# Any advice for a horse extremely sensitive to flies?



## farmergirl (Aug 2, 2005)

One of our horses, a thin skinned OTTB, is very sensitive to bugs of all kinds. This summer the flies have been bad, even though I clean his stall and paddock daily. Today I lunged him and he was obviously bothered, twitching his tail, bucking at the no see-ums and other flying insects that landed on him. Any advice for helping the poor guy?
Would a feed through of some type make the bugs leave him alone?
I know there are feed throughs that make manure inhospitable for breeding flies, but what about something that actually repels them?
I use fly spray that works for everybody else, but even with the fly spray on he acts like the bugs are eating him alive.


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## Minelson (Oct 16, 2007)

Can you use a fly sheet when lunging him and when he is outside? with some fly boots too. Talk to your vet about using something like benedryl since all you can really do is treat him symptomatically. The flies are horrible here too.  I use Swat on their faces along with fly masks. The suckers want to get right in their eyes where you would never put a fly spray or roll on or whatever. I also use Pyranha bug spray. Seems like just the smell scares the flies away....but then they come back UGH!! 
But riding has been beautiful here...and the weather perfect for days and weeks


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## jennigrey (Jan 27, 2005)

No-see-ums and gnats - like mosquitoes - are not manure-breeding. They breed in damp areas. They also feed on blood, just like mosquitoes. So fly abatement techniques that involve cleaning up manure and feed-through controls will not affect no-see-ums and gnats.

There are different sub-species of gnat that feed almost exclusively on specific parts of the horse. Here at our place we have two: one that feeds on the mane and the dock and one that feeds on the belly, naval and udder area.

I have yet to find a spray that deters no-see-ums and gnats very much or for any length of time. I have had a little luck with a spray called Equisect this year.

There is a lady in my town who makes a couple different anti-gnat products because her horse is plagued by the same gnat allergy that mine has. I have been using her cream on my horse's ear tips and belly and it works great. It is expensive, especially when you're using it on a draft horse, but it works well and it is NON-TOXIC which is important to me. She has a spray that I think I will try next. Her stuff is a repellent, not an insecticide. If it works, I will report my findings.


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## wolffeathers (Dec 20, 2010)

I just went through this with our new mare.

The feed through control is actually designed to prevent the bugs from breeding in the horses manure, not prevent them from biting. (I originally thought it was designed to be fed and prevent the bugs from biting). 

I've had some success with the SpotOn applications(Kind of like Advantage or Frontline for dogs, except it's for horses). The flies and gnats stayed off her for about a week and a half, and only then reappeared in small numbers and in just a couple of spots on the horse(a quick swipe of Pyrahna bug sprays keeps them off those couple of spots). It was a drastic improvement, just be sure to follow the directions on the application(it goes on legs, hocks, withers, poll, and rump).

Her fly mask with ears seems to keep them off her face pretty well. I've seen fly masks designed for riding(more visibility), maybe one of those would help when you're working your horse.


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## farmergirl (Aug 2, 2005)

Thanks for the replies. He actually is so bothered that he will kick out at the bugs and hike up his hind end and do this awkward half buck thing. A flysheet wouldn't be practical when riding, and he is no less bothered by the bugs when I'm in the saddle. Of course, I can leg him on and discourage him from kicking, etc. when I'm riding him, but it makes for a miserable ride because he is so focused on how uncomfortable he is about the bugs.
He's a special snowflake, lol.


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## shelberttk2 (Oct 1, 2011)

I would suggest Desitin like you use on human babies mixed with Buzz off or Brute. Smear all over his belly. We have No seeums here in our area, they are wretched! Good luck!


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## farmergirl (Aug 2, 2005)

shelberttk2 said:


> I would suggest Desitin like you use on human babies mixed with Buzz off or Brute. Smear all over his belly. We have No seeums here in our area, they are wretched! Good luck!


Brute, as in the men's cologne? 

Thanks for the advice.


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## where I want to (Oct 28, 2008)

I had a mare who would buck like a rodeo horse over bugs. I ended up with a complete set of Bug Armor for her. We looked wierd when riding but it worked. 
I have also had some luck with the horrible spring gnats here by having a fly sheet with a belly band that I sprayed with fly spray before I put it on her.
I also found that a mixture of baby oil and alcohol sprayed kept the gnats at bay. Trouble with that is the oil attracted dirt and debris so the horse had the greasy scum all over her. Better than getting dumped though.


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## farmergirl (Aug 2, 2005)

The bugs are bad some days, then not bad on the days when the wind is blowing. I keep waiting for it to cool off :bored:so that the bugs will die back....
He seems most bothered by the ones that land on his tummy. He even has a couple little sores on his midline in spite of the Swat ointment I apply generously.
Sigh....this horse has had one problem after another, bless his heart. He's just a sensitive flower. About 6 months ago he developed a fungul infection on his right eye, not sure how as there was no scratch detected under multiple flourescene stain tests. We treated him with two different eye drops four times a day for over a month before it finally went away.
And I thought my other TB was high maintenance!


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## shelberttk2 (Oct 1, 2011)

Brute fly spray  It comes in a quart size bottle I believe, works great! It's a concentrate, so it lasts forever!


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## farmergirl (Aug 2, 2005)

shelberttk2 said:


> Brute fly spray  It comes in a quart size bottle I believe, works great! It's a concentrate, so it lasts forever!


Never heard of that brand of flyspray before this thread! I will definitely be checking it out. Thanks


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