To Fly Rug Or Not To Fly Rug!

Keira 8888

Keira 8888

Well-Known Member
Joined
1 June 2020
Messages
880
Visit site
Hi guys,

hope you are all well!

I have just bought my first horse and he is currently acclimatising to his new home in the New Forest. He has come from Ireland and been here just over a week.

I have been monitoring him closely to judge his reaction to the pesky crab flies here.
Currently he is wearing just a full fly mask and other than fly spray and a little sudocrem on his sheath - that’s all I’m doing for him.

He isn’t bucking, rearing or showing any alarming signs of distress other than the odd tail flick and kick at his tummy. He kicks appear to be quite rare though.

My YO thinks I should try him with a fly rug but I’m wondering this - if I fully shield him from all irritants in the field - should I also make sure I ride him in a fly rug?

I was hoping to gently acclimatise him to these flies and was happy with his reaction and tolerance to them over the past week. But I don’t want to be cruel either and ignore my YOs advice.

What do you guys think?
Thanks so much
Keira x
 
If he's happy without I would continue as you are doing and keep an eye on the situation. You can always start to use a fly rug if he needs it later. I would be tempted to get the riding fly rug anyway. I'm all for setting things up for success and protecting him from crab flies for your first hacks out sounds really sensible to me. :)
 
Meowy Catkin said:
If he's happy without I would continue as you are doing and keep an eye on the situation. You can always start to use a fly rug if he needs it later. I would be tempted to get the riding fly rug anyway. I'm all for setting things up for success and protecting him from crab flies for your first hacks out sounds really sensible to me. :)
Click to expand...
Thank you ? I will scuttle off to the shop and get one today! Prevention better than cure hey! Thanks again x
 
Mine normally let me know when they need there's it's mainly when the horse flies come out so about now, I have had issues with the small black fly this year one of mine got bitten inside his ears and got them infected, both had them on the sheath as well, they seem to have eased off now thankfully.
 
I'd hold off for now.

Mine wears a fly rug, but only because he gets welts and really itchy otherwise. Oddly enough I never had one for riding until this year. We use it while hacking, and its been nice to have. They're quite inexpensive too.
 
Sew a fringe to this and it would basically be a hi viz version. :)

190529_Mesh_Hi_Viz_1024x1024@2x.jpg


https://www.eqco.co.uk/
 
Would a fly rug make a difference to the NF crab flies anyway? From my (arguably limited) experience, those little blighters seemed to congregate around the undercarriage anyway, which wouldn’t be protected by the rug.

If the horse is fine about it then I wouldn’t rug. Horse flies on the other hand ?
 
I’d see how he goes. I fly rug two of my 4 in the fields. The others don’t get worried by them. Angus scratches him self raw and takes his mane out if I don’t as hates midgies and Dakota just runs around like a headless chicken spending all his time in the shelter. So they need theirs. As for ride on two of mine again but only horse fly time and bot flies. If I don’t Sparky puts In big bucks getting them off his bum and Dakota just wants to still run around like a headless chicken ?.
 
ihatework said:
Would a fly rug make a difference to the NF crab flies anyway? From my (arguably limited) experience, those little blighters seemed to congregate around the undercarriage anyway, which wouldn’t be protected by the rug.

If the horse is fine about it then I wouldn’t rug. Horse flies on the other hand ?
Click to expand...
Hmmmm true true... I have been smothering his sheath with sudocrem as someone told me that stopped the flies landing. Do you think that sounds ok?
 
Cloball said:
Totally bye the bye but can you get hi Vis riding fly rugs? Kill two birds etc.
Click to expand...
You can! I have one, and it certainly stands out!

As for OP, if he's not bothered, then I wouldn't worry too much, but a rug can help some relax in the field a bit, even just by shielding their back and sides from flies, so they're not being munched from every angle, particularly when the horseflies are out (of which the little gits have just appeared down here bah!). Some horses will 'get used to' regular flies, but horseflies? Oooof, those bites hurt!

A flymask is almost always a good investment though (assuming pony keeps them on!), a well fitted one that stands away from the face (Like the Rambo Plus Flymask, recently shelled out for one and it's great!) does a great job of keeping flies away from the eyes, where they can cause all sorts of irritation and even infection.

