Show Sheen experiment day 1: I cleared all the bot eggs off my one mare and drenched her legs, shoulders, neck, chest, and mane with an obnoxious amount of Show Sheen. Let’s see how many eggs she gets on her by this evening.
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As I was removing bot fly eggs at the barn yesterday, a boarder’s coach was there and mentioned that any type of oil will help the eggs detach and will prevent the flies from attaching the eggs to the area. She suggested baby oil, coconut oil, or even zinc cream. I have some Avon Skin So Soft here which has jojoba oil so I’m going to experiment today and put some on one leg and see if it makes a difference in keeping the eggs off.
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Yes I am in Australia. Our bot flies look a bit like a large bee, which might not help as your bees might also be different to ours. Just like we have black swans instead of white!
They drive the horses crazy and leave yellow dots on the hairs of the horses. We used to feed apple cider vinegar which also increases appetite. I don’t think it did much to deter the bot flies and we never had a problem with horses eating anyway.
The advice to burn them is decades old. Just a way to get rid of them so as they don’t end up being ingested.
I can tell you I don’t miss them at all with them not being here!
Vaseline would attract dust. I think that would drive you crazy as well.
If they are such a problem I would try fly sheets and fly boots.
Turns out it’s a mane thinner after all. It really works though because it has just enough cut and dig to remove the egg but it’s also gentle if you know what I mean.
That is what our bot knives look like. Australia.
Well hey, then it IS a bot knife remover after all. 
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That is exactly like the dozen bot knives I have laying around and hate. I’m glad you think they work well @PaddockWood. I find they only work well on the hard parts of the knee and are basically useless on the rest of the body. Plus they go dull quickly with 5 equines.
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Interesting to hear. I’ve used it for years on my two BUT the bot season is short so not much use.
I think this is what I’m going to try next. Or a hair thinner like @Simkie posted.
We got some unexpected rain this afternoon that seemed to keep the bots away so it’s hard to say if my show sheen experiment worked.
I’m dying to know how show sheen works!
Another maybe would be a dog stripping knife? Like so:
https://www.showdogstore.com/dog-stripping-knives/
They come in different sizes and shapes and coarseness (and price points!) It’s interesting that pumice is also used for stripping; might be a good sign it could be a fruitful avenue?
I’ve used those purple or blue razors you buy to trim whiskers without clippers
I’ve only had bot eggs on my horses at boarding places. At my house I don’t have them. I think it could be due to the automatic fly spray system keeping them away? Although the horses are outside overnight.
I’ve been using skin so soft warmed up and then scraping with a disposable razor. Works meahhh, haven’t found a better way and it takes forever. I wipe the razor in a washcloth or paper towel. It gets funky quick.
I did use gritty sandpaper and that works as long as no oil on the skin. Oil gunks it up quicker.
I have those, have tried them, but similar problem to the women’s razor— I have to press hard and then take chunks out of the coat. They haven’t been any better than anything else for me.
Both @Horse_Daft and @luvmyhackney mentioned Skin So Soft so maybe I will try adding that to the regimen.
Have I mentioned I hate bots???
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I have always used the edge on a pair of scissors to remove bot eggs. I open the scissors and use one blade - the sharp side - to remove bot eggs. No problem except… I’ll use my fingernails to remove eggs from problem areas the one scissor blade doesn’t work well on. No problem.
I’m horrible with sharp objects. Don’t you cut your hand using the second blade as a handle?
We have not had bots or their eggs for years now, but when we had some, I used my little pocket swiss army knife, the one with tweezers and toothpick, itty bitty scissors, blade and file, to scrape the eggs with the blade.
The blade is small enough to fit in small places and too small to cause trouble if horse moves around too much.
I keep it super sharp, so it is almost like a razor and is always in my pocket and so handy at any time.
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I’ve also had the same knife for years. Mine hasn’t dulled much. But it needs to have the serrated blade wiped clean every few strokes, especially if the horse is at all dirty or the eggs are plentiful.
If you don’t keep the blade clean while you work, it gums up and feels like it has dulled.
As far as prevention - nothing works, but ease of removal - coat attractive areas in fly spray (coat, not a light spritz, use it like it’s not $$$ per spray) and Vetrolin Shine. Eggs will come off easier … as long as you keep a towel handy to keep the blade clean.
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Guys… obscene amounts of Show Sheen seem to be working. It’s too soon to say for sure. I ended up dousing the front ends of 3 of them in Show Sheen and leaving 2 others without. Team Show Sheen has almost no eggs on their front ends yet had some on their flanks and hind ends. The ones without Show Sheen came in with bot eggs on their front legs and chest as you’d expect.
I will happily drench everyone in Show Sheen daily if this is actually working to reduce the amount of eggs I have to remove!!!
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Yaaaaaaay!!! 
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