Flies, did i do the right thing giving in??

[ljp]

Hi stockies,

I rode my mare out today and so far (I've had her about three weeks now) she hasn't acted up for me (touch wood) and has been a real sweety. Today it was about 20 degrees, sunny and the flies were moderately bad. I aeroguarded her neck (never used aeroguard on a horse before but decided to give it a go) n shoulders. I took her out and she was good at first but when I trotted her made a B-line for the arena enterance. I tried to trot her past it again and she B-lined again. This time I walked her past and she tried to get out, but I managed to control her and keep her in. I then halted her and scratched her withers with praise. As we kept riding she was flinging her head around at flies and I decided to put her back for the day. In the stable she was stomping her hind feet irritated. I slapped her bum and growled at her (Should I do that??)

- so I don't know if you should discipline a horse that is clearly agitated by bugs
- and also if i should stop riding souly because the flies were annoying her? Will she learn to act up????????

 

[Tain]

I fly spray (a horse one) Loki and the TB's all over(legs, neck, ears, belly flanks, rump, tail, forelock etc), and wipe over eyes ears and nose before I ride, I'll accept irritations only to a certain degree....

I'll get tough If they get carried away, so I try to eliminate the issue.... Spray away I say, lol!*

 

[ljp]

Cool, I was thinking about trying that swift pour on product too but don't wanna spend so much $$ if it doesnt work, plus my understanding is its not water proof. Also does anyone ride with a fly veil on????
Keep the opinions posted I dont really know if I did the right thing

 

[Tain]

We used to keep fly veils on the schoolies.... If I wasn't schooling or jumping, I'd leave one on.... they see through them fine playing in the paddock, don't see why you couldn't....**)

 

[El_equine]

When there are lots of flies I ride with a fly veil on, it's one of the ones with velcro attachments. Seems to help to some extent & I use the fly spray stuff I make over the rest of the body. If we are asked to halt (lessons) he does play up a little & stomp his feet which I let go.

 

[cocomist]

Try aerogard tropical lotion on face chest and legs. Even the aerogard spray is okay. I Find either works well. Another product that helps is Arrest Easy dose pour on. It was originally for cattle but they have opened it for use on horses. However, I have found that it is better put on in the evening, so that it has a chance to soak into the skin before you ride and they get hot and sweaty. Lasts for approx 2 weeks. hope this helps.

 

[cocomist]

Oh also with the Arrest. Better painted on with a paint brush than actually poured on. Paint on the problem areas. Also helps with ticks.

 

[Cheeki]

I keep a fly vail on Hon when I ride .. small jumps and flat work .. she's fine (jumps better actually coz she's not irratated).

 

[ChillOut]

I rode one of my horses with a fly veil once and a fly got into it. The normally quiet horse nearly lost it. Was scary. I won't do it again, I thought I try one of those attachments to browbands, with the strings that move around their eyes.

 

[El_equine]

I rode one of my horses with a fly veil once and a fly got into it. The normally quiet horse nearly lost it. Was scary. I won't do it again, I thought I try one of those attachments to browbands, with the strings that move around their eyes.

The stringy one is what I use not a fly mask one that's made out of the mesh.

 

[Talz]

I cover my guys in in fly spray (homemade one with natural products) before riding and also have a bug eye fly veil on (the ones that are lycra and just the mesh where they eyes are) Have been doing this for 10 years now on my mare, who is grey and gets absolutely eaten by the flies, normally works a treat, but if they are particularly bad and she is getting annoyed I dont push her, I know if I was uncomfortable I would get annoyed at someone making me continue to do something!

 

[stormyjo]

Well I rode my boy the other day and the flies were eating him alive .I used fly spray and it only workked on him for 5 minutes then there were eating him alive again .So I rode him for a short time but I know I need to get him some good fly repelent .Its just knowing what to get him that will do the trick I think that some horses attract flies and mosquitos moe then others which I know he seems to get . Mozzys he seems to be always stomping at night

 

[pso]

I coat mine in fly spray (flyaway, repel x, natures botanicals)...head to tail...and find that this keeps the flys away for about an hour...never found aeroguard to work for longer than 20mins...And work him in a mesh fly veil...
Also have one of those mesh fly veils for humans! Works great!*

You cant really expect the horse, or yourself to work with annoying bugs all over you!)

 

[wildsteel]

if the flies are bad just work on a loose rein down try to do anything too hard for your horse because youll both just get fustrated

 

[Dodie]

I ride my boy in a fly vail because he head shakes if i dont. He is very sensitive to bugs and flys, especially when they go up his nose. he does these little bunny rears everytime. I have never had a problem using a fly vail (one with the nose piece aswell) But you put the fly vail on over the top of the bridle, so it is easy to get of if you have any problems. Good Luck

 

[Lil Dove]

i always ride with a fly veil when the flys are out. Dove (my horse) gets really irritated with the flys coz they always land around her eyes when she dosnt have a fly veil on, so i use one when im riding, and she has it on in the day in the paddock too. i found that she works better too if the flys arnt irritating her, i also use fly spray on the legs,tummy,mane,tail, but not the face coz she has her fly veil on of course! lol :cool:

 

[moodymare]

I ride with one of the mesh fly veils and coat her in Flygone, feeding any thing sweet eg: molasses and some supplements seems to make it worse for her so I stared putting garlic in her feed and the flies are leaving her alone now.
hope this helps

 

[Lasix]

I ride in a mesh flyveil unless we're going out specifically to do fast work - (flies can't keep up when galloping at full throttle).

I also shampoo his face on a regular basis as the flies seem to be attracted to the feed that he manages to smear all over his nose.

There are flyveils available that are specifically for riding - they attach to the cheekstraps, browband and noseband of your bridle. But I figure why pay for one of them when you can just use a standard flyveil underneath the bridle?

 

[Cheeki]

Exactly Lasix ... I even use my funky fly-free-ear one too (She looks like SUCH a dork with her new fly vale on .. but it works ) when riding .. stops the shaking by like 99%!!!

 

[DanniS]

I use and sell these products. I can happily recommend them and so can my horses.

Cashel Company Products

Cashel Company Products