Fly sheets - do they help?

[UKa]

as title suggests - my horse gets really bitten at the moment but I am hesitating putting yet another rug on her while it is for once nice and warm... do the fly sheets actually help? I get bitten through my jodhs... brand recommendations also welcome

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

I've got fly rugs on my two. Mare gets literally bitten alive by horseflies, so its an essential item rather than an option for her. She wears the Premier Equine ultra light - they also do a summer quarter sheet in the same material.

Ditto my traddie cob; he's got sweet itch so wears the Rambo sweet itch hoody. If I left it off him he'd be in an awful state in about half a day.

My two definately haven't been bitten so much - mare did have a nasty bite on her saddle area (damn nuisance, as couldn't ride her) BUT this could have been when she was standing around in the yard without her rug on.

To leave their rugs off isn't an option.

Rambo are good - unsurpassed in fact, but expensive. Premier Equine do some nice rugs at reasonable cost, and theirs last well.

Personally I'd advise against the cheap-and-cheerful ones which are made of very thin gauze; they won't last (my boy's record is half a day in one before it was trashed) and are false economy. Don't be tempted by the Amigo Mio, for example. Yes its reasonably priced, but it won't last. I use the one I've got for putting on my boy when he's standing in the stable rather than for turnout, it just isn't up to the job. Plus if they're too thin, the flies are gonna bite through anyway, so a waste of time & money.