Turn-out with no shade/tons of flies-Is this safe?

It's been in the 100s here lately, and yesterday it hit 106. My horses had a choice whether to go in their stalls, stand in shaded areas, or stay out in the sun. They chose to stand in the sun. Which they tend to choose over the other options more than not.

Now maybe my 3 geldings are just morons, but my neighbor's 5 horses did the exact same thing, so I'm thinking no shade in the 80s/90s isn't going to kill your horse as long as she has water available. They're not as delicate as we think, nor apparently, are they as intelligent.

As for the flies, get her a fly mask. I have fly predators which have taken quite a bite out of the fly population this year, but I still mask my horses during the day.

Ha ha, sounds like Cin. His choice is to always be out in the weather. If he has shade, he will still stand in the sun, or lay down and sunbathe. If it's raining, he stands out in it and stares up at the sky like he's trying to figure out what the heck it is. Snow, same thing. Mud, he'll roll in it. Thunderstorm, he is still in it, squealing and playing....and cutting his foot LOL.He only goes into his shelter when he is eating, and that's because that's where the BO puts his hay. I have seen him drag chunks of it outside to eat on occasion, though.

^^^^^ Our mares have a nice, shady shelter and plenty of trees, but they, too, spend most of the blazing hot day out in the sun by their own choice.
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My front paddock has shade up until about noon. From then until about 6 ish there is no shade. Has been this way for 16 years, nothing bad has come of it. As long as there is water readily available I would not worry. I live in north east pa and the past few weeks its been in the high 80's to mid 90s. Our horses don't even sweat.
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Some horses cope just fine others do not.
One needs to ensure they look at each horse individually, this goes for everything when it comes to horses imo. What works for You and your horse may not work for someone else and their horses.

To me heat isn't so much an issue as arE flies. Its the flies that seem to drive some overs over the edge so to speak.

I have some horses that don't even seem to notice heat or flies, I have others that get in suCh a tizzy stomping rolling running they work themselves into a lather (even w sheets masks n sprays) so imo it would be cruel to let them deal w it. So these are the ones that are brought in away from the heat and flies early to enjoy some repreive from the elements.

Also the type of heat plays a huge roll. Yes there is a difference between dry heat and humid heat. We get VERY humid. We can have a mean temp of 90 but w the humidity it can feel like over 100...the air is so thick you can't breathe. The horses get soaked just standing. I'll take dry heat over humid weather any dAy lol

Also would like to add that flies and bugs tend to be worse in the shade hence why mosT horses or animals will stand /lay in the sun opposed to the shade :)

So to the OP. I say if your horse looks distressed, then maybe a chat to the BO is in order, but if the horse seems to be coping fine w the elements, then yes I'm sure she will be fine. Have to use your judgement based on what you see, not what I do or your neighbor down the rd does :)
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This video shows a great example of one set of my stable's turn outs. We also have 2 big group turnouts in the front of the property with round bales that they put the "hard keepers in". They are big but don't allow for the movement these ones do. None of them have shade. The horses really enjoy them and don't seem to have much problem though.

The ones in the video are about 30 feet wide but they are about 1/4 mile long...as you can see, you can't see down to the end. They put the horses that REALLY need to stretch their legs in these. He doesn't do it in the video, but Cinny really loves to gallop to the end and then turnout around and have a good gallop back.

Here in CT, we've had several 88+ days lately. Our barn swaps turnout for the summer. The horses stay in during the day, each with a fan on their stall door, and go out at night. The horses that can't be out all night are brought in around 9pm, otherwise, they're outside until the morning.

My girl is out 24/7. Her pasture has very little shade in the way of trees, but there is a run-in shed. I have never seen her standing in it for shade. She always chooses to stand out in the sun.

She gets sunscreen on her nose everyday, fly spray & I've had her in a fly mask this year (for several reasons). She does just fine.

Horses out in pasture should have SOME kind of shade, whether they choose to use it or not. And plenty of fresh, clean water.

The best situation would be to have a shelter, but I understand that is impossible. My horses choose when to be out in the sun and out of the sun. Could you have her turned out at night? This is common at show barns where darker horse's coats will bleach out too much for the show ring.
I have my horses in the back yard and can watch them through the windows of my house. During the hottest days they are in and out of their shelter. They will spend the entire night out grazing, and prefer it in the summer bc the flies aren't out at night. I've even seen them stay outside during more than one driving thunderstorm, backs to the wind and rain.

My horse can go in and out of the stall any time she wants and when it is hot she prefers the stall and her lot has shade trees. So with no shade I would keep her in and make sure you exercise her on those days for sure. Mine is black and color may make a difference. My pasture horses do not hang out in the sun either they are in the shelter or under a tree. There are less flies in the darker areas.

Flies that are around the horses face are after moister and do not bite. Flies around withers are biting flies.