Many years back my pony had a warble fly and the maggot came out just back from his withers, it left a gapping hole in his back, it was one of the most hoffific things i'd seen, then again i was 8. It took ages to heal. Am based in the nf so bots/crab flies are our worst nightmare.
oh sheesh, that's them. i've never seen them before this summer. is that why some of my horses have lumps on the tops of their ears now? what do you do about it please... put sj ear covers on them, the ones with fly fringes? how do you keep them on without headcollars? (i won't turn mine out with headcollars on.) thankyou.
I use fly veils when I go riding in the forest - these flies don't come down to our pasture fields thankfully, they are only ever in the woods.
Do you have SWAT over there? Either that or summer fly cream should do the trick. Rub it on the back and tips of the ears and that should deter the little blighters. They are easy to kill aswell - they just sit there waiting to be swatted!