The summer is upon us! For most horsey folk that means hoping for long, hot days, stretched at both ends by an early morning sunrise and late evening sunset, allowing plenty of hours for enjoying the day with your equine friend. But it isn’t all fun n’ frolics, there’s a lingering danger waiting in the wings, with their wings, to spoil your day. FLIES.
The bane of most horse owners’ lives, flies are an absolute pain during the warmer months. So which type of flies should you be looking out for specifically? And what products are on the market to help you do battle?
Standard black flies
These 2-5mm sized flies usually feed around the face and especially in the ears of your horse. Their bites cause painful lumps and pinprick bleeding.
WHAT CAN WE DO? The best policy here is prevention in the form of straightforward mesh fly masks with ear covers and using a good quality fly spray.
Midges
These breed in standing water, most active at dusk and dawn. They commonly exacerbate sweet itch, leading to patches of rubbed mane and tail.
WHAT CAN WE DO? Use a mesh fly sheet outside, a fan in the stable and invest in a really good insect repellent such as Deosect, which also protects against ticks.
Horse flies
These aptly named flies are one of the worst. They typically feed on the underbelly of your horse, the female has a nasty bite, and can be a real bother to some horses causing much distress as they attempt to rid them with their hooves. The bite causes painful wheals and papules with a distinctive central ulcer. They are mostly active in damp, sultry conditions and especially in woodland.
WHAT CAN WE DO? Horse flies rarely come into darker areas, so summer time stabling should help, plus using insecticides from your local tack shop offer the best protection. It has also been said that a striped fly rug can confuse the fly, although this has yet to be proven indefinitely, if you’re like me and hate seeing your horse constantly irritated by these little pests, you’ll try anything once!
If you’re looking for an au naturel solution to flies, then feeding your horse a small amount of garlic daily will help fend off the pesky things. The more irritating flies such as the Horse Fly will generally gravitate towards darker coloured horses as well so those of you with a grey might have a bit easier this summer.
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Once again I threw Arlo in at the deep end, affiliating him purely for the Arena UK second round show, and once again he pulled it out the bag. How lucky am I to have such a wonderful little horse? We haven’t really competed this year. I don’t really compete over the winter, and also my horsebox was away for repairs up until the beginning of June, so I had no transport even if I’d wanted to.
With the dry ground we don’t seem to be having much luck with shoes, as little madam managed to pull both her front shoes off within 12 hours the other day! We entered the arena with two shoes on for a schooling session and left it with one missing (took about an hour to find it). Then that afternoon, as I went to put some hoof ointment on, I looked down and had to double take, thinking I was looking at the wrong hoof. But, no, the other shoe was missing too.
After having a long wait and some lunch at the onsite café, it was time to get ready for the Joan Wolfe Overall Supreme Shetland Pony Championship. I got changed out of my usual showing outfit into black trousers and a maroon top with white spots, as you are expected to be a bit more “bling” in the evening.
We were all set to go for our next outing, and were super excited. That was until I heard the dreaded clunk of a loose shoe! I checked it over, praying it wasn’t too loose, but, nope, it was going to need a refit.