Horse flies and thin skinned horses - agh!!

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ShadowFlame

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New boy is literally being eaten alive by horse flies. I arrived at the yard yesterday to find clusters of them stuck to his face, neck, legs, with blood trickling as soon as they're waved off. He's smothered in both Coopers and Powerphaser which seems to take the edge off for a bit, just not long enough though.

Any recommendations for fly rugs, or other fly sprays, please? I'll start bringing him in for daytimes when flies are really bad, but I know he's not overkeen on the idea... is there a rug out there that works against horse flies, or am I barking up an imaginary tree, here? :confused:
 
I've heard that fly rugs with 'zebra stripes' are supposed to deter them more than normal fly rugs.

I have the same problem as you though with my boy. Blood trickling from where they've bitten etc, and im just keeping him in throughout the day (especially in this hot weather) and turning him out at night with a full neck fly rug & mask on. He seems to be okay with this routine as he was really tired/lethargic being out 24/7 in this heat.
 
My boy is suffering too, they seem evil this year! Hes full of lumps from bites and has started to rub them despite have tried deosect, power phaser, Avon sss, having a full neck fly rug and a mask. Hes in during the day and out at night at the mo too. Ive been looking at the Effol Horsefly blocker, anyone know if its any good??
 
Thanks for the reply. Out of curiosity, which fly rug are you using?

He's happy to come in for an hour or two, but does tend to be a bit of a pain if he's in for longer than that (plus stables have a metal roof - they're not very cool in this weather...). I'm not sure what to do for the best to be honest, Rods always had skin like a rhino so it's unmarked territory for me :confused:

The insides of his back legs are just covered in scabs, and his coat has smears of blood through it. That's a new one to me about the zebra print... I'll go and raid the tack shop on the way out of work this afternoon. Just can't decide which is the best to try.
 
I think it depends on your turnout too - half my field I've saved for winter (long grass) is plagued by the little blighters but the other half of the field that they are currently in with short, summer grazing is fine! The summer side is also on more of a slope so less fly's again when they stand in the breeze.
Have you another paddock you could try? Worth a shot...
 
I'm using fly rugs and fly masks plus Deet cream (I can't get near them with spray fly).

I am wondering about upgrading CM's now tatty fly rug to a Vamoose one with fly repellent in the fabric.
 
We're at livery, so unfortunately we're stuck in the field we're in. Having said that, his is the furthest from the yard, at the top of a hill... of all the fields, it should have the best breeze. There's a couple of trees, no streams or water sources nearby... it's just the bl**dy horseflies that are everywhere, and they're that big that a breeze doesn't seem to put them off anyway!

And for the record, he despises fly spray. We have the same fly spray / suncream battle on a daily basis :rolleyes:
 
It really sounds as though he needs to come in during the day if he is getting bitten that much. Even the best fly rug will not protect his legs.

My mare is similar. She comes in during the day in summer. A sweet itch hoody works really well against flies, but is a bit hot in this weather (we have been hosing them off with their hoodies on when they wear them in sunlight). We are lucky that its our own yard, so we can open the yard so they can come and go from the field if we want. We've been doing this in the afternoons, and they choose the stables rather than the flies!
 
i've just bought him this http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/300718685...eName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649
because it was cheap - i've only got him on loan so don't want to fork out LOADS. It comes with a mask aswell.
He despises fly spray too - but i dont even believe it works well without citronella. I'm gonna look into buying a cheap citronella band to put on his rug to see if that helps. There are so many horse flies even at 7am in the morning! ARGHHH
 
Thanks all - it just seems a bit of a catch 22, he's eaten in the fields, or stands sweating in the stable. Didn't think I'd be complaining about some summer weather!!

I'm off to collect an Amigo fly rug from the tack shop (I looked at ebay, but delivery time is a pain), grab him a fly mask and see how we go. Maybe the citronella bands are worth a shot.
 
Totally sympathise, I was in bits the other week when he was covered in lumps from the flies, it was so upsetting. I've never seen so many in my life and I swear they are playing tag team on him!

He is in a white flysheet with full neck and a face covering fly mask and lashing of Power Phaser which is no miracle worker but its defo helping the poor man :(
 
When my lad came in literally covered in fly bites, after trashing his fly rug, I wiped him over with vinegar, generally it soothes skin irritations, ok he smelled like a fish shop, but it did the trick, since his new rug is a snugger fit, so far has 3 rips in over three days, so I spray super fly repellant under his rug, so far not one bite, my other two are rugless, but fly spray works well, it was tested in a horse mag and came out top of the deetless ones, my lad is allergic to deet.
 
Titchy seems to be really sensitive to their bite. He has a boet blanket and sweetitch hood on but he still has horrible lumpy bites. His SI is completely controlled so these bites are really annoying me as a thicker rug which might protect him, would be too much on top of the SI gear which he must wear. Strangely as horrible as the lumps are they don't seem to bother him!

They bite me through thick cotton jods so I cannot see any fly rug working I'm afraid!
 
They are just the worst. It was bad enough for me, on a 20 min hack down the road I got bitten about 6 times on my legs through my thick jodhpurs. They took about a week to go down. Poor horses, it must be awful.
 
It's cooler here today, so left my lads flyrug off and tried a natural fly spray, 3 hrs on good grass but little shelter, he came back to the barn bite free, at last a product he's not allergic to, he hates wearing rugs
 
Sorry, only just caught up with this thread!

I bought him a fly rug Fri lunch, smothered him in powerphaser gel and kicked him out. Typically, the sun disappears and the flies die down Fri afternoon :rolleyes:

Saying that, it's there ready to use I guess. He doesn't go lumpy TBF, he just bleeds. Bl**dy horses, always something to worry about.
 
My WB gets eaten alive every year - missing days of riding etc

I have tried fly rugs - which he hates and trashes:rolleyes3: and fly spray doesnt' really seem to help:mad3:

He has been on a supplement since last winter and the added bonus is he hasn't been bitten at all this year!:biggrin3:

One happy horse and happier owner - one who no longer needs shares in flyspray....... ;) :biggrin3:
 
slinkyunicorn said:
My WB gets eaten alive every year - missing days of riding etc

I have tried fly rugs - which he hates and trashes:rolleyes3: and fly spray doesnt' really seem to help:mad3:

He has been on a supplement since last winter and the added bonus is he hasn't been bitten
at all this year!:biggrin3:

One happy horse and happier owner - one who no longer needs shares in flyspray....... ;) :biggrin3:
Click to expand...


What supplement, if u don't mind me asking?
 
I think Jack (WB VERY thin skin) has a little allergy as is out in the day and in at night (cant switch which would be my preference) and was coming up in big lumps which would go down by the morning

I bought the Masta full neck fly rug and has helped and as yes hasn't sweated up in it although got to say that the "full" neck only ends up half way up the neck as soon as his head is down

Also use a full face and ears fly mask and in the stable at night he goes naked with fly spray
 
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