The Horse Forum banner
Status
Not open for further replies.

horse fly control

3K views 10 replies 7 participants last post by  PaintHorseMares 
#1 ·
HELP! Does anyone have any WORKING remedies to help with horse flies? They're all over him right when I put him out in the morning. I've tried fly sprays but none of them seem to be working
 
#2 ·
Nothing works 100%.

First thing I would do is turn him out from the late afternoon to the early morning when the flies are less bothersome. During the day keep him in a stall with a fan. Best of you can mount the fan from above.

Next, get a good fly spray. I like the black ultrasheild. It seems to work best for me.

Fly gear. You can get a fly sheet cheaply from a tack swap or on FB. At the very least fly masks and fly boots are extremely helpful! Amigo fly boots aren't cheap, but they are worth it!

You can try a feed through fly repellent. I give my mare the Smart Bug-off. Personally, I think my mare looks more comfortable than the other horses who are not on it.

If you have horses at your house, or you have a small barn, you could suggest that all horse go on a feed through fly larvaside. That's also available on smartpak.

Fly predators.

Lots of fly traps. I set the sticky paper one up all around my horses stall last year. I even made a home made one with a bucket, fly tape, dirty shavings and a liquid fly trap. I caught HUNDREDS, if not thousands, of flies!
 
#9 ·
This would probably work great for what I call "filth flies" (the same one that the fly parasites do a great job on) but horse flies tend to be "sight feeders" (i.e., look for movement), so this probably wouldn't do well with horse or deer flies.

I have seen people take small dark blue or black buckets (or even large plastic blue cups), drill a hole in the bottom just large enough for a rope, pass the rope through the hole with a knot in the end so the rope can't go all the way through the bucket, and hang the bucket after covering the outside with something sticky (can be corn syrup/water boiled, petroleum jelly mixed with various types of things, Tangle-Trap Sticky Coating, Tanglefoot Tree Insect Barrier, or regular fly paper using double side tape).

The idea is when these are hung, they can sway in the breeze (so should be placed outside)... when the horse fly lands, it gets stuck. If you use large plastic Solo cups (blue) you can just throw them away when they are full. I saw one person buy a hard hat from Home Depot, paint it blue, cover it with plastic wrap, and then paint it with Tangle-Trap and then set it out... when full, strip off the used plastic wrap, put more on, repaint, repeat. I have a bunch of black pots that my flowers came in this spring that would work great.

This person just puts the cup on a post; I find it works better if they move.
How to Make the Ultimate DIY Deer Fly Catcher - Quarto Homes
 
#5 ·
That's true about the fly predators not affecting the deer flies and biting horse flies. If you read their information, Spalding Labs recommends the Bite Free traps for those biting insects. We use fly predators in combination with Fly Terminator and Bite Free traps, mucking twice a day and disposing of it away from the horse areas, fans in their stalls (our horses have free access to their stalls and are on 24/7 pasture), and fly spray, which switch brands on since it seems that the flies become immune to just one brand after a few weeks. We also so a horse and pony stable spray around the barn to create a barrier for pesky insects plus encourage barn swallows and other insect eating birds to nest here.
 
#7 ·
The ultra shield works pretty good and I have heard good things about the smart bug off but I had my mini paint mare on it and it didn't seem to do much for her. it may be different with my gelding though. I knew the predators didn't help with horse flies and those are my biggest problem. I'll get some traps and extra Ultra Shield and order some smart bug off...thank you everyone for the ideas!!!
 
#10 ·
I agree on the placement of the fly traps making a huge difference. Shade, inside a dark barn, or in a windy area are not the place for fly traps---put them in full sun.


Strange since our Bite Free traps are covered by biting stable flies---ours are located in sunny areas close to where the horses tend to hand out. We don't have deer flies here, thankfully.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
You have insufficient privileges to reply here.
Top