What do ya’ll use for horse flies and/or deer flies?
We have more horse flies than stable flies. Fly spray seems to work on the stable flies, but have not found anything for the horse flies. When we trail ride we also get deer flies in the woods, so looking for something for that too.
Any help?
Would equispot help? Something else?
IIRC, horse flies and deer flies are sight predators - meaning fly sprays don’t really work on them.
The zebra pattern fly gear is supposed to help, or other physical barriers. As far as sprays, OFF! Deep Woods is the only thing that seems to help when trail riding for the midges and gnats and “regular” flies.
We are in the deep south and its too hot to keep fly sheets on them, I wish it wasn’t! That is what I was worried about, that no real other options besides the fly sheets.
My trail riding friend is now using baby powder on her horse during rides. Sprinkle on neck and rump. She says the flies hover but don’t land unless it gets sweated off. She rides daily, faces the clouds of bugs on trails, so I am trying it in the barn.
Of course horses roll immediately on turnout, so powder is gone for overnight effect. Only been using it a couple days, nothing to report yet. The huge brown flies are terrible now, so anything that works will be helpful.
Human bug sprays with DEET ingredient do help keep flies and bugs away.
I use cashel quiet ride bug armor for body and face on trail. doesn’t cause sweating. I coat their legs w belly balm to keep biting flies off. I suppose you could put that on rump for horseflies. They seem to always to for rump. bloody mess once they roll, though.
Yeah, same here. And for the time that it isn’t too hot, the darn horseflies get UNDER the sheets and send the horses running!
The riding fly sheets are pretty light, but the big suckers will bite through the material if you’re going slow enough.
For trails, physical barriers (I hack in the Amigo Fly Rider and a lycra fly mask under the bridle). I have also found fly spray with picaridin/icaridin seems to help somewhat with the deer flies landing. They’ll still find you (sight hunters) but they don’t seem to like the picaridin. I spray the ears of the fly mask since they’re mesh, and then my horse’s belly and legs where the Fly Rider doesn’t cover.
The problem we’re having now is the SWARMS of mosquitoes that eat both of us alive despite fly sheet, mask, and spray. We went out a couple days ago and my poor horse looked like he had hives because he had so many mosquito bites, right through the mask and sheet.
@Simkie told me about the homemade Swat and I am now on my second jar. The cons - it’s messy and leaves residue on your reins (if you care about that). The pros - it’s the ONLY thing that works for me on trail rides. Our bridle loop cuts through woods that are not so far from marshland, the deer flies have always been horrible and some days their numbers were so bad I had to turn around.
I’ve made two jars now and played around with the dilution. Right now, I’m using a 14oz jar of Vaseline with 4 capfuls (scientific, I know) of undiluted Repel-EX mixed in.
I also ride with a Cashel fly mask, sprayed with with flyspray. It helps a little, but the Vaseline-Fly Mix is the MVP. I use a tack cleaning sponge as the applicator - brush their forehead, then do a swipe down their topline on both sides.
Like you I didn’t see an overwhelming difference flyspraying the crap out of them before the ride. But the homemade Swat works. I also leave a stripe of it down their topline when I turn them out, and it does keep the B52s at bay. I’ve killed four of those monsters this summer.
How do you like hacking in your Amigo Fly Rider?
That’s neat! I’m excited it’s working! Do you think it’s more messy than regular swat? The “clear” swat has titanium dioxide in it (I assume as a stabilizer, to help keep it from melting?) so trying zinc oxide as a base might be a little closer to the real stuff. But then of course your horses will have zebra stripes! I should mix up a jar with zinc oxide and a tube of that proforce 50 stuff and see how it goes.
I cannot believe how bad the biting flies have been this year!
It’s amazing and worth every penny. It’s the only reason I’m able to hack most of the summer with the bugs we get!
For riding, nothing beats an old fashion wisk. Even the hottest horses get used to it quickly. And the smart ones learn to cock their head and ask you to swat the deer fly! Got nothing for turn out. Mine come in dotted with blood. I have had DEET scald a horse and am wary of using it. Fly sheets are hot and hold the dirt and damp and are no match for greenheads or bombers. Luckily, I work from home and can just bring them in on bad days.
I think they’re equally messy, for sure, though I think the Vaseline actually spreads easier. I had Vaseline on hand, but maybe next time I will try zinc oxide. It’s been brutally hot here, to the point that a lot of things that are normally solids have melted. The Vaseline melted a little, but I actually found it was easier to apply that way.
They have been really bad this year.
Beowulf and Simkie, I haven’t found your recipe for homemade Swat; could you share it here? Despite precautions, we are suffering on rides some days and sometimes cut them short due to the little biters harassing us.
What we’d kind of kicked around in another thread was a jar of zinc oxide (15 oz? I go through a lot of this in summer) plus a tube of Proforce 50. That give you the same concentration of permethrin as swat in a similarish base.
It sounds like Beowulf has had good luck with petroleum jelly & Repel-X concentrate!!
Really, it’s just goo + fly repellent. Pick your favs! You do need a pretty good concentrate of fly stuff, otherwise it’ll get too runny (like I don’t think fly spray will work.)
Super, thanks very much!
So…how much goo do you use? 
Intriguing!
I linked it above! Yay for Amazon! 
(Yes, I totally buy zinc oxide in bulk. Haha!)
Sorry, I meant how much do you typically apply on your horse.
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