With warmer weather bringing out biting flies and other insects that make horse's lives miserable, it is important to make sure flies around your horse and premises are kept in check. Besides being annoying, flies carry diseases to horses and humans. It's therefore important to reduce the number of flies around your property.
Biting flies surrounding horse's eye area
Besides being annoying, flies can carry diseases to horses and humans; therefore it is important to reduce the number of flies around your property.
© 2019 by Scone Equine Hospital New window.
How can you reduce the fly burden on your property? You know that flies can irritate horses and humans, sometimes to the point of endangering one or both. Horses stomp when flies land on their legs, potentially causing damage to their legs and feet. Flies can create sores on horses, they carry diseases, and they annoy not only you, but your neighbors.
Manage horse manure
Flies live and reproduce in your horses' manure, so it is necessary to attack them where they start. Keeping stalls and runs clean is the first step. Spreading the manure is the best solution, breaking up and drying out the flies' home will decrease their presence.
Spreading is a science in itself; know how much manure you've got and don't overspread on small acreages. A good rule of thumb for spreading is one horse's manure for every five acres. Of course, you should check with your local agriculture extension agent for specifics in your area.
Turn fly predators loose near horses and their surroundings
In recent years, fighting flies with other insects has become a desirable solution for horse owners wary of chemicals. As with any method, there are several options. The first is fly predators, tiny wasps that don't sting animals or people. These beneficial, tiny insects can easily control flies.
Fly predators kill flies in their developing stages while they are in the ground. The female fly lays her eggs wherever there is decomposing organic material. Those eggs hatch and become larvae, which eventually form a cocoon before hatching into the next generation of flying pest.
When you spread the fly predators in that area, the tiny wasps lay eggs in the fly cocoons, thus stopping the adult fly from hatching.
Fly predators must be replenished on a regular basis to ensure that you have the best fly control. They don't become a nuisance, because they have a very short life span.
Trap flies
A single fly can produce up to 1,000 offspring within a month. Trapping them is an effective and fulfilling way to kill the ones that got away.
The most common trapping products are jars filled with an attractant, either natural or chemical, which lures flies in where they can't escape. Another effective and time-honored method is fly paper.
Place either or both of these contraptions liberally throughout your barn, runs and corrals. If your house happens to be near the barn, you may even want to put a jar near the back door.
Use chemical products that are lethal or repellant to flies
There are numerous variations of chemical applications for horses. Some are vapor repellants, which merely keep the fly from landing on your horse. Others, which usually contain permethrin, are lethal to flies, and the fly will die shortly after it lands on your horse.
Many products contain a combination of pyrethrin and permethrin: a fly spray and repellant combination.
In addition, products that spray on, spot on, wipe on, sweat-proof, long-lasting, sun screen, coat conditioning, wound safe and all-natural are options from which to choose. To decide what's best for you, consider how often your horse is out of the barn.
If he's out of an otherwise fly-free barn for a few hours a day, a simple vapor spray-on might be best. For show horses, a coat-conditioning fly spry might be right. If you'll be working your horse outside all day, consider a sweat-proof spray with sunscreen protection.
For mares or retired horses turned out to pasture, you should look into a long-lasting wipe. Thin-skinned horses might need a diluted or all-natural spray. Basically there is a broad enough spectrum that you're sure to find one that best suits you and your horse.
Edited press release by Stable Management News