[sarahjames]

I’m sure I’m not alone stressing about flies this year. They are out of control! We’ve sprayed the pasture twice with no relief. 3 spray-on repellent brands I’ve tried aren’t effective this year. Wondering if a dry lot would offer a reduced fly area for them? My herd makes their own little dirt spots to roll, so thinking of just making it more official. Or is it a lot of work for nothing? Thoughts?

 

[horselovinguy]

What I've found helps is is to give them a shaded, darker area as the flies seem less in the darker shaded area.
We have automatic fly sprayer that dispenses a metered amount of fly deterrent every few minutes.
When my horses have had enough...in my case they go under the barn roof for respite.
We screwed this to the wall where it dispenses covering a large area reducing fly activity greatly...

Most online places that have horse products have these available as do home improvement stores, Walmart...places that deal with animals carry these machines and replacement canisters...
Good luck, the flies are terrible nasty this year everywhere.
🐴....

 

[sarahjames]

What I've found helps is is to give them a shaded, darker area as the flies seem less in the darker shaded area.
We have automatic fly sprayer that dispenses a metered amount of fly deterrent every few minutes.
When my horses have had enough...in my case they go under the barn roof for respite.
We screwed this to the wall where it dispenses covering a large area reducing fly activity greatly...
View attachment 1131096
Most online places that have horse products have these available as do home improvement stores, Walmart...places that deal with animals carry these machines and replacement canisters...
Good luck, the flies are terrible nasty this year everywhere.
🐴....

I didn’t know this product existed! Thank you so much. I will give it a try!

 

[horselovinguy]

There are other "methods" I have used and it helped but not sure with how tough & numerous the flies are right now...

Golden Malrin is a pelleted, small like coffee ground sized, fly bait you very, very lightly sprinkle on the ground where the horses reside and hang out at...
It attracts and repels, kills the pests and also can help control the fly population...
Make sure once you sprinkle it you not sweep it gone...it works for several days.
Its not cheap, but I found it helped.. We used it in show barns, breeding farms and I do use it at home in my backyard barn. Can be bought online, in stores...

Get several gallon sized Ziploc storage bags, a shiny penny for each bag....
Fill the bags 1/3 - 1/2 full of water, drop the penny in, seal and hang them from the doorways, around a overhang...just make sure where hung is out of the horses reach.
I know it works...why, not sure but it kept the flies away..

They all helped around my barn...a combination of applied animal fly spray, the dispenser thing, Ziploc bags hanging and Golden Malrin on the ground together should make a huge difference....then you have to convince the horses to go where you made a protected zone for them.
🐴...

 

[jaydee]

The flies are attracted to the horse and the manure it produces - and urine so the dry lot won't help much

You can try various repellants and hanging things like sticky strips and fly attractant traps around - the traps work but whatever they put in them sure does small foul!

 

[dogpatch]

I can recall boarding my horse at a facility in southern California, where the horses all lived in pipe corrals, maybe 24x24 with a shed roof. There was never, ever, a single pile of manure to be seen. There was never, ever a fly to be seen. The entire corral area was generously sprinkled with Golden Maldrin Sugar Bait.

I think if you can keep the manure removed entirely from the area, you've got a chance, unless there are cattle or other horses on adjacent properties.