never mind horse flies eating my horse they are eating ME!

The horse flies in my area are in abundance right now as the weather has been warm but wet. My mare usually gets one bad case of bites then she is fine for the rest of the summer but what about ME. I have a massive horse fly bite on my cheek right now which has swollen and gone all hard. I am taking allergy pills daily and putting antiseptic cream on but they take around a week to clear up. Last year I was eaten so badly I had an allergic reaction to them. I don't wear scented body sprays or perfume but I still get eaten alive and they even manage to bite me through my clothes!!!!!! Anyone got any creams or preventative measures they take?

Very miserable and itchy right now

Are we talking about the gigantic, black horse flies? OMG, I can't even image letting one land on me let alone riding where there were enough to eat me alive. If it was like that where I live, hey, I might just give up horses! Lol

I always use Deep Woods off, industrial strength! The mosquitos and horse flies are horrendous down here! Hope you get rid of the itchys!!

Yep there the ones! It's not usually so bad but this year has been awful. My horses are on a farm with other livestock and it makes it worse. I have only just started coming out in a reaction to them but it's making me pretty miserable.

I put somer germoline on toay and that has taken the heat of the bite but my jaw is looking like a boxer's jaw lol

One bite from them and I'd go through the roof! It hurts!
Our summer is "the summer that wasn't" here. We are the polar opposite of most of the country; cold! Almost NO flies. Wierd.

Ouch!! Just carry a flyswatter. Lol. Wear a bee keeper outfit? Sorry, no real advice here. Just know how much those ones hurt.
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The initial bite hurts but then it just gets really hot and turns to a hard lump that is extremely itchy and then turns sore but you just can't stop itching. I suppose it's quite like someone having skin problems you know you shouldn't scratch but you just can't help it aaaarrrrgggghhh!!!!

Yup. Still have a mark on my leg from one of the B52's.
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Use neosporin on the bites, does wonders. Now here's the hard part, don't ITCH!!! The more you itch a bite the worse it gets, sit on your hands if you have to. If that don't work, I'm sure there's a family member or friend around that would willingly tie your hands behind your back. I'm lucky/unlucky in that poison oak really loves me so I've learned to ignore itches from all sources.

Neosporin? Forgive my ignorance is that a human product do I get it from a chemist? You are stronger than me itching is what I can't stop doing! I'll try source it and give it a try anything is worth trying right now.