Which fly rug?

[eventerbabe]

Its getting to that time of year when i'm thinking about getting my 2 ready for summer and ways of keeping the pesky flies at bay. i'm looking for recomendations for fly rugs. have to be generously sized as they are cobs and must have neck cover and a belly wrap. i've seen so many on the market i've no idea which ones to get!! price not an issue as i can afford to splash out

[Trewsers]

We have the Shires fly rugs for our two - mind you, they're not cobs, we have a TB and a connie x - I so don't know how they'd fit on a cob. I had a masta one? which rustled a lot - Storm wasn't too keen at first Its a shame they have to wear them, they're rather ugly me thinks.

[Nookster]

I was all up for getting my boy a fly rug until i saw how badly three different horses with different makes of rugs got bad rub marking across there chest. I also was a bit unsure to if i really wanted one.

Last summer I made my own fly spray (saving in a lot of money) but also meant i could use as much as i wanted so covered him in it each morning and night. Worked a treat and it meant he could go naked.

I know this isn't an option for some as some horses refuse to be sprayed.

Have you seen derbyhouse own make fly rugs? they were the ones i was looking at

[eventerbabe]

i've never been keen on fly rugs, but mine got tormented something rotten last year despite being coated in sprays, gels, repellent bands on their legs and fly hoods my OH says its coz the field is near a large stream. bonnie had these awful sucker type flies burrowing into the underside of her belly and making it very sore. i was hoping a rug with a belly wrap might ease that.

i haven't seen the derby house ones, will go have a look at them

anyone tried the weatherbeeta soft mesh ones?? i got the soft mesh face hood cheap in a sale and am impressed by that.

[Nookster]

the derbyhouse has belly covers

they also have ear holes at the top of the neck - to keep it in place.

[MeMe]

The Masta ones are good, and roomey, excellent to turnout in, I had the one with the belly strap and the neck cover aswell, think it was about £50.

[eventerbabe]

thanks for the suggestion MeMe. mastas are a great fit on toby. i'll add that one to my list

[horsey1]

I am going to invest in one this year too as my hoss hates being sprayed
The thing that bothers me about them they look so fragile, it a lot of money to waste if they get ripped to shreads on the first day also I think if you have any barbed wire fencing it would deff be a no no

[Daffy Dilly]

I had the masta one, the combo with attached neck. The neck was too big and the rug didn't fit Daffy well at all. He ended up with hundreds of flies caught beneath the rug.

I think it's a case of trying several different rugs to find the best fit. Personally I'm just going to turn out in a cotton sheet that has been washed in fly repellant.

[eventerbabe]

now thats a good idea, wash their summer sheets in fly repellent i am a little concerned that flies will get stuck underneath coz that can't be nice for them

[Daffy Dilly]

The yard owner rang me when I was at school and I had to go up and lunch because he was rolling none stop. I felt so bad, and needless to say I didn't keep the rug!

On the otherhand, I know plenty of people who do just fine with them? So perhaps get one with a seperate neck and make sure it'll be fairly tight, and they should be ok.

[angelfben]

The most effective fly rug available is without doubt the Boett. They are the only rug recommended by sweet-itch charities and fends off all variety of fly and midge. The only downside is that they are pricey but then you said price wasn't an issue. They also look incredibly stupid but I would rather be laughed at for my horses comfort and wellbeing

[eventerbabe]

ah, i hadn't thought of a boett. not sure i could stretch to 2 but i'll look into them

[angelfben]

I'm definitely investing in one this year, I've tried all the cheaper imitations and poor Alpi still gets horribly irritated by flies... my neighbours mare has hers on from march through to october and has gone from rubbing herself raw to not bothering at all about the flies!

[ambatt]

If you haven't got sweetitchy horses then the Amigo flybuster rug is excellent value for money and does the job. It helped my sweetitch suffering Icelandic but I have since moved up to the Boett for her.

[jumper_stars]

Hiya Anne,

Nevada has the Amigo flybuster rug- and it is super. I bought it last yr when she seemed to get very annoyed witht he migies/flies and bugs! She seemed alot better and it was a very good fit. Before that i had the Masta one and it was an excellent buy - though Emma tore it I need one really fast so went to Hayfield and got the Amigo.

Good luck!
Tamz x

[Jessey]

I brought the Bucas fly rug last year after lots of recomendations for it - http://www.equusdirect.com/Bucas%20B...ull%20Neck.htm

But I didn't use it much, I found the flys still bothered them a bit (horseflys just bit through it) and on my filly the rug rubbed her mane a little (where the neck joins the rug) but I probably could have got round that.

We have 2 rivers running through our place, we get loads of flys, the horse flys acctually put some of our fields completely out of use in the summer (the ones around the rivers).

I have also tried 100's of different fly sprays, none of which seem to keep the horse flys away (the others don't bother them too much but the biters drive them mad), I'm not sure what I going to do this year, nothing really seems to help.

J x

[eventerbabe]

ah, so it must be the water thats atracting the flies. last year was just awful!! hacking was a nightmare as there was just a huge black cloud round us both!!

i think, from your recomendations, i'm going to try an amigo fly sheet for Bonnie. we almost bought her one last year.

Jessey, i like Bucas rugs, but always have to buy a size up as they seem small fitting.