Rugs or spray?

[AutumnDays]

Which do you use?
There was an eruption of horseflies yesterday (seems like our weird weather has caused a sudden mass emergence), and every one, people and horses, were getting munched alive! My poor girl has come up in a fair few lumps (and me!), so she's staying in for a few days and going out at night, much to her disgust, as she'd rather be out all the time.
The thing is, she has been diligently plastered in Deosect, and a daily spraying of citronella on top, but nothing seems to deter these evil creatures! The normal flies aren't really affected by it either. I've worked my way through a fair few different sprays now, off the shelf and home recipes I've been told to try, but I may as well be putting water on her it seems.... I am debating whether or not to ditch the sprays and just get a rug and mask, and cover her up for the summer...
What do you guys use? Or will nothing really work?

 

[Deleted member 150717]

I like to use fly rugs and fly masks, as I find once you have put he layers of fly spray on them and they get out into the field once they have rolled it will have masked the scent anyway so I don’t bother. But I guess it’s personal preference.

 

[Mrs G]

I’ve given up with fly sprays. Tried them all, spent lots of money on them, none really make a difference, horse dislikes having them applied and soon sweats them off as he gets so upset when he gets bitten, and some fly repellents have really nasty chemicals in. So for the last few years I’ve used fly rugs and masks only. I use the sweetitch style rugs (that go over the horses head and have a belly) for more coverage in the field, and when we hack my horse wears a fly bonnet, brushing boots and a ride on fly sheet with long tassels along the bottom to keep flys from his belly. I’m also careful when we ride and where. Horse still gets agitated by them sometimes but he used to get dangerous before - really throwing himself about and getting all hot and bothered (which of course attracted even more flys)!

 

[Lipglosspukka]

I never use fly sprays. Stupidly expensive and results are poor at best.

 

[Winters100]

I get quite good results with the Farnam Endure spray applied daily over a long period. In very hot weather I leave the fly rugs off and use just the spray and a mask, but it is difficult to know for sure what is the most comfortable for them. If it is less than about 25 degrees I use the rugs as well, but recently I have had to leave them off as it has been just too hot. The thing that seems to save mine is having a shelter, which does stay mostly free of flies.

 

[ApolloStorm]

Rugs! Horse likes to lay down in patches of various weeds and comes up in hives so has the Rambo Flybuster with a belly cover, it has Vamoose in it but im not so convinced by that as I have seen flies land directly on the rug and live to tell the tale. I also find it keeps them cleaner and cooler in the intense heat - I have put my hand under the rug in the baking heat and its noticeably cooler under the rug.
Masks I only use if there is a real problem with ears and eyes - our herd has a great game of 'remove the mask/muzzle/headcollar' so they tend to go missing!
I get PLAGUED by horseflies, and I react very badly to the bites. So I do use human bug spray and horse fly spray when we go out riding, although im not all that sure how effective it is, I try and use the cheapest ones I can find!

 

[meleeka]

Sprays for me. I wouldn’t rug mine all year unless absolutely necessary. Is use Deosect every 1-2 weeks and Biteback daily. The only ones that are bothered by flying things is the black ones; which is handy as the grey won’t tolerate sprays of any kind.

 

[AutumnDays]

For those of you that use the rugs and masks, do you leave them on overnight, or put them on and off each day? Checking for rubs etc aside that is

 

[AutumnDays]

Sprays for me. I wouldn’t rug mine all year unless absolutely necessary. Is use Deosect every 1-2 weeks and Biteback daily. The only ones that are bothered by flying things is the black ones; which is handy as the grey won’t tolerate sprays of any kind.

See, I haven't found the Deosect along with other daily sprays worked at all. She'd be a reverse, as she's naked all winter, but I don't know what to do for the best.

 

[meleeka]

How are you applying Deosect? I measure it so it’s the correct strength and amount and sponge on. I find the little blighters only really hang around under parts so a rug wouldn’t necessarily help there. I also use yellow summer fly cream on sheaths and udders.

I also have a fear of a horse fly going under a rug which happened to a friends horse. Thankfully we were there and realised.

