Shoo Fly! Don’t Bother Me OR My Horse!
Who doesn’t hate flies? And if you have or are around horses, that probably goes double. The natural question is: What can you do about it? How can you protect your equine friend from this scourge?
Flies have been around forever, and so have fly remedies. There is much to know, and if you are really serious, entomology is involved! However, between vet schools and equine suppliers, information can easily be at your fingertips, and I don’t mean fingertips holding a fly swatter!
Check out these sources, which are just two of many available on the internet:
Protecting Horses from Horse and Deer Fly Bites
6 Tips to Keep Pesky Flies Away from Horses
Now, in case you aren’t into looking up fly particulars, here are a few suggestions to help you easily find and implement the fighting of flies on and around your horse:
Fly Spray. Tack and Habit carries Mosquito Halt, Flysect Super-7 Repellent Spray, Flysect Citronella, Repel-X Fly Spray, Tri Tec 14 Fly Repellent, Ultrashield EX Repellent, and Ultrashield Green Natural Repellent. Different riders and trainers seem to have their favorites, and that’s why we have so many.
One trainer likes Mosquito Halt best because she thinks it has the broadest coverage. Our owner prefers Flysect Super-7 because she thinks it works best on her horse, likes the smell, and likes how it makes her horse’s coat look. I learned in our conversation that “fly spray is very personal” and “that’s why we have so many!”
Several of our riders use the Ultrashield Green because it is natural, and the ones who don’t say they don’t buy it only because the bottle shape doesn’t fit in the holders on our doors.
Regardless of your choice, we recommend spraying your horse before riding and turnout. Be careful not to get so close or spray so much that you irritate your horse’s skin. A ProEquineGrooms.com article suggests spraying a mitt or washcloth to wipe your horse's coat and reminds us to spray clean horses. I've seen many owners spray their own hands to wipe horse faces and ears. You could also spritz your soft face brush to achieve your application goals.
Spraying does help reduce flies and the bites that drive horses (and owners) to distraction but, being realistic, it is temporary help. Still definitely worth doing!
Fly Sheets. Sized for your horse or pony, these are terrific for turnout and provide a lot of protection for your horse but do nothing to reduce the fly population!
I see Rambo Flybusters in our field the most. Rambo boasts “self-repairing” technology which I curiously Googled and found this video:
Check out all our fly sheets, which also provide some sun protection and don’t make your horse too hot. The Penn State Extension article linked above says research shows Zebra patterned flysheets work well to deter flies because of the way flies see them. This was news to me! Make sure to consider fly masks if your horse is particularly miserable.
Trapping and Other means of Reducing the Fly Population. This is not my area of expertise, but I thought I should mention that there are plenty of commercial products and systems that pose the theory that you can control the insects that hang out wherever livestock is stabled. From fly predators to spray systems for a whole barn, there are plenty of possibilities in this category. And some of them may help reduce the number of flies. It’s just that there will still be flies, so back to fly spray applied to each horse and fly sheets for each horse!
And finally, there is the . . . Swat Method - YOUR HAND! That’s right, your hand. This is not a preferred or recommended method of fly fighting, however, who among us has NOT swatted that nasty horsefly biting your horse. If you can reach it and kill it, please do! Just take care that you don’t scare the horse and end up getting hurt yourself! The reason I mention this time-tested method is that I know of a rider who, being advised to swat or at least brush away a horsefly on their horse’s rump, refused to do so. The end result was that the fly bit the horse, the horse bolted, the rider fell, was seriously injured, and spent weeks in the hospital and months in recovery. All for lack of swatting that fly!