[AbbeyCPA]

Not sure where I should have posted this, so my apologies if it's in the wrong place!

I was lunging my mare this morning, hosed her off after, threw a fly sheet on & dosed her with fly spray. It got me thinking about what someone had said a few years ago where I used to work (I was a camp counsellor at a local stable).

"You never fly spray a wet horse"

She seemed pretty set on the fact that it would soak into the horses pores and cause skin irritation, hives, etc... can't remember exactly what else she had said.

I've never had any issues with fly spraying my horses while they're wet? I hose my mare off (if she's really sweaty and it's hot) and fly spray her after ever ride. I tried google but came up with nothing. The only downside I could see from it would be the spray evaporating with the water making it less effective? I just do it because she's like a deer fly magnet when she's wet.

Anyone else heard of this? Is it true?

 

[Speed Racer]

Sounds like a stupid old wive's tale.

If the horse is going to absorb it through their pores, they'll do it wet or dry.

As long as you sweat scrape the excess water off the animal, I don't see a problem.

 

[nrhareiner]

I have been fly spraying after hosing horses for years. Works well and gets the spray all over the horse better and down into their coat better. The fly spray is water based it delutes it down a bit but past that have never had a problem.

 

[Saddlebag]

If you're not saturating her coat with fly spray then it is just sitting on top where it's most effective.

 

[shaggy]

ha I just gave Shaggy a bath the other day and as soon as i got scrapped I sprayed fly spray all over him lol

 

[GhostwindAppaloosa]

i try to get mine well saturated when they are still damp. spray seems to dry into the coat and last longer. JMO never had a ny issues.

 

[equiniphile]

Someone posted the same question a few months ago. I've never had problems with skin irritation.

 

[Luv 2 Trail]

I'm with everybody else - I spray after I bathe my horses (and get the excess water off) and I've never had any problems.

 

[Shropshirerosie]

I suspect the saying (which I've never heard because in the UK it never gets that hot ) means if is so hot it has sweated itself wet, then don't flyspray it.


If a horse is hot then it's pores are open, and indeed more likely to absorb fly spray than if it's cold. It is for this reason that fancy-pants cosmetics sell you a toner to apply before using moisturiser - to close the pores after a hot shower before you clog them up with moisturiser. Anyway - I digress

Absorbing the fly spray into the pores isn't necessarily a problem per se, but is probably not the best thing for a horses comfort and welfare. It might sting a bit!

 

[Cat]

Typically most people don't put enough fly spray on a horse for it to be a concern about it getting through the coat and absorbed into the pores if they are wide open or not. Nothing but a wives tale.

 

[Dreamcatcher Arabians]

As they say down here, "That old dog don't hunt.". Flies love to attack wet horses, so I'd think that would be the ideal time to fly spray them and keep the flies from making them utterly miserable.

 

[horseandme]

I suspect the saying (which I've never heard because in the UK it never gets that hot ) means if is so hot it has sweated itself wet, then don't flyspray it.


If a horse is hot then it's pores are open, and indeed more likely to absorb fly spray than if it's cold. It is for this reason that fancy-pants cosmetics sell you a toner to apply before using moisturiser - to close the pores after a hot shower before you clog them up with moisturiser. Anyway - I digress

Absorbing the fly spray into the pores isn't necessarily a problem per se, but is probably not the best thing for a horses comfort and welfare. It might sting a bit!

why would you give your horse a hot bath?most people give them a bath after a long hard ride to cool them down.It doesnt sting them at all,that would ahve to be on a warning label and it isnt.