Repelling Horse Flies At The Yard

Repelling Horse Flies At The Yard

Repelling horse flies can be a hard task. Using horse fly spray or horse fly repellent for humans can be one way, but sometimes they don’t go far enough! Here are five tips for repelling horse flies at the yard.

Repelling Horse Flies

Repelling horse flies may need you to go the extra mile. Horse flies can pose a serious risk to horse’s health and well-being. Therefore, taking on board theses fly repelling tips could reduce chances of accumulating a nasty vet bill.

Fly Sprays

Ditch homemade fly spray for horses for a horse fly spray that actually works. Absorbine Ultra Shield is fly spray raved about by the equestrian community.

In the summer, application of some of the best fly repellents can be extremely helpful. Most fly sprays are applied straight to the horse. Other fly repellents can be used on surrounding stable features and equipment to further deter flies.

Swollen bites can be cold hosed to soothe, however extreme swelling or discomfort from fly bites should be investigated by a vet.

Meanwhile, rider’s should ensure to apply a horse fly repellent for humans. Humans and animals produced carbon dioxide via natural metabolism, which attracts flies. Therefore, it is inevitable that both horse and rider will be attracting flies. Riders should repel flies from themselves too, by applying a trusted human fly repellant. Avon’s Mosquito Insect Repellant has received top-rated reviews.

Horse Fly Traps

Horse fly traps use no chemical, therefore are great for horse owners who want a more natural approach to fly control.

They supply long term protection to horses by reduce total fly population numbers in the surrounds. Overall, this can have a massive and improving impact year on year.

Independent trials of some horse fly taps have shown a reduction off up to 90-95% of horsefly numbers in the area.

They are recommended and used by the Society of Welfare for Horses and Ponies, as well as Redwing’s Horse Sanctuary.

Feeding Against Flies

Owners can also add garlic powder for horses suffering in fly season. Many horse owners feed an equine garlic supplement for its insect repelling qualities. The sweat and breath produced by a horse fed on garlic gives out an odour that keeps flies away. Therefore, naturally repelling flies from the horse’s body

In addition, adding garlic can help reduce inflammation and chance of infection if horses are exposed to nasty fly bites.

Wear Light Colours

From mosquitos and midges, to horse flies, all these bugs are attracted to dark moving objects. Dark objects are similar to these preferred pray, therefore wearing lighter colours may help repelling flies from both horse and rider. It is suggested that flies prefer black, red, and blue over yellow and white. Therefore, a hi-viz reflective could be a rider’s best friend against flies.

However, patterned clothing may go one step further. A study recently observed that the coat of a zebra (black and white) attracted even fewer flies than white coats, while brown coats attracted the most. They suggested that stripes act as camouflage, making it more difficult for flies to locate bodies in their surroundings.

The right texture of clothing and accessories may also help in repelling horse flies. Reflective surfaces attract flies as they look like animal’s coats. Therefore, to reduce flies surrounding horses, riders should avoid shiny satin accessories. Instead, opt for matt accessories.

The best fly rugs all incorporate perfect texture and colour to repel flies.

Optimise The Environment

To further reduce flies in horse’s environments, tips to optimise the daily environments can be undertaken.

Flies are most active at avoid dawn and dusk. Therefore, turnout and ridden activities should be reduced during these periods. Riders should opt to shelter horses who are troubled by fly burdens during theses times.

However, if shelter is not an option, other strategies to reduce fly burdens can be enforced. Avoiding still water during hacking routes, or fencing off areas surrounding still water is advised. Still water is an active breeding ground for flies, therefore hold large fly populations.

In addition, wooded areas should be avoided during riding and when turning out. Wooded areas are also active fly breeding grounds. Instead, opt for large open areas with good air flow.

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