For what it's worth, I have one that's rugged 3/4 seasons due to Sweetitch, and one that I try to avoid rugging during hot weather if I can, as she's quite a sweaty pony, but will once the horseflies come out.
 
I have 2 sensitive gingers so always turn out in fly rugs. The youngster is in hand-me-downs from his brother until he either trashes them or they naturally fail, and my older boy is in a full sweet itch rug otherwise he rubs himself raw. I've also got the 3-in-1 horseware rugs for days when the weather can't make up its mind!

In your shoes, I'd probably buy a fly rug so I had one handy if I needed it but wouldn't necessarily use it unless he was showing signs of being bothered by the flies.
 
I wouldn’t be able to ride my boy in horsefly season without my ride on fly sheet. It’s got fringed (sp?) edges to help keep flys from getting underneath.
 
I wouldn't rug unnecessarily, it often just makes them hotter than they need to be and annoys them. The weather is going to be very hot this week, so I would monitor him for now and use a good fly spray. We use tea-tree oil spray, which seems to work extremely well, even on our sensitive-skinned Appaloosa.
 
all of mine have fly rugs and masks in the fields. They make a lot of difference. Fly rugs on and they wander off and graze, no fly rugs and they just stand at the gate wanting to come in to get out of the flies.
I don't use fly spray as I don't want to spray any chemicals and I haven't found many that work anyway. We get lots of horse flies.

I use ridden fly rugs and masks for riding. They help a lot with horse flies. I see no point in spending the entire ride reaching around the horse to kill horse flies when we can ride on calmly and only have to kill 3 or 4.

We also get crab flies out riding . I think the rugs help a lot with them. They make it more difficult for them to get onto the horses.
 
None of mine are in fly rugs, and I don't tend to use a lot of fly spray either - and they aren't any more sort less bothered by the flies due to this. They do all have fly masks/fringes though as they tend to get mostly irritated around their eyes from the flies.
 
Mines in a fly rug because she gets eaten alive and rubs her self badly. It’s also got uv protection and is meant to keep her cooler by blocking the rays (I may be wrong). She’s black, not sure if they get any hotter than usual but a fly rug keeps her happy, without it she’s driving herself crazy itching and trying to avoid the flies.
 
Both mine have been rugged tonight due to the horse flies driving them nuts. My cob has always been sensitive to them & always has a fly mask on anyway but even my youngster was bothered today & had the added bonus of a puffy eye (he takes his mask off) so now he's togged up too much to his disgust!
 
I rarely use a fly rug in the field but do use one for riding and it is great, I only got it last year and wish I had got one sooner. The flies rarely bother him out hacking now whereas before there was all sort of dancing about :)
 
My palomino attracts flies like nothing else so I have her in a fly rug when it's hot and bug rug when humid.

Really wish I didn't need to because her poor mane won't get a chance to recover from the rubbing it got over the winter ?
 
Thanks so much for all your replies guys. I decided to get one yesterday “just in case” and the poor boy was being eaten alive this morning so I was very grateful to have it to hand in the tack room! These bloody flies!!! I despise them! Surely whoever comes up with a 100% effective remedy for them will become a millionaire over night! Until then I will enjoy cracking the wretched crab flies between my fingers! I always considered myself a true lover of all animals before I bought my horse - I would now happily hunt every last fly to a grim and bitter end! ?‍♀️
 
It sounds as though he will tolerate the dreaded Crabb flies, but if he is plagued by midges etc and the wretched Bott flies when they arrive, then a rug will keep him more comfortable.
I bought a Forrester a few years ago, and he could not tolerate the Crabbies ...... I tried keeping them off with ridiculously expensive spray, I tried putting Crabb flies on him to desensitise him, but nothing worked, and despite keeping him here for 2 summers he just got worse rather than better and became really dangerous to ride. I have never had one before that didnt get used to them.
Enjoy, The Forest is wonderful despite the flies! ?
 
Thinking about Crab Flies (and forgive my ignorance, I've no experience with them), but as they live on the horses body, would Deosect be of any use against them? They'd certainly struggle to avoid it on the coat, but maybe they're resistant to it, I dunno.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top