Summer and Flies........... What do you do?

michellev123

michellev123

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Just wondered really...

Fly fringes? Masks? Rugs? Any pics of these? and do you find them effective?

I always used a fringe on my old girl but they would go between the strings and she would just let them and they would still irritate her eyes. Was thinking of a mask for Oscar but dont know if i think they are creul/stop them seeing? And also can you leave them on 24/7 or do they need to come off at night?

And......

What fly spray? Ointment? do you find most effective?

I make my frinds laugh I love the summer and cant wait for it to come but Hate flies and am stressing already!!!!!!!!!

:D

Thanks
 
Mine doesn't see much daylight, she has full mask that covers ears and nose (it's pink) and she is mainly white so most of her skin is pink so she burns +++, fly sheet all the time too. I love Mark Todd fly spray, it's not cheapest but when I use it for hacking we seem to be fairly fly free. Enjoy xxx
 
cry!

seriously, Ive never had a horse so allergic if thats the right word, he spends most of the time in his shelter, he has a fly mask with ears and nose guard, neck cover and rug but they somehow manage to get under it and he keeps rolling and taking the masks off

Ive taken to cleaning his bites then wiping him over with fly spray and 2 hand fulls of garlic a day. Even with all that hes still bothered.
 
I have tried many lotions and potions over the years and they all wear off too quick. So I have not bothered with anything over the last few years as he has a field shelter he can run into to avoid the flies...he uses this a lot in the summer. I have invested in a proper mask to cover his eyes this year and will introduce him to that shortly.
 
Mine wears a fly rug and mask virtually all the time as he hates flies and comes up in lumps if he is bitten.
I make sure I take the mask off twice a day if I'm not riding just to check he's ok but in the height of summer I leave it on at night as I leave the yard before the flies go to bed!

I haven't found a really effective fly spray so normally just go for something reasonably priced and add some citronella. I would make my own but every recipes I've seen uses cold tea and I have a tea phobia! If I sprayed it on my horse I wouldn't be able to touch him.
If anyone has a recipe that doesn't involve tea, I'd love to give it a go.
 
I keep mine in during the day if it is really bad, otherwise she has a rambo flymask. If she is staying out 24/7 then I leave it on and it has never caused a problem. I have a fly rug if there are horseflies about.

I like the Barrier fly spray which smells nice and seems effective. I think it depends on the horse though (probably like perfume smells different on different people :D)
 
This mare comes out in lumps first horse I've had that does, so last summer I got her a fly rug but she won't stand for a fringe, or fly hood. I use either NAF or Lincoln spray for riding.
 
My friend uses a fly mask on her welshie who gets massively bothered by flies, he seems perfectly happy! Though always take it off at least once a day to brush the face and check for sores and rubs etc.. With my old loan pony we used to give him a garlic lick which he loved (flies didn't though!) and use Net-tex advanced fly spray. It's brilliant stuff, only needs applying once every 2/3 days!! :D it's funny how such small creatures can make one want to curl up and scream.. :p xx
 
My mare is light grey and seems to be a real target for flies. She wore a Mark Todd fly rug last year and it was great except that it rubbed her shoulders :( just about to take it to our rug lady to see if she can put some satin inside the darts.
Wouldn't risk a mask - she'd rub like crazy and be likely to do something stupid if she got if halfway off and was scared.
Luckily I can spray her all over, even her face so she just gets lots of fly spray on her head. Don't really find any repellents better than the others.
She got a fly on her at a show last year and had a complete tantrum, refusing to go forward and throwing her head about. We couldn't get the fly to leave her alone, and my OH who was riding her was NOT amused. ;)
 
Have tried many things over the years and when we moved to the New Forest the search for fly relief became so much more important, we have the dreaded crab flies, horse flies, ticks, midges...argh! The best repellent is Deosect...not for the faint hearted, this stuff is mega potent and needs to be used with care. The best fly masks are the Cashel ones, can not rate these enough, always stay put, excellent quality and very comfortable, got mine on Ebay. Itch Stop is really good too, especially for delicate places! Good luck x
 
I used Deosect last year, but found I had just as good results (if not better to be honest) with Naf Deet spray. I've also used Coopers with some success. I prefer fly sprays that are insecticidal and not just repellants.

I've tried a rug, but the flies still managed to get under it onto the midline of the belly so, plus my mare was sweating in it. It'll be lotions and potions again for me this year.
 
I tried the "Think Fly" stuff that you give them in their feed and its supposed to exude a pong which keeps the flies away - total waste of money I'm afraid.

Mine's a sweet itch, so its a matter of covering up what you can and spraying what you can't - I'm gonna try using pig oil and sulpher this year coz I've read a lot of what people have said about it on this forum, so worth a try.
 
I wipe their faces, wipe around their eyes and spray their bodies and legs twice a day with Power Phaser. Fantastic stuff. I cant put fly masks on either of mine as they remove them almost instantly (think 'destroy' when I say 'remove'). The quickest at it is Barney who took precisely 2.5 minutes to scrape his into shreds the last time I put one on :mad:
 
Mine usually come in for a couple of hours during the hottest part of the day. When they are out they wear fly sheets with neck and belly covers and they are covered in fly spray which is regularly reapplied.
 
I use deosect on my lot. First time last year that the one that suffers sweetitch grew a mane and top of his tail. Also he only wore his fly rug twice all summer.
 
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