Willys and Midges

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WindyWitch

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I am so scunnered at the moment with the midges! So far this year he seems to be much more sensitive to these little cretins.Currently using Naff Extra Effect on my tb, in and out of the stable, but I have noticed that they have attacked his poor willy and it's now swollen 😳, to make things worse he has been trying to kick them off his belly and now has haematoma. He has a full fly rug but j don't want him to have it on all summer if possible as I'd rather he got some sun to his body. I'm going to change to the black bottle of Naff to see how that goes, but what would you recommend to soothe his manhood? TIA
 
If its swollen he could have fly strike you need to get the vet to sort him out I'm afraid. My old boy got this a couple of times, it was revolting seeing the maggots come falling out but the look of relief on his face made it all worthwhile!
 
Love your thread title only on H & H...

My prevoius gelding never let me use spray but I used a yellow cream for sheep flies which did a good job. I smeared it on the outer sheath and it kept the bites away though it was not the best look for poor pony having a yellow one. The nettex stop itch salve is the same texture and a bit more discrete and is very soothing for my sweetitch pony.
 
Power Phaser fly spray works brilliantly against midges (and all other insects). I spray all around sheath and inner back legs. Midges are awful at the moment.
 
Thanks for the advice, maybe it's the mild winter we had but I can't remember them being this bad before. I'd rather see him enjoying the summer in the field rather than him kicking the 'you-know-what' out of himself.
 
Goldenstar said:
I agree midges hate it .
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We now only use power phaser spray and it seems to stop them, handy too as I frequently am stupid enough to spray it and stand too close and it keeps them off you too! only thing I've found that works on my wee man who has sweet itch too!
 
I use a sweet itch product, Sweet Relief from Biteback, on willy and inside the ears to keep away the midges. Works really well when I remember to apply it daily. The lotion isn't as greasy as yellow fly cream (an no non ears!), and I found heavy-duty fly sprays (Naf off deet in my case) while effective were also a bit too strong to use on the thin skin in that area.
 
I usually find that anything which leaves an oily/creamy/slippery surface helps as the midges simply can't stay on his skin long enough to bite. He's usually out in the field with a bright white sheath because I've been slapping on the Sudocream. At the moment, we're trying Nu Stock. It's a sulphur-based cream so his sheath is now bright yellow (hi-viz?). No itching when he came in yesterday (hot, midgey day here).

He does however smell like a sanatorium.
 
I've found Udder Cream to be pretty effective in the past and echo C1airey's reasons for using it!

In fact,...that's just reminded me to get another tub of the stuff as my boy has been telling me he's a 'bit itchy' down there this week!
 
I really am skeptical about how good something is but I tried Avon so soft on the off chance it might actually work, I'm gobsmacked that it did! I've only had my mare a few weeks but she was being driven to distraction by the midges, there is a big drainage ditch near her stable and when the midges came out she was a nightmare. I tried the Avon stuff and within the first use she stopped kicking herself and itching her tail. You could see the midges going nowhere near her. I'm converted. :o
My mare won't let me near her 'bits' yet so I can't keep them from there very easily but I'm working on it.
On my gelding I used sudocream or aloe vera on the areas he had been bitten and didn't use a fly rug, he got too hot in them, but that area had more flies than midges so most fly repellent worked. On the back of this thread I'll give Power phaser ago as well.
 
Just be careful; if you decide to go the route of applying a cream of some sort to the sheath area to keep the flies off just keep an eye on the front end of the horse while you're doing it! I thought fly repellent cream on 'bits' was better than fly bites on 'bits'; horse wasn't so sure, he turned his head right round and literally picked me up by the skin of my bum with his teeth and flung me aside. The pain was unbelievable: the bruise that came out completely covered one bum-cheek in all the colours of the rainbow and I still have a dent in my buttock 2 years later!!
 
Net Tex Itch Stop is excellent for this sort of thing...it soothes, heals and repels. I use it for sweet itch on my dogs sheath, belly and face
 
Mrs G said:
Just be careful; if you decide to go the route of applying a cream of some sort to the sheath area to keep the flies off just keep an eye on the front end of the horse while you're doing it! I thought fly repellent cream on 'bits' was better than fly bites on 'bits'; horse wasn't so sure, he turned his head right round and literally picked me up by the skin of my bum with his teeth and flung me aside. The pain was unbelievable: the bruise that came out completely covered one bum-cheek in all the colours of the rainbow and I still have a dent in my buttock 2 years later!!
Click to expand...

This happened to me too....cob bit my upper leg....I still have a lump there several years on!
 
Please be careful putting very strong fly spray and creams on the sheath and inside of legs the skin has no hair, and my horse is allergic to many fly repellant products and the reaction from them is that it burns the skin and is very painful it will be excruciating in those areas of skin that are so exposed.
 
Sudocreme contains benzyl bezoate so my boys get it rubbed on the skin around their sheaths and inside their ears....they jnstantly stop shaking their heads and kicking at their manhoods!

I spent years trying to put fly spray on one of them, to no avail - even tried sponging it on because I thought it was the spray he didn't like, but he always danced about on the end of a leadrope. The day I was advised to try Sudocreme was a revelation and he actually stood stock still - as if to say "At last!!!" Now I put it on with him loose in the field and he still remains still.... and he is a fidgety boy generally.
 
Rather than a spray directly on him, this year I'm using the snuggy hoods bug buster, with an additional sheath cover, which is doing a great job of keeping the flies at bay without the need for a spray on his skin.

My boy has relatively sensitive skin, and so reacts spectacularly to some fly sprays - but I find that the rug does the job itself, and as an extra if I want I can spray the rug with fly spray, and the barrier of rug between spray and horse means that he tolerates it too!

Not the cheapest rug around, but I'm trying to think of what I'd spend on sprays and potions...
 
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