Horse Fly Problem

Forums: Pets And Garden, Pets, Horses, Horse Flies
Email this Topic • Print this Page

Does anyone know of anything really good that you can put around your pasture to help curb the horse fly population? I can spray Mac with repellant because he isn't afraid of it. But JJ, Miss Joy, and JJ are really afraid and it's going to take some working with them to get them to let me spray them. It is so humid and hot here already and the flies are bothering them.

I have heard there are different types of pellets or something you can get. Anyone know of anything?

Topic Stats
Top Replies
Link to this Topic

Type: Discussion • Score: 1 • Views: 6,875 • Replies: 44

No top replies

@Arella Mae,

No, but I sympathize with you and the horses. Horse flies love me.

1 Reply

@ossobuco,

I got bitten by one last night. I didn't even feel it. My husband told me it was on my leg. I have a welt but never felt a thing.

My vet told me about some product but I can't remember what it is. He's coming Wednesday to do West Nile and Flu shots and coggins on the horses. I'm going to call his office tomorrow. I feel so bad for them out there.

You must be like my husband. If there is one flea in this house, it's going to attack him.

2 Replies

@Arella Mae,

I am. Even small ant bites cause welts.. horse flies make big ones, itchypoo. Which meant that when I went on site visits for landscape design in season, I tended to garb up. I used to think that maybe I ate too much sugar, but I rarely use sugar.

0 Replies

@Arella Mae,

We have a deer fly problem and blow fly, so, whene it gets hot and they start in, we change the pasture cycle for the sheep. We keep the sheep in during the ay and let em graze at night . Horse flies dont like shade and dot feed at night .

ALSO, wheres your nearest pond and swampy stream bank? These flies use wetlands as their larval ground and by cutting the drainage area around steam wetland and ponds, you cut the number of next years flies down.

2 Replies

@farmerman,

Plus any other standing water (think of water collected in old tires). When we still lived in Mineola, our landlord had a kiddie pool out back for his grandson. Left water in it all the time, and we kept dumping it at night. He finally asked us about it and we told him -- mosquitoes lay their eggs in it. He dumped the overnight water after that, and I think it did help a bit.

0 Replies

Quote:

Horse Fly Problem

You dont mean Pegasus do you ?

As for sprays there are also creams that the horse would enjoy more, or non-aerosol spray squirt bottles. They probably dont like the hissing noise, too snake like....

1 Reply

How is little JJ getting along (other than the matter of the flies) ?

David

1 Reply

@Ionus,

WE get these horse flys and deer flys at this time of year. Since they feed on blood, the "Big STinky" fly traps dont work on them. We found that by keeping stream ways from developing big reedy swamp areas (Due mostly to soil erosion and deposition along stream banks) we cut into the problem by a huge amount. I can say that, since weve lived here (almost 30 years now) weve reduced the deer fly and horse fly problem by 80%. It used to be murder when we kept a couple horses. They were always annoyed and we had one of them go nuts and smash into a fence and got wrappd up in a coil of barbed wire. This resulted in a major vet bill and subsequent fly strike problems so bad that we hadda ship the horse over to New Bolton Center (U of P vet hospital/reasearch farm near us)

1 Reply

Fortunately, there is no standing water near the pasture. We keep the horses water fresh. The horse flies seems to be the worst here at the pasture part nearest the house where I feed them.

I use a squirt bottle type repellant for Mac. I am going to have to get the others used to it so I can spray them.

I'm calling Dr. Odom this morning. He told me of something you put out that really works (he says). I'll let you all know what it is.

1 Reply

Is there something you can put into their feed, like garlic? There should be some kind of odor that repels them. Mice don't like mint.

Of course, you probably already know about bag balm when bites get funky.

0 Replies

@Arella Mae,

try keeping them in during the day trick. Are you sure you dont have any streanms or ponds nearby?

