How often do you use fly rugs?

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baybertha

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I only really use my fly rug when it's a hot day with lots of flies and always take it off at night. What do other people do? Do you use it daily throughout the summer even if cooler weather to keep horses clean/prevent the sun from bleaching their coats?
 
Never use one. If it's hot or the flies are a problem they come into their stables. Couldn't care less about keeping clean or bleaching coats. The comfort of the horses comes first.
 
I have an itcher so he lives out and has his on 24/7, - except in heavy rain when he wears a rain sheet. My other horse is on his own so no field mate to share tails with, so he has one on whenever it is hot and humid i.e. fly weather. The QH belonging to a friend never wears one, she can use my itcher's tail (if he consents lol)
 
I don't own one. I think I'm the only one on my yard (of 30+) that doesn't though. Most horses on my yard have them on most of the time, unless it's raining or the temperature drops below about 15C then I swear they all put turn out rugs on!
 
Mine is out overnight so a bit cooler. He has one on 24/7 as our yard backs on to a moss so the horse flies are horrendous. I never appreciated how horrible they are till I moved here. When you have a grey and can see all the blood spots left when he has no rug on.
 
I don't own one either, I gave it to a friend. I have a hot horse, even fully clipped he never goes in heavier than 200g and that is a rarity. I would rather he had a few bites than the damage being down on electrolytes, dehydrated and distressed that being overly hot makes him.

However if he were not a hot horse, on some hotter days definitely.
 
my old girl wears a waterproof one as it is light enough if it is warm and keeps her dry so doesnt get cold and wet. clear sunny days I take it off as it would be too warm cold wet days she has it on but because it is so light if the sun comes out she doesnt cook
 
My Tb and WPBR have the amigo Aussie all rounder rug on when the flies are bad, I really rate them as they don't slip and go wonky like other fly rugs I've tried. They are stabled in the day time and turned out with their fly rugs on at night. If it's going to rain they have their lightweight turnouts on. My Welsh cob goes out without any rugs as he's tougher than the other two.
 
My cheap-copy-of-a-more-expensive-brand of sweetitch flysheet has been a godsend! Horse now has two to rotate and wears them every day and/or every night depending on the weather/temp. We get lots of horseflies and my TB gets himself into a right state about them. He still comes in before lunchtime on very warm days to avoid them at their peak but his flysheet means he can be out much more and is much happier.
 
I get the fly rugs out when the horseflies come out (in my area, about the 1st of july) and the rugs stay on unless very poor weather as the horseflies don't seem to care if it's windy or overcast, once they've come out (a good hot sunny day does the trick) then the weather doesn't seem to put them off. Don't like the big swellings they leave behind and have had some bites go infected. All my horses enjoy the heat and I don't find they overheat in mesh rugs and often seem relieved to have a barrier from the flies.
 
I really dont like rugging my horse in summertime, however, I will pop a fly rug on overnight if I need to keep him extra clean, (so half a dozen times, max) and just occasionally if he has been bitten and come up in a lump. Usually he is just well sprayed but does wear a fly veil to protect his eyes. He is quite a warm horse and I do find he sweats under them so prefer to leave him naked as much as I can, just occasionally though, needs must!
 
I dont rug my mare, since the last really bad winter we had meant she start hating wearing a rug, so gave her the summer without one, and saw she could cope without and wasn't ever that bothered by flies.

However, my new gelding now wears a fly rug all the time, apart from when its heavy rain all day because he gets really bothered by every type of fly, which meant instead of grazing he was running from the flies, and getting stressed in the field. Hoping to take it off for at least month before winter starts setting in, if flies aren't as bad
 
One of my Shetland has sweetitch so lives in one all summer so long as he can't get to a fence to itch and destroy it less than 12 hours after I put a brand new one on @$! $+%/×/@/!_×/@_×$!/+(₩£&×¥@*#^@£×
 
Every day - our field is overloaded with flies. He got his fly mask off the other day and came in with puffy eyes, I nearly had a vet bill coming my way but luckily they went down the next day. Without the rug he comes up in big painful bumps.
 
Mine live in them sadly! Field is by a river and marshy area so the flies are awful. I tried this year to work my grazing so they were in a different field now whilst the flies are bad and they wouldn't have needed rugs but due to injury it's not happened.
I have tried to buy the best lightest rugs I could though. If they are at home which is fly free (top of a windy hill) they never wear one.
 
Gelding has a rug on whenever he is out - rain sheet if raining and fly rug at all other times. But he comes in during the day (well, sort of, they have access to a small paddock from their stables but tend to hang about indoors), so has it off then. The flies seem to be sadistically attracted to him and he hates hates hates them. The mare has a fly mask on constantly except when it's raining but no rug as she doesn't seem too bothered as long as they are off her face and ears.
 
I use one during the horse fly season unless its wet or windy then the flies are less of an issue so it gets left off.

Thankfully the horse flies seem to have pretty much gone now, although we did have a couple of weeks of monster bot flies too which seem to have ended as well so back to midges & black flies now. Naked tonight as there wasn't much flying about :) can't wait for them all to go as hate using rugs in summer.
 
Only when away in a 'fly' hot area tbh, got them for Hungary and have since used in Scotland. One is allergic to wasps but touch wood no 'reactors' at the moment.
 
Current yard only on hot, still days when the horse flies are out in force, otherwise because we're on top of a hill so quite a windy ayrd I usually manage to get away without it.
Other yards where the flies were worse she'd have it on more - she gets really quite distressed by the flies
 
baybertha said:
I only really use my fly rug when it's a hot day with lots of flies and always take it off at night. What do other people do? Do you use it daily throughout the summer even if cooler weather to keep horses clean/prevent the sun from bleaching their coats?
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When hot and the flies are about
 
I think that flies only really come out when it's hot, that is when most people put the rugs on. I know there really think but do yo7 really want a horse with a rug on in 30+ degrees?? All our horses have access so sheds so they go in there instead. I do own one and if i out put it on at all it will be in the evening when the midges are out. Otherwise they are all covered in fly spray.
 
Our PPID boy doesn't tolerate flies as well as he used to and is prone to conjunctivitis in the summer, so he is rugged and masked 24/7... and more comfortable and settled for it.

Bought a traditional cob mare in Feb and a couple of months later I bought a cheapie fly rug for her "just in case", figuring she'd beva hardy cob and she is a right diva and fusser with the flies!! So she is also decked out in a rug and nask. And I'm not usually a fussy horse mum.... I let my horses be horses. It seems they've converted me!!!

If we have prolonged rain forecast, I do take everything off.
 
Use every day once the flies are out. Try to leave it off as long as possible but he's sensitive skinned and flies drive him bonkers. We only have daily day time turn out so it comes off at night. Unfortunately due to swallow poo burning his skin he wears a thin sheet at night also.
 
Unfortunately mine has to wear his most days, but purely because he seems to attract all the nasty bitey insects that walk/fly the earth and reacts horribly to each and every bite. He swells until the skin splits and oozes. Trying to find some natural things to boost his immune system. I also find he is cooler in his rug sometimes as being black he absorbs a lot of heat and the rug helps to reflect some. The others don't wear them at all.
 
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