HORSEFLIES

lisan

lisan

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17 September 2003
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Fylde Coast, Lancs
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Is there any fly spray that stops them??? Evil little barstewards!

We were at a local show yesterday, and its by the river, just as it flows out to sea, and they were absolutely horrendous. Poor Ruby was being eaten alive, as were lots of other horses there, never seen so many in my life.

She was newly washed for the show, plastered in fly spray but it did'nt make a bit of difference!

Any reccommendations please!
 
Leovet Power Phaser is the best thing I have found to stop the blood sucking flies, although you still get the nuisance of flies buzzing around, it does seem to stop them landing and biting.
 
NAF DEET made a humungous difference when i was competing dressage yesterday, absolutly LOADS of horseflies around, but not on my horse. I even had another rider ask me what i was using on him. Definatley works for me .
 
Same here. NAF Deet certainly seems to be the best i have used. Beanie is a headshaker in the summer due to the flies and this makes a huge difference to our hacks. It doesn't stop them buzzing around but they don't land on her, just on the others we are with!!
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Apparently (I think I read it on here) horse flies home in to their prey by sight not smell, unlike other irritating beasties. So fly sprays rarely work. We wrap ours up at work - they still get eaten, just not as much.
 
Interesting post Jakesmydog, my bay mare was driven close to insanity yesterday, my light chestnut a little less but my old grey mare was merrily munching away with nothing bothering her. It all becomes clear.
I use NAF deet and it did 'naf' all
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Wonderful for midges though.
 
I have it as left over from my horse who suffered terrible sweet itch and worked wonders on him. I just find it does nothing on these guys. The cream is better than the spray too I think..
It might work on yours; maybe it's the same as perfume on people. Some people smell great with a certain type on and others smell terrible or not at all!
 
NAF Deet didn't do anything for mine either; flies were landing as I was spraying!

I've had to turn mine out in fly sheets with necks and the equilibrium face masks as the clegs were so bad. The only brand I've found to work is Leovet Phaser; it's expensive and stinks to high heaven but appears to work. Unfortunately local saddlery has gone out of stock!

Why oh why did they band citronella
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I didn't use to have this problem years ago (stabled in same place).

Now that you mention about horse colours grey gelding was a lot less affected than chestnut, liver chestnut and bay mares!
 
dont forget to shake the deet well before you put it on, if you dont the deet settles and all you spray is water, as i found to my cost!
 
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Oh dear, have just been and bought some NAF Deet!

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Make sure you patch test her with it first. Patches came out in oozing sores when I used DEET on her.
 
ooops, I did'nt see your post Patches until I had already sprayed her last night!

Anyway, used it last night before the hack and they were NOT landing on her, so all good, but on the way home after some cantering and bouncing around they were quite bad :-(

So it does work if horse not sweaty!! Oh and checked her this morning, no re-action to it.

She's out in a fly rug in the field anyway, goes nuts without it.
 
I would agree that the little horrors are attracted to dark colours - my poor bay horse was eaten alive during a recent XC session, whereas the two greys who were with us were hardly bothered at all!

I have discovered no rational reason for horseflies to exist, and think they should all be exterminated immediately
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Yes, I was given an American product to try - Tri-Tec 14. It absolutely positively does work with horse flies - only two drawbacks, it's not yet passed for sale in this country and when it is it's likely to be expensive, at @ £25 a bottle, but it is absolutely worth it. It doesn't stink, either. One of the active ingredients is Pyrethrin, derived from chrysanthemums, so I guess any spray which contained that might have a similar effect.
The only drawback I can see is that a warning on the bottle said the horse couldn't be eaten within x days of spraying, so it may fall foul of Euro regulations - I hope not.
I'm told it's being tested at the moment and a result is imminent. A number of retailers have secret stocks of it in anticipation of approval, so if you have a friend who owns a tack shop, be nice to them and you might get a bottle under the counter! Or if you know of someone going on holiday to the States, get them to bring some back.
At present it's legal to own it and use it, but not sell it, so do the math as they say.
I have no financial interest in this or connection with anyone who does, I'm just so thrilled to have found SOMETHING that works!
 
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