Mobbed by horse flys out hacking.

cob&onion

cob&onion

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Horseflies - really, do they respond to fly sprays? i don't think they do. Have tried shop bought products and they seem to only work on general flies but not the horse flys. Lavender oil is good for general flies too, but again crap on horse flies.
Took my cob out this eve and is was horrendous! we walked along a bridleway and there where literally tens of them flying at us both and trying to bite :mad: we took up a fast trot and they had no problem keeping up :mad::mad:
I have heard neem oil is good and also read about deet.
They never bother my mare in the field, she's mainly white but they go mad for my D who is black so he is covered up with a rug.
So does anything really work for horseflies whilst out riding? apart from maybe a bee suit?!! :D
we're sick of getting mobbed!
 
I cover mine in mane and tail spray or coat shine it makes the coat slippery and harder for the flies to get a grip to bite, I have read somewhere that horse flies dont like lavender so I put a few drops of lavender oil in the spray bottle, failing that I have been riding about 7am hardly any around then.
 
I went out this morning - first really bad day for horseflies - and covered horse in neem. I use neat oil, add to a spray bottle at about 1 part oil to 5 parts water (and a drop of washing up liquid to emulsify). I sprayed it on a body brush and brushed him all over.

The horseflies were landing on him, but they all just landed and took off without biting. He was reasonably calm too, and didn't seem as bothered by them as he usually is.

DEET doesn't seem to work - I used it myself recently and was bitten anyway :(

I also have a ride-on fly rug that I used last year, but haven't needed it so far this year.
 
Pinkvboots said:
I cover mine in mane and tail spray or coat shine it makes the coat slippery and harder for the flies to get a grip to bite, I have read somewhere that horse flies dont like lavender so I put a few drops of lavender oil in the spray bottle, failing that I have been riding about 7am hardly any around then.
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When i was cooling my mare off i added some lavender drops to the water, the normal flies kept away but the horse flies carried on. managed to squish one with the end of my schooling whip, the amount of blood was shocking :eek:

Will try the mane and tail spray, failing that looks like a few early rides for me :)
 
The flies and horse flies have been awful here the past two days! My chestnut boy has been really bothered by them out hacking even with fly spray on. Took off his fly rug this morning to find one inside the neck part, bitten so badly that the blood had actually rubbed off onto the rug. He also had a little spook when we were out when another bit him! Poor soul seems to really attract the horrible things :(
 
We went xc schooling early to avoid the heat but got mobbed aswell, we came home after 20 minutes. We use deosect which is usually quite good but stupidly hadnt reapplied it before we went and hadnt taken it with us. It usually lasts for a while
 
We hacked today and they were awful. Ended up trotting to try and get away. Fly spray made no difference... Will be looking at other options this week!
 
Second the Neem. I do similar and they only stuck on where I hadn't wiped him. There were so many when tacking up I left the fly rug on and only whipped it off when I had the mesh exercise sheet ready. They don't seem to like the Hi Viz sheets, so worth considering if you can get a size bigger, so it hangs lower?

Henry is using a fly rug that has the separate belly flap (Shires Maxiflow) and I am seriously considering having a saddle pad under it and the saddle on top and riding out in it!! I've never known a year so bad for them. Little *****.
 
My traddie boy has got a lot of white on him - he hardly seems to get bitten whilst Mare (black, Sec D) always gets eaten alive, poor girl.

A friend says that mares always get bitten the worst for some reason??

IME proprietory brand fly sprays as useless as a spare tit; but will try the Neem oil thing and see how that does.

We've got the summer/quarter sheets which Premier Equine do, they've got quite a shimmery surface and do seem to repel flies; however I suspect that my mare got bitten through one made of the same material whilst out in the field :(

Even ride-on fly sheets, they'll bite through them, the damn things.

Roll on autumn!
 
If you want to avoid the horseflies, you have to ride early in the morning.

As for what keeps them off - only a spray containing deet will work.
 
We went out on saturday and got mobbed too....at one stage my 8yr old son's pony got down and rolled...she has never done this before, but the hewat and the flies were just to much ! When i was a kid, my mum used to mix garlic granules/paste ith some water and sponge that onto the neddies and it worked wonders...So I'm going to try that...would rather stink of garlic, than have the neddies harrased !
 
We use deosect - clearly the horseflies haven't spotted this - they still try and devour us alive!

Went at 8 the other morning - swarmed within 5 mins :(
New tactic went at 7 yesterday morning - swarmed within 20 mins :mad:
Went at 8 the other night.... and no horseflies !! not one !! Lots of those pesky black things but nothing eating us. Not windy so can't blame that it was just after the horseflies bedtime :)

My daughters horse bucked the other day as she was being bitten so much - poor girl ended up as a necklace and now has a large bruise on her chin from Saffs poll.. she stayed on mind you which is a Yay!

Thinking of founding the I hate horseflies club - Want to join? :D
 
I've decided that there is no way I'm riding unless it's early mornings now, as got totally savaged last friday. I was on board at just gone 7 this morning, lovely and cool, a nice breeze too, and only a couple of horseflies to be seen. I was out for an hour and a half and really enjoyed the hack. Went to a show with another pony yesterday and have been bitten on my knee which is now a large red lump and itchy as hell!
 
lhotse said:
I've decided that there is no way I'm riding unless it's early mornings now, as got totally savaged last friday. I was on board at just gone 7 this morning, lovely and cool, a nice breeze too, and only a couple of horseflies to be seen. I was out for an hour and a half and really enjoyed the hack. Went to a show with another pony yesterday and have been bitten on my knee which is now a large red lump and itchy as hell!
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I was bitted on both legs as well - through jods !! I had no idea the little b*****s could do that.

We are planning a 6am ride next weekend.. in a bid to outrun them :p
 
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