Should I put on a fly rug?

velocette

velocette

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Just wondering what folks thoughts are on a fly rug. My mare spends a lot of time with small fly bites on her but is never bothered by them. They don't seem to be itchy and they don't go scabby. She is just covered in little bumps around her shoulder and flank.

Should I put a fly rug on her and would this stop them biting? Or should I just leave her to it?

I put on fly spray daily but it doesn't seem to make much difference. yesterday I also brushed on the bright yellow summer fly cream around the affected areas to see if this would do anything.

Thanks for any ideas, Vel x

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I base my opinions on what my horses have told me. Both "bob the nota"cob and his predecessor Lancelot were not big on fashion accesories yet they both were always keen to wear the fly rug (and bandit mask).Lancelot was possibly the most dangerous horse I have yet met but he loved and appreciated his fly suit. Hard to explain ,you had to be there to understand. Your horse will appreciate a fly rug .
 
Mike007 said:
I base my opinions on what my horses have told me. Both "bob the nota"cob and his predecessor Lancelot were not big on fashion accesories yet they both were always keen to wear the fly rug (and bandit mask).Lancelot was possibly the most dangerous horse I have yet met but he loved and appreciated his fly suit. Hard to explain ,you had to be there to understand. Your horse will appreciate a fly rug .
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Yes! know what you mean by this: my boy has Sweet Itch and had never worn any sort of rug (to my knowledge, and from his reaction) before I got him.

Then I chucked on a sweet itch rug just to see whether it would help. It did; and now he positively "runs into" his SI rug coz he knows things don't bite him when he's got it on.

Ditto little mare: I put her out last week and one afternoon when the sun came out (ha ha LOL) almost immediately the horse-flies surrounded her and were obviously distressing her. So I resurrected an old fly rug and chucked it on: result, immediate and very noticeable peace for her.

So I'd get a rug on yours OP ASAP.
 
I have a few with lumps and bumps like these. with my youngster, he was due a booster a few weeks back so i mentioned them to my vet and she actually thought they could be more of an allergic reaction to something.
i did quite a bit of googling and a lot seemed to get them due to their hard feeds - mine is just on grass!
I have switched his field and he still has them, even when we've not really had the flies out and about.
I've recently ordered him a fly rug from Bell Busk Saddlery as i am hoping the extra length on the top of the leg area will also help him more.
i just have to hope my youngster is ok with rugs as hes not used to them! i've tried my other horses rug on him for size etc and he was fine but i hope he doesnt turn out to be a rug trashed once turned out in them!
 
I'd go for a Premier Equine one-soft but durable-neither rock hard stiff material or so flimsily soft as to be likely to fall apart in minutes... I'd advise maybe one size smaller than usual-PE rugs tend to come up 1 size larger IME :-/
 
Ps I've had a few fly rugs over the years....tried Rambo,Amigo Mio,Weatherbeeta,Fal,Masta etc Rambo are durable but hard material,Mio is beyond rubbish and others were ok but nothing to shout about. Go for PE!
 
thanks, I was just looking on their website they have some fly rugs on their sale just now. I have a lightweight PE turnout and its great she's such a hot horse that's all she gets in winter, and then only if its snowing and the water freezes!! I hope she doesn't get too sweaty in a fly rug.
 
I don't agree with the general opinion here. Horses are designed to deal with flies by swishing rolling and running. A healthy horse with access to natural and/or built shelter shouldn't need to be wrapped up. Different if the horse is in a postage stamp with no shelter. Horses benefit from the exercise they get in getting rid of flies - it helps keep them supple and fit. If a horse has an infected eye then a fly mask is useful till it heals up. Similarly, a horse with sweet itch needs support via stabling from dusk till dawn and use of good repellent products. Fly rugs would be my last resort and yes - I have a sweet itch pony. However I do use a riding fly sheet if there are a lot of horse flies as it's the only thing that works - they ignore repellents.
 
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