 

[Winters100]

For those of you that use the rugs and masks, do you leave them on overnight, or put them on and off each day? Checking for rubs etc aside that is

Mine come off at night and back on early morning.

 

[AutumnDays]

How are you applying Deosect? I measure it so it’s the correct strength and amount and sponge on. I find the little blighters only really hang around under parts so a rug wouldn’t necessarily help there. I also use yellow summer fly cream on sheaths and udders.

I also have a fear of a horse fly going under a rug which happened to a friends horse. Thankfully we were there and realised.

The same as you; correct strength and sponged on to ensure even coverage. She must just be extra tasty! She's a bit of a sod for nudifying herself, so I worry about her shredding the rug/mask, or half removing them so bugs get stuck, like you said. I hate this time of year!

 

[Ownedby4horses]

Phaser and nettex itch stop salve and I rug absolutely only when they are in a mad frenzy (like they were here yesterday). The combination of phaser and nettex has even allowed my mini who has as sweet itch, to be rug free so far most days.

 

[Fransurrey]

One horse gets neither. I think sprays are a waste of money and somehow horse flies get under his rug much more than any other horse I've known, so I've stopped putting it on and he's much happier. I use udder cream around his sheath and keep it clean, plus he gets sponged with dilute dettol after rides to remove sweat. He has a very long forelock and mane, so no worries about flies in the eyes. My mare has severe sweet itch so wears a rug 24/7. I used to mask her 24/7 too, but if I keep on top of applying benzyl benzoate to her face (neem oil if horse flies are bad), the rubbing is minimal. She gets a dettol bed bath once a week or so, with BB added to the water (I buy 100 % BB and make up my own lotion).

 

[MuddyMonster]

I make my own fly spray using Neem oil.

Personally, I dont rug as I've experienced flies getting underneath the rug and making it far worse.

 

[PurBee]

I wondered about horseflies getting under the rugs too.
My horses are pretty adept at reaching most parts of their body to remove them when they land, and i can imagine being rugged, that skill of theirs would be curtailed and they’ll be even more annoyed.

Many horse fly traps have a hot black rubber ball under a white gauze net, which attracts the horse flies to do their normal seeking behaviour of flying under an animal and then up to bite - effectively the traps mimic a dark horse with a white rug on.

I did wonder - as zebra stripes are so effective for horse flies - my black mare suffers much more than the grey - what can i use thats dermatologically safe to paint white stripes on her, that’ll last for a while?
I used chalk once to draw stripes on her, it took ages, they were faint lines and didnt last after she rolled.
Im thinking of finding some safe body paint and painting her zebra stripes on her black coat.
I’ll need black paint for the grey!

 

[milliepops]

I've had a horse get stung by a wasp or bee under a well fitting fly rug before and that was the last time i ever used one.

I don't bother with sprays either.

I put gungey stuff in ears and around nether regions if the midges are bad but otherwise the 2 on the yard are stabled during the day and the ones that live out have sheltered areas to hide in when the flies are bad, and that's that.

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

I use rugs in horse fly time or my 2 just run around trying to get away from them and they won't stay out, I don't use fly sprays one of mine is highly sensitive and allergic to so many things I won't use anything like Deosect on him he ends up with no hair.

I use masks most days if they are out but they come off at night.

 

[ihatework]

Depends on the horse really. Whether they are in work (ie fit and thin coated ) or roughed off, plus their level of distress.

In general fit working horses stabled during day and fly rugged when out.

Roughed off horses not rugged if at all possible, they are deosected, but if they are very sensitive/bothered then I would relent with a fly rug too

 

[AutumnDays]

Thanks for your replies everyone. I'm liking the idea of just using the gungy stuff around nether regions, and someone suggested sudocream around the eyes as a deterrent? I hadn't thought about flies getting stuck under rugs, so that was a good point raised, plus she's happier naked. You've all been great, thanks for taking the time to reply ?

 

[Kat]

Mine is allergic to fly spray so she wears a fly rug and a mask with ears. She is happy in both and if the flies are bad I ride with a mask and rug on too. She does have some time in her stable naked every day, and her stable is indoors so away from flies.

