would rather bring them in.
 
Yep mine goes all natural when it comes to flies. I hate tugging her in winter so ill be damned if I'm doing it in summer. Sprays are a waste of time as she rolls a lot. Sprays last 5 minutes on her. The flies don't worry her she doesn't have allergies etc.... So she just gets on with it.
 
well my mare gets huge lumps when bitten so I have to rug/fly spray as if not I cant ride as she ends up with huge swellings on girth back etc which would make it uncomfortable for her, she tends to still get bitten in stable aswell, have found a decent product tho from tack shop (cant be certain) but think its called coopers or something works a treat and only needs applying every 3 days, my other 2 don't see to get bothered by the flies at all !
 
My boy only has a fly mask on at the moment as I hate seeing the flies swarming around his eyes. I will start to use a rug when the horse & Botflies start.
Rugs cause havoc with his long flowing mane :(
 
I do put them in a blanket when the I feel there are just too many flies for them to handle (which happens maybe twice a year). The rest of the time, I just leave them to it. Only time I tried to put a fly mask on a horse, he rubbed his eye and got a terrible infection - so never tried it again. I put a bit of fly gel on the ears and face of the horse when out competing (dressage) so they don't move their heads.
 
Years ago, we never ever rugged anything. My first pony never had a rug of any sort on him from the day I got him till the last day - he was out summer and winter and the only thing I ever did was bung on some lotion I'd boiled up as a home made thing which contained Elder (I think it was) which smelt foul. Come winter, come summer/flies, he was naked, as were everyone else's horses back then.

Then, in those days, for sweet itches the "cure" was to slap on a horrid gunky mixture of thick oil (like molasses) and sulpher (echo the "pig oil and sulphur cure" of nowadays??? - not so very different I guess).

So....... sorry, digressing (have drink in hand) - my traddie boy has sweet itch so is covered up like a cocoon anyway, minus the head-mask until absolutely necessary as he hates it and I use Killitch on his ears & face. Mare was driven crazy by horseflies last summer so I covered her up with an old Sweet itch rug I had, and she was a lot better.

Both horses were ridden out last summer in ride-on fly rugs; both a lot happier IMO.
 
Mine will run round until he's lathered up at he sight of a mere bog standard fly, never mind horseflies etc so is rugged and fly masked and sprayed as soon as its warm enough for insects.

If its ever properly hot he's in during the day ad out at night but still wears a light fly rug in the stable. They really do drive him demented!
 
I simply canot bear to see my horses pestered and unhappy in the field they simply stay in and go out when the flys are not around so on bad fly days they are in during the day and out at night if it's windy they will be out longer we get the wind straight off the northsea the flys don't like it .
They are at home with slaves around most of the time so it easy to bring them in and out.
 
I don't rug if they don't bother.

Unfortunately the new mare seems to be very sensitive to them as she is covered in bites that are huge, about the size of £2 coins so I'm having to rug her up :(
 
My last yard was quite exposed so the wind nearly always kept the flies at bay so wasn't really an issue. The yard and field where he is now is surrounded by woodland, with a few streams and standing water, so it does become a problem for us. I have used the mask when his eyes are streaming and he's surrounded by flies, and the rug on occasions (its also reflective so did help to keep him cool as he is black and one particular field doesn't have a great deal of shade).
 
Never use rugs, but one of mine hates flies in his ears, so wears a mask, and when the dreaded Bot flies arrive in August I have to stand him in during the day otherwise he will trot endlessly round his field until he is exhausted! :rolleyes:
 
Mine wears a fly veil and has to have is fly rug on or he gets a sunburnt neck :( His mane is very thin at the bottom from years of rugs rubbing it out and his little pink skin gets burnt. I had completely forgotten the other day that after such a long winter that when its warm and sunny you get sun burnt. Resulting in both myself and the pony with very mild sunburn
 
Sidney said:
I also can't get my head around putting a rug on in the height of summer.....if one of mine was really suffering, I would rather bring them in.
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My pony suffers with sweet itch and under no circumstance is he to be in a stable whilst flies are out, because if he gets bitten when in he scratches himself on the wall and gives himself injuries, last year he ulcerated his eye twice and my friends pony sliced his back open pretty badly from scratching. ( needed stitches and had a few months out of work because of it.) I'd rather rug than let them damage themselves.
 
peteralfred said:
I just make sure mine have a good, big and dark shelter to get into to escape them.
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Same here, and it makes them diet to as on hot days they stand in it a lot! Natural living.
(Having said that I do put a swipe of Coopers by their bits once a week).
 
I don't use rugs, masks or fly spray either - such things didn't exist when I came to horses years ago. We do get a LOT of midges where they currently only so my only concession is that I put Sudocreme inside their ears as they bite and bleed otherwise :( A friend told me years ago that she doesn't use any fly repelling stuff because it forces her horses into the shelter during the day. By being in their they are not eating grass so it is acting like a natural aid to reducing their intake of grass during the summer months. I thought that was a good point to note actually.
 
I don't.

And I hate hate hate HATE those fly masks. I think it must really irritate the horse to not be able to see properly, and I've also seen flies get under them. I'd NEVER use one.

I think as long as your field has shade/shelter you shouldn't need to make your summer revolve around fly rugs and citronella
 
I put on fly rugs and masks as seen too many eye infections to not do it and my oldie gets mild sweet itch so he's got a rug on. The only t
Other thing I do is switch for midges and the blood drinking fles that attach to udders and sheaths, the rest of the time I find fly sprays too short lasting to be any ood, I use them for riding and that's it really.
 
I don't BUT, mine all have constant access to barns and shaded areas. I don't believe it's fair to chuck them out in a field with no chance of respite from flies.
 
amandap said:
I don't BUT, mine all have constant access to barns and shaded areas. I don't believe it's fair to chuck them out in a field with no chance of respite from flies.
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That's the answer isn't it.

Rather than buy rugs/face masks ect. people should be more focused on providing adequate shelter.
 
Clodagh said:
Same here, and it makes them diet to as on hot days they stand in it a lot! Natural living.
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any time not spent eating with Exmoor ponies is a bonus in the summer :D

But I wouldn't put them during those times out if they didn't have adequate shelter-we have alot of trees and water and unfortunately trees harbour biting birch flies (a peculiarity of certain parts of Scotland) and protect them from wind which also allows midges. We do have horseflies but not bots.
 
I use a fly mask as my pony seems to attract so many flies to her face. Far more than the others at the same field. She only has it on when they are at their worst and not 24/7. I am going to try a fly rug this year as she got a lot of bites last year but again it will only be on when necessary.
 
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