So frustrated right now…during the day it’s way too hot to ride (real feel over 104 plus 80% humidity). In the evening the horse flies are out in droves. I don’t want to get pile driven by my sensitive horses, what are you all in hot and humid-horse fly land doing during this time to actually get some riding time in?
grumble
Ugh here too. I still ride at night. I find the bugs aren’t so bad in the arena, they are much much worse in the field. If you have different areas to ride maybe see if one place is better than another?
Ours are terrible in the arena. I’m wondering if cutting some of the grass down on the long side might help (there’s kind of a weedy area). We border a national park so I think the deer and other critters bring them in.
Well, I have new Bonnet addiction as my splotchy pony cannot abide flies on his ears.
The best I have found has been skin so soft mixed with water a drop of dish soap to help it stick. I have tried all the flysprays and they work on everything but the horseflies. My hubby jokes we smell like his grandmother but oh well, it has worked for us this summer.
when we were in Kentucky working with saddle horses in the summers the horses were worked usually fed at 3AM then starting working at 4 AM finishing before 8AM
I might have to do that, much as I hate mornings.
At night, I use flyspray with cypermethrin in addition to permethrin. That helps.
At dusk, my horse is fine with me using my whip to swipe deer flies from his ears. I use a fly mask with ears during the day for his comfort. I also use the whip to remove horse flies and on the ground he is 100% onboard with me hitting to kill horseflies despite his sensitive nature.
I get it. Horse flies suck! Next month we can expect the emergence of huge black horseflies we call the “black bombers”. You can feel them crush under your fingers when you smack them. Gross. Horses can buck when they land and try to feast on their sacrums.
I felt like I’d reached elite levels as both a horsewoman & the mom of a human rider the day I reached out & smashed a green head with my bare hand without hesitation. Strangely enough, the horses all somehow seem to understand that I’m not a crazy woman just trying to wallop them. They stand there like “OMG!!! GET IT!!”
@TheDBYC --my geldings will run to me in the pasture when being dive bombed by a horse fly --I kill it and we all celebrate! I was watching one horse out in the pasture --horse fly was big enough to see even from a distance. It appeared to land -at that moment the horse slammed himself to the ground and violently rolled (he was on a soft part of the pasture). I think he was trying to squish it!
Horseflies and giant horseflies are terrible here too! I just bought some outdoor traps to put along our trail. Hoping it helps.
Spray has been worthless this year!
Those monster flies–the ones over an inch long–we call them B-52s.
And they seem to know where to land, the middle of the horse’s rump, just where he can’t reach. Was hand walking my guy, one landed there, my guy swung his butt toward me as in “Get it off me!” Luckily they are slow. I knocked it to the ground and stomped it.
Try CLAC Deo-Gel. It leaves a residue but my god does it work. I streak it in a straight line from back of ear to withers on both sides.
While it’s a bit gauche I have been known on the really nasty fly days (especially in the evening after a hot rain spell) to ride in a flysheet’s neck cover. It doesn’t look good but it does the trick.
There are riding veils out there too, because we are not the only ones in this position. Cashel has a “Cashel Quiet Ride” Bug Armor that looks pretty good:
Those are the ones we have now. About an inch long, when you knock them off the horse and step on them you have to grind them into the dirt fully to kill them. It was after the third dismount to kill one of these suckers in about the same amount of riding time that I lost my cool trying to ride last night, gave up and put him away.
I was injured badly by a horse trying to get away from them so I’m particularly sensitive to the presence of these jerks. They seem to be the worst at dusk here, I haven’t actually tried riding after dark dark yet.
I know there are specialized traps for them, I may just build one to get revenge, even if it doesn’t kill them all lol
Okay, my first thought when I read the title to this thread was, why is someone trying to train horseflies for resale? 
I am happy to say we haven’t gotten the bombers yet. I’m sure it will be soon. I bought one of those riding flysheets, but haven’t had to use it yet. When I do, I will report back.
ROFL That’s what I usually point out. It was an effort to restrain myself from using more colorful language. I was a bit cranky last night.
The #@*! B52s somehow don’t arrive this Summer.
So far, no sign…
Hate is not strong enough to describe how I feel about them 
A Sad Tidbit:
It is only the females that bite.
Males don’t have the mouthparts that can pierce human & horse flesh.
Blood is needed for them to lay eggs.
Sistahs, really?! 
We get evil greenheads and B-52s which usually have blue eyes (for those who don’t know greenheads are large horsefly types with iridescent green eyes, a painful bite and they emerge from the salt marsh. If you smack them, they’ll drop but then get up and come right back at your horse’s belly, neck, whatever. They must be CRUSHED!)
Rutgers University has directions for making greenhead traps on their website if you’re interested. We have a bunch. Not enough but they help. The old guys tell me that use of traps by the state and individuals has decreased the density of the rotten flies.
Our horses only get turnout at night or on cloudy days during the 4 week season, and we hustle to the indoor lest the bucking gets too wild!
I use a riding fly mask outsmart fly spray. And I carry a whisk. I spend a lot of time swishing the whisk over my horses. And they appreciate it.
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