I wouldn't leave her naked as she comes up in big lumps if she gets bitten. I haven't had an issue with flies getting under the rug but I don't use the stretchy type.

 

[DizzyDoughnut]

I put a fly rug on mine the other day and when I came back that evening there were 4 horseflies stuck under the rug on his back. Since then I've left his rug off and subjected him to daily spraying which I'm fairly sure he thinks will kill him hence why I bought the rug in the 1st place.

 

[PurBee]

Ok - i took the plunge as an experiment.
flour and water mixed to paint texture, and painted stripes on my black mare.
It works!!!
The horseflies were going for me , dressed in dark, and hovered by her but flew off to get me! ?

The gelding wanted to lick the flour water paste, so i added a few drops of TTree oil to put off flies and them licking it…that works too!
Took 20 mins to do, i missed her chest as she was eating and 1 side of face - horseflies went for those areas only, so stripes really do confuse horse flies.

 

[Mrs G]

Oh my - she looks fabulous! A very clever solution, well done!

 

[meleeka]

Ok - i took the plunge as an experiment.
flour and water mixed to paint texture, and painted stripes on my black mare.
It works!!!
The horseflies were going for me , dressed in dark, and hovered by her but flew off to get me! ?

The gelding wanted to lick the flour water paste, so i added a few drops of TTree oil to put off flies and them licking it…that works too!
Took 20 mins to do, i missed her chest as she was eating and 1 side of face - horseflies went for those areas only, so stripes really do confuse horse flies.

View attachment 74902View attachment 74903

What a fabulous idea!

 

[AutumnDays]

Ok - i took the plunge as an experiment.
flour and water mixed to paint texture, and painted stripes on my black mare.
It works!!!
The horseflies were going for me , dressed in dark, and hovered by her but flew off to get me! ?

The gelding wanted to lick the flour water paste, so i added a few drops of TTree oil to put off flies and them licking it…that works too!
Took 20 mins to do, i missed her chest as she was eating and 1 side of face - horseflies went for those areas only, so stripes really do confuse horse flies.

View attachment 74902View attachment 74903

That is amazing! She looks great!

 

[Lipglosspukka]

Crying ??

 

[PurBee]

???
She’s turned into a new irish species - a leprazeb! ?

Its still working brilliantly …a complete gamechanger! - she was scared to go out in the sun, as the past few days she’s been hounded by then at peak sun hours, but it took her about an hour to realise she wasn’t being harrassed….so they’ve willingly gone out grazing.

The grey gelding now is getting then bother him more as they avoid her - an inverse situation has been created….so he’s going to have dark stripes painted on him tomorrow. I have natural food colouring to add to the flour ‘paint’.
I used about a litre of ‘paint’ half litre flour mixed with half litre water, roughly.

Its sticking really well to her fur. I used an inch paintbrush. I was worried it would powder-off but its really durable.

I was researching non toxic body paint for kids - but the ingredients arent listed, and theres a high risk of the horses getting it in their mouth whatever is used, during normal grooming, mouth rubbing on legs etc so have to be ultra cautious.
Chalk paint is another possibility but ‘standard’ furniture chalk paint doesnt list all ingredients, nor do ‘animal friendly’ furniture paints.
Chalk powder mixed with water to a paste would work equally well.

Being half welsh D who’s scared of puddles i thought she’ll freak out at me painting her, but she was a star…i think she liked the cooling effect of it going on her fur ?
It’s a good job horses aren’t vain….she really isnt bothered about seeing white stripes all over her body!

 

[spotty_pony]

All of mine are in fly rugs and masks. I have made some homemade fly spray which seems to be quite effective which I use for riding.

 

[ponynutz]

Zebra rugs all the way for me, and spray as well.

But also, garlic is a bleeding life-saver - honestly it's truly like a fly repellant. They hate it. Just a bit in their feed, or we used to sprinkle just a tad of damp garlic powder over the hay for the horses not on feed, and the flies are gone. Not completely, but much more manageable.

Correct me if I'm wrong someone, but I think they sweat it out which puts the flies off.