Fly Season is coming - what is your weapon of choice?

[Freebird]

In a perfect world, I would do fly predators, but I only have two horses and a fixed income so, for now I’m sticking to fly spray.

My girl is quite a Diva - hence the name - so I have a fly mask, with ears and flysheet for her, ready and waiting. Last year her legs were covered in fly bites, even though I sprayed her daily. I used several flyspray brands last year, but nothing seemed to help her legs.
So, my questions:

What is your favorite Flyspray?

What do you do for legs? Flywraps? Fly Strips? Ointment? Spray? Spot treatment?

[soloudinhere]

Fly sheets/masks and whatever fly spray that is not Bronco is on sale.

I like ultrashield red so maybe this year I will suck it up and buy the gallon.

I can’t deal with the wraps but if she’s getting that many bites, are you sure the fly spray you’re using is insecticidal? or just a repellent? Ideally you want both, discussions about soaking horses in poison aside.

[LauraKY]

Pyranha fly spray.

[kasjordan]

I’m not a huge fan of fly sheets, I’ve seen my horse going crazy trying to get a horse fly out from underneath one… I do use fly masks, I use the predators, I have a fan in my run in, I spray the walls of the run in with pine sol/vinegar and water every other day and make sure it’s kept spotless… I use Swat on their ears and eyes and belly line and mix Repel X concentrate as a spray. Does she have a dark, cool, clean place to escape the flies?

[Freebird]

I have a Run-In for them, as well as a big overhang off of my Feed/Tack shed. That’s a good idea about spraying the walls down.

[trubandloki]

I find I spend quite a bit less on fly sprays since I started using fly predators. Well worth the money.

When I have to use a spray it depends on what I am using it for. I use quite a bit of deep woods off. It works great on just about everything but flies. If my problem happens to be flies (riding somewhere other than my home) I will use Pyranha fly spray in the aerosol can.

Another item that works well is air movement. I have (outdoor rated) fans under my overhang so the horses can stand in the breeze.

[rustbreeches]

I like Tritech 14, and also Supershield. What helps the most, especially with the irrigation pond so close to the house, is we have the place professionally sprayed once a week. We do the dairy twice a week, and also the nearest neighbor’s house as a good will gesture. It makes a huge difference

[tabula_rashah]

I find fly predators work way better than any fly spray for my set up. And they are cheaper- I go through about a bottle a week with 5 horses which is the cost of 1 month of fly predators. I don’t use masks because they instantly become toys.
For riding, I use the Absorbine Sport (the blue bottle) along with OFF and an ear bonnet.

[ryansgirl]

Fly mask with ears, fly wraps for the legs, fly sheet - fly sheet ONLY at night when the mosquitos come out (had too many deer flies, B-52 bombers, etc. get trapped under fly sheets that I stopped using them after my old stoic gelding almost killed himself trying to escape a trapped bomber - not worth it), Flys-Off (equivalent to SWAT but significantly cheaper) along the belly/sheath/udders. I stopped wasting my money on fly spray since it doesn’t work. And access to shelter - just have my mare now but she just goes inside when the bugs are at their worst.

Fly mask and leg wraps get changed every day and they get scrubbed. My mare has multiples of everything so she isnt stuck wearing grimy/dirty stuff :).

[quietann]

This all pertains to the season only. No need for any of this in the winter, and we don’t normally have a lot of flies until May-ish.

I had good luck last year with Farnam’s Biting Fly repellent. It’s the one in the red bottle – pricey but does the job. The mare gets a fly mask with ears when turned out, and some sort of bonnet when I’m riding her outside. Some of the horses at the barn get fly sheets but I’m not a huge fan of them.

I also put Freedom Spot on her every 2 weeks except in the winter, but that’s more for ticks than anything else. I have not found a tick on her since I started using it. However – some horses don’t tolerate it well and some even get sores from it, so skin-test it first. It irritates my mare somewhat but she gets over it quickly.

My barn has an interior fly spray system and as long as BO keeps it charged up, it works very well.

[Showbizz]

Although on COTH I hear it happens a lot, in 17 years of using fly sheets I’ve never observed a fly stuck under one!

My horses get fly sheets 24/7. I spray legs, bellies and faces with pyrahna, although I don’t use much. I probably only go through about one bottle a season!

[Appsolute]

Granted - “bugs” aren’t too bad here in CA, and we don’t really have biting ones, but I do use fly spray to keep stable flies off my horse.

I buy Permethrin concentrate (active ingredient in many fly sprays) and mix it with Healthy haircare. Cost effective, works, and makes my horse’s coat look great.

Besides that, I use a fly mask - I do not get enough bugs landing on my horse’s body to warrant a fly sheet (they go for the face and legs).

[tinah]

Gordon’s horse and pony spray. Lasts 4 days to a week depending on how much they sweat. Horses live out 24/7.

[GoneAway]

Napalm.

[Freebird]

[QUOTE=GoneAway;7529340]
Napalm.[/QUOTE]

:lol: Perhaps I should have been more clear I’d like to use something that will only rid of us the flies, not myself or my ponies.

[purplnurpl]

MTG works GREAT! My horse who thinks fly spray = battery acid doesn’t mind MTG.
I’ll put it all over their legs and belly.

And I’ll use it on walls around feed buckets.

[Larry_Garner]

You can’t spray away your fly problems. Here are some tips for good control.

1. Good Manure Management
2. Fly Predators for future flies.
3. Masks and Fly sheets for water bred biting flies.
4. Traps for transient manure flies.

[rabicon]

Fly eliminators are cheaper than fly predators and work the same. I use those. I also have a small dumpster that stall messes go in that is dumped when I call for 35 bucks. 4 horses I dump it maybe once a month. But they are only in when the weather is bad. Also use freedom 45 now for the past couple years and have not had to use fly spray at all. It actually works out cheaper than fly spray as well. The only time I use fly spray is if we trail ride. Never at home. Fly stay away and it is amazing for ticks!

[rabicon]

Oh and I also drag the pasture and the areas I can’t drag fly eliminators go there and I will pick up the poop in those areas a few times over summer. Also keeping the run in cleaned out.