Rugs or spray?

[Ownedby4horses]

OP, don’t put sudocreme around your horses eyes. you're asking for trouble if your horse rubs it’s head on it’s legs at any point and then it’s straight into the eyes. It even has a specific warning on the label to say keep out of eyes.

 

[Ownedby4horses]

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.

Garlic can cause gastric problems and also Heinz Body Anemia in horses, it’s something that was “fashionable” to be fed Years ago because most people didn’t realise the harm it can do. The safe levels of what you can feed before it starts to attack the red blood cells are so low, that it wouldn’t have any effect on flies.

 

[Reacher]

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.

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That is absolutely awesome. I’m hoping for some reports on social media of an escaped zebra .

(I was wondering if it would just rub off as soon as horse had a roll. However, weeks ago I applied some gunk to horse’s dock to try and smooth/keep flies off - it is currently smeared all over bum and stuck like glue. If you add that to your mix the stripes would never come off...)

 

[AutumnDays]

OP, don’t put sudocreme around your horses eyes. you're asking for trouble if your horse rubs it’s head on it’s legs at any point and then it’s straight into the eyes. It even has a specific warning on the label to say keep out of eyes.

I realised this after I looked into it a bit more, thank you for giving a warning too

 

[PurBee]

That is absolutely awesome. I’m hoping for some reports on social media of an escaped zebra .

(I was wondering if it would just rub off as soon as horse had a roll. However, weeks ago I applied some gunk to horse’s dock to try and smooth/keep flies off - it is currently smeared all over bum and stuck like glue. If you add that to your mix the stripes would never come off...)

Update - she rolled and some of it did come off! She probably rolled as the mix had stuck to her hairs and stuck some hairs together so she could feel it - silly horse doesnt know how much the stripes help her!

It really is an amazing difference to see the horse flies hover by her, get confused by the stripes and fly off!

I then realised, being somewhat gluten intolerant - that i didnt use full gluten flour. Gluten makes flour sticky, so my mix was a gluten free version with some low gluten spelt flour - making it more starchy and powdery, and a lot less sticky!

So i’ll next try with standard full gluten flour and that should stick better.

What was the gunk you applied to your horse?

I was going to use food colouring for the grey to add dark stripes but thinking it might dye his hair semi-permanently…? Its a good job i dont show them! ?

 

[AutumnDays]

Update - she rolled and some of it did come off! She probably rolled as the mix had stuck to her hairs and stuck some hairs together so she could feel it - silly horse doesnt know how much the stripes help her!

It really is an amazing difference to see the horse flies hover by her, get confused by the stripes and fly off!

I then realised, being somewhat gluten intolerant - that i didnt use full gluten flour. Gluten makes flour sticky, so my mix was a gluten free version with some low gluten spelt flour - making it more starchy and powdery, and a lot less sticky!

So i’ll next try with standard full gluten flour and that should stick better.

What was the gunk you applied to your horse?

I was going to use food colouring for the grey to add dark stripes but thinking it might dye his hair semi-permanently…? Its a good job i dont show them! ?

With regards to your grey; why don't you try some black sheep marker for his hard to reach bits, may last a bit longer so you don't have to reapply so often? Only suggesting as you said you don't show!

 

[AutumnDays]

Ok, so tried on a borrowed rug and mask... they were off within 10 minutes, so that's that idea gone! Some one on the yard suggested Vicks vaporub on dock, mane and belly... She smells nice but it's all melted and run off, so can't see that lasting more than an hour, tops. Someone else said Phaser gel on face and belly, plus a lot of other things that just sound like hoping and praying... I hate fly season!

 

[PurBee]

Ok, so tried on a borrowed rug and mask... they were off within 10 minutes, so that's that idea gone! Some one on the yard suggested Vicks vaporub on dock, mane and belly... She smells nice but it's all melted and run off, so can't see that lasting more than an hour, tops. Someone else said Phaser gel on face and belly, plus a lot of other things that just sound like hoping and praying... I hate fly season!

ill take a look at sheep sprays, thanks for the idea!

Im concerned with rugs too as all paddock areas have tree belts and bushes , copse areas of dense trees they love to shade in and have a scratch - so im worried theyll easily snag their rug, rip it off on branches, get stuck with the rug leg straps on a branch and be caught up….potential injury. They love to walk into/over the bushes to scratch their nether regions and remove flies biting.
I can’t re-fence the area and just provide grass without trees/bushes, that would seriously cut-off a lot of grazing….and they love the tree areas for shade, nibbling leaves.
So rugs are a concern with my set-up.

There’s an oil martial artists use to help heal bruised arms. Its got wintergreen essential oil - smell similar to vicks vapour rub - but being an concentrated oil blend, you could dilute with more oil and spray on? Its very strong so would be good idea to patch test, and avoid eye/mouth area.

Trouble is, horses itch themselves with their mouths alot during fly season. Especially legs, chest, shoulders….and the flexible ones like my gelding even manages to lift hind leg and stretch his neck to get under there with his teeth to itch! So whatever spray i use, there’s a high chance of repeat ingestion of whatever product i use, albeit a tiny dose. Most of the sprays are highly toxic to ingest, as the labels all state. So it’s a dilemma.
Totally agree, fly season is such a PITA!

 

[AutumnDays]

@PurBee, thanks for that idea, I'll look into it

 

[Reacher]

What was the gunk you applied to your horse?

! ?

Well, slightly embarrassing but I applied some silverfeet hoof balm (it’s all natural ingredients, I thought it might make a sticky barrier to keep midges off) also some home made ointment my friend made for me - again all natural ingredients (oils and beeswax etc)
Once smeared (by bum scratching ) across his bum and having rolled and got soil in it , it turned to glue.