Worth a try at least. The big flies are only real active here in late afternoon / early evening but I remember living in north Alabama and the flies were as big as hummingbirds and active at all hours it seemed.
I like my Kensington sheet the very best as the fit is the most comfortable for both my horses, but the horse flies just bite right through mine 
I rode yesterday about 30 minutes south of you and they were apocalyptic (overcast after the rain Thursday). I had a couple dozen swarming Archie. Bronco fly spray on my friendās horse worked far better than mine did! Rode the same trail Monday and they were not nearly as bad (sunny).
Super ugh!
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I got out there a little earlier this AM. ( Not 5:30. I am working on that!) We had a front come through yesterday and it cooled off into the 60ās overnight. So the flies werenāt active yet this AM. She didnāt work long but I didnāt have a single big fly after her. Yesterday was abysmal when it was warmer and humid. I wish it would stay like this all summer.
I am going to look into constructing some kind of trap near the arena.
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The deathly still 100% humidity is the worst. Itās not too terrible this morning. A little breeze.
Iād be interested to hear if you are able to build a trap! I want one but canāt justify the expense of a bought one with all my other farm products.
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We also got the H-trap, about four years ago. It was a game changer. First summer I emptied the canister three times. It was satisfying to watch it fill. The next year, I emptied it once. It still catches, I probably have 15-30 greenhead devils in there right now (the bombers appear later in the year), but itās negligible compared to that first year. Horses are so much more comfortable. It was spendy but worth it. Itās near the house so is a fun conversation starter also.
@lenapesadie Google instructions for a diy trap, the internet is full of advice.
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I need to! I was getting attacked trying to finish up some garden chores yesterday evening. I should have hid in the barn with the horses!
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These hornets and horse flies are vicious! Ambitious_Kate, your experience was truly horrible. Trying to take care of that many horses at one time must have been very challenging. And scary with horses panicking!
When we lived in MI, the horseflies and hornets would start attacking our two half drafts sometime in late July and all through August. Heat and humidity brought them on!
Several years ago I read in a CoTH thread about someone using Deep Woods Off on their horses to repel the horseflies. I started using it, spraying it down their spines straight to their tails and along the crest of their necks. (Basically, any area where the horses couldnāt reach with their tails or teeth.) It worked really well for me!
My two horses had two different reactions to the horseflies. My smaller mare would start bucking and then roll. Helped somewhat.
My big 17.1 half Percheron mare would look for us (DH or me) and run to a gate. She would slam into the gate and let us grab that horsefly off her big butt. You had to make sure your hands were not any place on that gate where her body could crush your fingers. She knew we would help her!
We live in NC now and have the same battles with the horseflies and green hornets. Iām still using the Deep Woods Off and it seems to work. Expensive but I donāt use it all over the horse.
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Iāve used DWO on ears during trail rides, itās been very effective for deer flies.
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Maybe try the bait strip they sell? I had the same thing happen (first year caught lots and then not so many), and just ordered some.
Has anyone used the Epps trap? It says it covers 20 acres.
The ābaitā is the black ball. The flies think itās an animal so land on it and try to bite. When they discover itās not a meal they fly up, and are funneled into the canister. The reason Iām catching fewer over the years is that Iām reducing the number of biting flies available to breed and multiply 
.
When I first moved here I thought a fly was a fly, and those ubiquitous sticky traps should take care of them all. After much aggravation and much googling I eventually learned that different flies have different life cycles, and therefore require different means to control them (horse flies reproduce in damp-swampy ground, horn flies reproduce in cow manure, house flies reproduce in anything organic and nasty, etc). So the trap has to be attuned to what attracts the species.
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I looked up that trap. $370 - I think I can make one for a lot less than that and I canāt hammer or saw either. I have a $2.50 ball from Walmart I can spray paint black, get some pvc pipe to build a stand, put shade cloth around the ball to entrap the fly and rig up a bottle at the top. I need to get to Lowes and Walmart to get supplies and see what I can rig up. The Spaulding one will probably look nicer but I donāt care.
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I made this one. I didnāt catch anything, but I used different materials that I had on hand (ie, detachable neck for a fly sheet and a fun noodle) so I didnāt have to go to the store. I donāt see why it wouldnāt work if you actually followed the directions (unlike me 
).
This is my homemade trap:
Itās made of scrap plywood, mesh from an old screen door, clamshell containers from the grocery store with holes cut in the bottom, bungee cords, a beach ball, and lots of black spray paint. It catches A LOT of greenheads and some bombers. You may need to experiment with location a bit.
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I got two cheap beach balls from wallyworld. I canāt get the spray paint to dry on them when I sprayed them black. I think it is the coating on the ball ā¦ It has to dry to put the Tanglefoot on the ball. I have a shepherdās hook to hang it from. I want to see if it will attract flies before I build something.
HorsePal biting fly traps were out of stock for a while during the pandemic but I believe they are available again: https://www.bitingflies.com/
Mine works great, the deer flies are EPIC this year.
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I have one H trap, not very impressive what i have caught. In three years iāve not had to even empty the canister. I think itās because had to put a roundbale holder around it because the horses are SO DESTRUCTIVE to anything āhumanā in their pastures. Just ordered two of the small Horse Pal Fly Traps that @stb mentioned! (thanks for the recommendation!)
I am still waiting for the paint to dry that I sprayed on my blue ball. It has been 5 days so far and it is still wet, I think it was the coating on the ball that I thought I had washed off that is the problem. I was going to coat it with Tangle Foot and hang it down by the arena to see if anything was attracted to it and got stuck. It is umpteen hundred degrees and by the time I get the horses done I need to go inside and shower and eat something. And then enjoy air conditioning so it is sitting waiting for me to proceed. And yes - it was going where the horse could not get to it. Not dealing with their destruction.
So far the bait has not been impressive, although I havenāt seen a ton of green heads or deer flies, so maybe thatās why? Too early?
But, in a nod to old school, I bought a handful of those bags that you fill with water and hang. Oh. My. God. Iāve never seen so many dead flies. In about 3 hours, one bag had a solid 2 inches of nothing but dead fly. So gross, and I am right here for it. 
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