Really bad fly bites :(

[eventerbabe]

Mine are just being eaten alive just now :( Bonnie in particular has some horrible lumps with a sort of scab in the middle. the scabs seem very weepy (a clear orange-ish gunk comes out of them when they are new) but then dry up and drop off within 2 days. how should i be treating these?? i wash the affected areas down every evening with a weak pevodine solution and then apply Lavender soothing lotion. is there anything else i should be doing? is this the right way to treat them? and has anyone found an effective repellent?? i've tried NAF, IV horse, Coopers, Espace and am now onto nettex spray and cream.

[Alicat]

Can you get hold of Citronella flys hate anything citrus. Sorry you may have already tried it, but I can't think of anything else.

Alison xx

[eventerbabe]

Thanks Alicat. the nettex has citeronella in it but i'm gonna try the good old home made tea, vinegar and citeronella blend next week i think. poor little Bonnie is just getting eaten alive :(

[Alicat]

Poor Bonnie, I feel for her as I get eaten alive as well and am going to Finland next week and they have mosquitos the size of trucks!!

I always think the home made remedies are best, at least you know what is in them.

Alison xx

[eventerbabe]

my OH swore he saw mosquitos at the weekend when we were out with Toby. i have to say in 13 years of having Bonnie i've never seen her get bites like this, but she's been very patient in letting me wash it and pick off the lose scabs.

[Alicat]

Bless her. The weather has been so warm I wouldn't be surprised if there was mosquitos coming into this country. That's all we need!! Bonnie is a very good girl, she must trust and love you so much. ;)

Alison xx

[Jessey]

We have horrible horse flys at the moment and nothing seems to keep them off, they also cause a big solid lump to come up and when scratched you get the scab bit. I have found nothing that works apart from shelter, at our yard there are 1000's but you never find them in the stables or the indoor school, apparently they like the direct sunlight.

Last year when I first got Jess she got bitten by one on her rump, she had such a bad reaction to it she came in hopping lame, we think it was anafalactic (sp?) shock in the muscle, it went off overnight.

I currently give them all a B vitamin supplement as its meant to stop the bugs biting but nothing really seems to work, when its bad I just bring them in and use some super strength stuff around the stable doors.

Sorry not much help :o

J x

[eventerbabe]

those sound exactly like what bonnie has, but its weird that toby hasn't been bitten nearly as badly, he just has the 1 lump. i was going to get them a fly rug each but i'm not sure it would protect the areas that the flies are attacking :confused:

Bonnie is a very good girl, she must trust and love you so much.
she puts up with me :rolleyes: it was usually me ramming pills down her throat when she had laminitis so she tolerates me doing all the unpleasant stuff with her!

[bonesinmypocket]

hehe- be glad you don't live in canada!! i couldn't stand to be outside last night, as soon as you walk out there are at least a dozen mozzies swarming around you- in your ears, up your nose! but here the mosquitoes aren't that bad, the horses don't even seem to notice them- it's the deer and horse flies to worry about. you don't even feel them land on you until you feel the sting and instant swell. last year i saw some new bugs- like giant horse flies (the big black ones), only it was so big I thought it was a humming bird at first!! i only had a few of them, thank god. the horses would run away from them they were so big. we have tonnes of fly spray products over here- most horses don't go out without half a gallon of chemicals on them! don't know if you'd get any of them over there, but a good citronella one is called 'bronco', and absorbine does some good ones- ultra shield and supershield red and green (the green one's a more natural one). i think ultrashield works best. sorry if this is of no help, but it gave me a chance to wine... :)
m

[eventerbabe]

i'm so glad we don't have flies that bad!! i've seen the absorbine stuff but never tried it. will try and get some next time i'm passing the tack shop. anything is worth a go!!

[saldec]

Hi Anna, (eventerbabe)

Perrie too has a lot of fly bites all over her.
My vet gave me a liquid called RIDECT, i dab it on with a bit of sponge over all the bites & within a couple of days the bites are away.
It's really good stuff, maybe you could give that a try.

Sally (saldec)

[Greentchr]

What has seemed to work best for me is a product called 'Equi-spot'. It is not fool proof, as I still add a bit of spray on the belly and flank before I ride, but it seems to help considerably against the biting flies, mosquitoes, and ticks. Because it is a US product, you probably do not have the same brand, but it is a once-every-two-week liquid that you put down the back, on each leg, and on the poll. It is a 45% Permethrin chemical mix. The other effective fly shield to try might be a nylon mesh fly blanket. They do not cost too much, at least around here (about US$30.00), and they do give good protection at least on the back. There are also leg wraps and face shields for added protection.

