Too hot for fly rugs?

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patp

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Hi all, I am in a quandry about what to do! My horse is turned out everyday from 6.30am to 5.30pm. There is absolutely NO shelter in his field (I am on livery). With the incredibly hot weather over the last few days I have been loathe to put any sort of a cover on him, even a fly rug, so I have left it off and used fly spray instead. I sponge or hose him off as soon as he comes in, which he appreciates. I hope that I am doing the right thing, what does everyone else think about this?
 
If he isn't getting bitten, then he is fine without it... I only put rugs on those that are genuinely getting bitten and covered in lumps.

Regular fly rugs are just mesh, so the air goes right through them, and they're usually white or pale colours, so will reflect the sun a bit.

I used to worry with the sweet itch hoodies, as they are thicker, but the cotton must be cool as even my sweaty mare doesn't seem to get hot in it.

For me, there is more of an issue of a field with no shelter at all on a hot day. I would be inclined to bring during the day and put out at night if the horse couldn't get away from the heat perhaps?
 
If he doesn't seem to be suffering from the flies I'd carry on as you are. We have one who comes out in lumps from horse fly bites and has to wear a fly rug. Her old one was on it's last legs so went to buy a new one this morning. Everything has changed since I last bought. They are so thick and cumbersome, fabric stiff and feels like plastic. They must be horrible for the horse to wear. Looked at several brands and came home empty handed. Will do some repairs on the old one, it's light comfy and it now seems obsolete.
Why is 'new and improved' anything usually a let down.
 
of my lot only my highland has a fly rug as she does seem to get badly bitten. At the moment I am bringing her in by ten am, to stand in for the day, so I can take it off as she is by then starting to get very warm under it.
Its a mesh type but does make her hotter and I wouldnt be happy for her to be out in it all day.
 
Mine get hideously bitten. We are a very low lying marsh land area and the flies are just the worst ive ever known- far worse than at the two yards i work for.
So they have no choice other than to wear fly sheets. I no longer even feel bad about leaving them on as they need them (and wait for them in the morning!)
 
My field is midge and horsefly-territory, being river meadow and big hedges. My big ned suffers flybites badly so is flyrugged 24/7 from early June to mid Sept, rain or dry, sun or cloud.

The old Shires rug (quite heavy mesh) fits him best, but it's a bit knackered.

I bought a DerbyHouse flyrug and another make of flyrug. Both are much lighter material but both are a tight fit across the shoulder/chest/wither, even though I bought 6" bigger than he is.

So it's weighing up wither/shoulders rub versus covered in flybites from head to toe.

The little ned isn't badly affected by flies (yet) so just has a facemask.
 
Suechoccy, my old well fitting one is a shires, looked at that make today and they've totally changed, fabric and fit.
 
ribbons said:
If he doesn't seem to be suffering from the flies I'd carry on as you are. We have one who comes out in lumps from horse fly bites and has to wear a fly rug. Her old one was on it's last legs so went to buy a new one this morning. Everything has changed since I last bought. They are so thick and cumbersome, fabric stiff and feels like plastic. They must be horrible for the horse to wear. Looked at several brands and came home empty handed. Will do some repairs on the old one, it's light comfy and it now seems obsolete.
Why is 'new and improved' anything usually a let down.
Click to expand...


Thanks for your reply. I totally agree that the new 'improved' rugs are worse than the old ones, hence my decision to stop using my new one (what a waste of money!). Shadow doesnt seem to be suffering from the flies, so I will carry on leaving the fly rug off. I wish I could find a way to keep a fly mask or fly fringe on - he is an expert at getting them off!
 
Honey08 said:
If he isn't getting bitten, then he is fine without it... I only put rugs on those that are genuinely getting bitten and covered in lumps.

Regular fly rugs are just mesh, so the air goes right through them, and they're usually white or pale colours, so will reflect the sun a bit.

I used to worry with the sweet itch hoodies, as they are thicker, but the cotton must be cool as even my sweaty mare doesn't seem to get hot in it.

For me, there is more of an issue of a field with no shelter at all on a hot day. I would be inclined to bring during the day and put out at night if the horse couldn't get away from the heat perhaps?
Click to expand...

Thanks for your reply. Unfortunately I cannot keep him in during the day as his box faces south and is an absolute oven in the daytime. I agree that it is awful that there is no shelter in his field, I hate it! Trouble is we are on a livery yard and they wont spend money on field shelters! He doesnt seem to be too worried about the flies (its more me than him!), so I will just leave the fly rug off and use fly spray!
 
Thanks to everyone who replied to my post "Too hot for fly rugs". All your comments were really helpful. As I cannot keep him in during the day, and he does not seem too bothered by the flys. I will continue to leave the fly rug off and use fly spray. Just need to beat him at his game of 'get the fly mask off! :)
 
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