1 Reply

@farmerman,

farmerman wrote:

WE get these horse flys and deer flys at this time of year. Since they feed on blood, the "Big STinky" fly traps dont work on them. We found that by keeping stream ways from developing big reedy swamp areas (Due mostly to soil erosion and deposition along stream banks) we cut into the problem by a huge amount. I can say that, since weve lived here (almost 30 years now) weve reduced the deer fly and horse fly problem by 80%. It used to be murder when we kept a couple horses. They were always annoyed and we had one of them go nuts and smash into a fence and got wrappd up in a coil of barbed wire. This resulted in a major vet bill and subsequent fly strike problems so bad that we hadda ship the horse over to New Bolton Center (U of P vet hospital/reasearch farm near us)

Have u looked into .22 caliber anti-aircraft guns?

David

1 Reply

@OmSigDAVID,

DAve, if nothing else, is consistent. When all the worlds problems are targets, he sees every solution as a gun.

0 Replies

@farmerman,

We have a stream but it's not close to the pasture. Dr. Odom is bringing something for them tomorrow. His assistant said you put it in the food so we'll see how it works. We were able to spray JJ and Lulu down some tonight. Lulu took it pretty well. JJ still runs but I was feeding him carrots and while he was eating Johnny was spraying. I have to get Joy on a lead rope and I can spray her but she saw the rope. That horse is too smart for her own good.

1 Reply

@OmSigDAVID,

David, he is getting so big! I can pet him anytime I want now. He has never one time tried to kick or bite so that's a good sign I think. I have a pony halter on order for him so I will be starting to groundwork him some when that gets here. I am looking into getting a roundpen. A friend of ours used to have horses but doesn't anymore and I can probably at least borrow their pen.

Mac is home from the trainer and we are doing wonderfully. He did try to give me trouble going down that trail the first ride but I took that rope and laid it over his butt on both sides and he knew I meant business. My lessons sure have helped!

There is a video on youtube of Dave getting Mac to walk across a tarp. I watched him do it on video and then I watched me trying and I could see I wasn't firm enough. I wouldn't have done it either if I was Mac! Just search horselady11000 on youtube and you can see the video if you want.

I'm going to try to get some new video of JJ this weekend so you can see how he has grown. He is more handsome than ever too! [color]

1 Reply

@Arella Mae,

Arella Mae wrote:

David, he is getting so big! I can pet him anytime I want now. He has never one time tried to kick or bite so that's a good sign I think. I have a pony halter on order for him so I will be starting to groundwork him some when that gets here. I am looking into getting a roundpen. A friend of ours used to have horses but doesn't anymore and I can probably at least borrow their pen.

Mac is home from the trainer and we are doing wonderfully. He did try to give me trouble going down that trail the first ride but I took that rope and laid it over his butt on both sides and he knew I meant business. My lessons sure have helped!

There is a video on youtube of Dave getting Mac to walk across a tarp. I watched him do it on video and then I watched me trying and I could see I wasn't firm enough. I wouldn't have done it either if I was Mac! Just search horselady11000 on youtube and you can see the video if you want.

I'm going to try to get some new video of JJ this weekend so you can see how he has grown. He is more handsome than ever too! [color]

Pictures, pictures, inquiring minds want to know!
Congratulations as to Mac! I think u posted that video with the obstacles. I seem to remember it.

How about INdy?

David

0 Replies

Here is a link to the stuff the vet is bringing out for the horse fly problem. From what I am reading it sounds like a very viable option.

http://www.solitudeigr.com/SolitudeIGR.aspx?country=US&species=OO&drug=SI&sec=100

It will, of course, take a bit of time for this to take effect, but I will continue to work with JJ, Lulu, and Miss Joy to get them to stand still for the spray bottle repellant.

David, I will get some new pics and hopefully videos soon! I'll get some pics tonight for sure. Wait until you see how big JJ is! You won't believe it!

0 Replies

Why not create "diversion" piles of poop away from the barn and sprinkle some thru it?

I don't like the idea of using the animal as a conduit for a chemical.

1 Reply

@sullyfish6,

Hmm, I wonder if that would work. I trust this vet and I've not read a thing where it says this stuff is harmful to a horse in any way. I wouldn't give it to my babies if I even suspected that. Dr. Odom says this stuff really works. He uses it for his horses. But I do like the "diversion" idea. Maybe that would help speed up the process.

2 Replies

Horse Fly Problem

Related Topics

Quick Links

My Account

able2know