Another product I have seen but not used yet is called Fly Zone, which looks kind of like a dog flea collar and can be used around the neck or around the legs as a repellent. I'm sorry, I do not have any other info on that one.

I have not found any way to eliminate the biting flies. The house flies and dung flies are fairly easy to control with traps and clean corrals, but the biting flies don't seem to be attracted to bait. It would be nice to find a bait that they respond to!

[OlavS]

Where Sábia is kept there are some horrible flies and insects. One in particular is called "horse brake", even though a horse that gets bitten will often bolt like crazy, not stop. :rolleyes:

Strangely, the brown, red and bay horses are much more affected than my strawberry roan mare. She's only bitten around her navel, on her chest and just in front of her teats. I've used a cream by Leovet called Bio-skin oil, and it's great for softening the scabs and getting off the gunk in one go :D

I was bitten on my leg on Saturday, and I've still got a swelling on my leg the size of my hand! :eek: Evil things!! The horses get swellings, too. But they seem in no discomfort even though the swellings last for days.

We just got a new, powerful and long lasting fly repellant, which seems to help a bit. And they are in a big herd, and will often pair up to get rid of the little devils. And in the evening they often form a line, walking head to tail across the fields in an effort to get away from the bugs. We call it the bug train :D

[Styric]

What I've found to be the best for a horse getting eaten alive while turned out is an actual fly sheet. I live in Manitoba, Canada and we have a serious problem with mosquitoes (and West Nile), and these are practically lifesavers. They're a mesh sheet that prevents the bugs from biting, and you can get a sheet to cover their body, a neck cover and even one for their face.

It lasts longer then fly spray and it's good to drastically reduce the surface area the bug can get to, especially on a horse that badly bitten... oh and it prevents their body from bleaching in the sun :D

http://www.thebonypony.com/images/600/fs-wbstretchfly.jpg

[eventerbabe]

Greentchr, we have the leg bands, kinda similar to what you describe and they are very effective, need to go get some more as ours have just about had it after nearly 2 months of use.

Just to update you, flies seem to have eased a bit. washing the bites with pevodine and then rubbing on a lavender lotion appears to be doing the trick. bonnies bites have basically all but gone now :)

[artemis]

I feed garlic to my horses during the summer, myself too if visiting Scotland. :D It does seem to help. I use home made fly spray & avon skin so soft..

[eventerbabe]

yup they are on that. been feeding bonnie garlic since we bought her 14 years ago :) i have a bottle of avon skin so soft body lotion, is that the stuff everyone uses? its in an orange/peach container.

[StephA]

Oooh yeah I have been having such a problem with Harry. he looks like a cobble stone path sometimes. I had just sorted him out and then when I went on holiday YO turned him out with out spray or rug and he was back to square 1 again :mad:

I have found Coopers has worked on him the best to be honest and a full fly sheet with the neck cover aswell.

Also been turning him out at night and keeping him in through the day. but the weather is crap again now so they seem to have died down abit :rolleyes:

Does seem to be thebays/chestnuts that have been affected more here though??

[cvb]

they've been biting my old guys ears and it driving him mad - itching and making it even worse :(

I had ordered a mask with ears in as prevention but its not here yet and in the meantime he'd made things all sore and hot :(

We also have a field shelter on order but that will be a while yet. (Now thats a big solution - but with horizontal rain in the winter its a solution to more than one problem !)

[Loopslou]

I think the garlic is attracting the flies to my too :eek:

I bought the Lidl fly repellant and it is fabulous. At £2 a bottle I can't complain. I've tried everything in the past and this is the only thing I've found that works - although it reallllyyyyy stinks but hey, smelly horse or annoyed with flies horse! I'd rather have a smelly horse.


I haven't seen the leg bands before, are these new on the market (or perhaps haven't reached Outer Mongolia - sorry Northern Ireland yet!)

[StephA]

Something I know works aswell. Its an ointment you use on hmans and you put it on your pulse points. A girl I know has been putting it on her horses ears and it reall seems to do the trick. Its like an oil?