How are your horses coping with the flies?!

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spotty_pony

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Can't believe the amount of flies - and in particular horse flies - there are around this year! They are making all of the horses downright miserable at the moment and making hacking far from relaxing! I have always been a believer that fly spray does nothing and makes no difference and haven't used any (nor needed to) for the past three years.

However, I am seriously thinking about starting to again but my question is does it actually make any difference or does it just make us (as owners) feel happier knowing we have tried to make our horses more comfortable?

I have recently bought my boy a fly mask for in the field and he is wearing a fly fringe when he is ridden which seems to help but he goes mad when he gets a fly on him and he can't get it off bless him. Has anyone tried out one of those ride-on fly sheets? Do they help?

Any suggestions welcome :)
 
My mum's grey is getting eaten alive by the "normal" flies. He has his fly sheet and hat on during the day, and an Amigo fly sheet for riding which definitely helps. My black horse is mostly fine with flies, though he does wear a hat, but the horseflies seem to love him and he's being pestered by them. We also seem to have a plague of horseflies :(
The best thing I use is a gunky green gel by Lincoln. Obviously I can't cover him in it, but I smear it all up his midline and anywhere there's exposed skin like the middles of whorls and he seems much less bothered by flies. He just gets too hot in his fly sheet!
 
While sprays help with normal flies and midges, horseflies hunt by sight not smell so they are of limited use. They like/see large dark shapes so a fly rug that makes the horse lighter should help. My horse is big and black, so a magnet for them. She is coming in while it is so bad. I am considering a ride on fly sheet as she has a bug buster which really helps keep them away..
 
Mine are in masks, I do spray if I am around, it does seem to reduce flies for a bit but not for long. I make sure my horses have some shade. I did consider fly sheets but they look hot.
 
Horse has a fly mask with ear covers on, though he hates having it put on and likes to pretend he can't see with it on. I spray him with fly spray (NAF DEET stuff in black bottle) daily and use that gunky yellow fly cream around his sheath area as it's the only thing that stops them from landing there. As long as I can stop them from landing around that area, he seems quite happy TBH.
 
Mine live out and get sprayed morning and evening. I don't use fly masks or fly sheets. They seem fine despite one being a very thin skinned thoroughbred. Also use the Deet stuff in the black bottle.
 
Urgh, we've got zillions of them and in all types! I've pretty much given up all hope of hacking out other than on the roads until the horse & deer flies start to go away as they're literally hunting in swarms at the moment and driving my sensitive skinned boy nuts.

I'm also having to use a fly rug all the time whilst turned out and a mask if out at night and I've been using deosect and a NAF spray but nothing is really working :(
 
Mine doesn't wear a rug if I can help it. She's come off the open field and is sprayed with Phaser, not had any problem with the flies - though I know they are a problem at the moment. Couldn't tell you if its the fact she's not in an open field OR the fly spray though..!
 
My poor sweet itch mare is living in her sweet itch rug, despite the heat. She has neem oil on her face and also her undercarriage, which helps a lot. For riding, I lead her in the lightest fly rug (Amigo bug rug) and the ridden pony has two lightweight exercise sheets on. The mesh one is back to front, tied to his bridle with what should be the fillet string. The other is put on as usual. His face and ears are protected by neem oil on the ears and fly fringe. On myself I spray liberally with Phaser. Hacking out like that we don't have a lot of trouble, but as you can imagine, it takes us ten minutes longer to prepare!! Both sheets are hi-viz, which the horseflies don't seem to like. I see lots landing on the bug rug, but I don't see any landing on the hi-viz.
 
OMG the horse flies, or otherwise known as 'gadders' in Lincolnshire can bite me in thick jodhpurs and jeans! They hate me and my Connie, they also seem to hate my youngster... Why don't they bite my miniatures? I am really allergic so don't expect my Connie to behave in a reasonable manner when attacked? Any advice would be welcome, I rug them all, except the midgets (but give them all a good spraying with Deet)Any suggestions would be appreciated? xx
 
I ride mine in fly masks and a ride on fly sheet, in the field they are in fly masks and the best buy if all, zebra fly rugs, they have made a big difference. Also phaser fly spray, its fab!
 
Mine does not have sweet itch, but is turned out in a sweet itch hoodie, with Equilibrium fly mask, with nose flap for sun protection too!
When ridden he is in crochet ears, and a fluorescent fly sheet behind the saddle.
In the stable he is a normal fly sheet.
At all times doused in spray.
He is very thin skinned.
Poor Jay!
 
Trad Lad (piebald with lots of white bits) has sweet itch so is out in his Rambo hoody; loads of neem cream around his face and ears plus slapping on the 50+ suncream around his pink muzzle, poor lad. Has a ride-on Premier Equine fly sheet for ridden work but horseflies don't seem to bother him so very much, its the midges he gets frantic over.

Welsh D mare, black: seems to a magnet for horseflies - they just come at her like a squadron of Spitfires bless her. Only way is to ride in a Flyrider ride-on and even then they still manage to find the bits it doesn't cover!

Have just put Coopers spot-on, on both of them, but shan't expect it to work immediately, more of a wait-and-see thing I guess really.

My two are in at the moment, but their stables don't have any shade so get very hot after midday; they'll have to be turned out to go under their tree and catch any breeze going, luckily we're quite high up here so it could be worse.

Oh, just imagine a really nice crisp autumn morning, riding out with NO blessed horse-flies on a nice sunny "cubbing" morning. Ohhhh blisssss!!
 
never had a problem before this year-have had years in the past when we havent had to use ANY flay spray to ride or to turn out (albeit they do wear fly rugs and face masks).

this year is a whole new ball game, on windy days they are not too bad, just an average amount of flies(but still a lot for us by past years standards) but on still days they are awful.

3 out of the 4 are in proper sweet itch rugs(shires sweet itch hoody) and the 4th in a weathbeeta one with belly flap. all have full face maskes on and we are dousing them in power phaser which helps with the normal flies but not the horse flies.

they have all got ear hats on for ridden work and i have given up hacking as CS will bronc down the road if a horse fly lands on him. Bruce is going out very late eves only hacking atm.

i have even had to buy CS another fly rug for the stable, normally he wears a thin mesh one but the midges are still biting him through that which has never happened before so ive bought him the horseware aussie to have on in the stable as its stiff cotton and will keep them off.

he does get a bit warm under his fly rugs but i think he's borderline sweet itch and he is definitely happier hot but fly free than naked(when he will run himself in to a foamy panicky mess).

ugh.
 
None of mine are coping. They are moody, sore & fed up. I can't use fly rugs as they hide in the trees & bushes so any rug would be ripped off.
Flies just aren't cutting it, I have used deosect, spot on pour on & naff off.
 
We are really lucky . . . a) Pops has never been particularly bothered by flies; and b) we don't seem to have anywhere near as many as you lot! He is out naked, I spray his undercarriage/midline/sheath and chest and that seems to do the trick! For some reason, the flies just love the dark skin on all the scars on his chest (we think he had an argument with a barbed wire fence before we bought him) so I pay special attention to that area.

I haven't seen one single horse fly yet this year.

P
 
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