Fly Issue

This newsletter is a personal letter from me to you,
a fellow horse owner and enthusiast.
My goal is to answer some of your questions and send you interesting stories and helpful tips for your
horse care, training, and riding.

Fly Gear

Flies live to eat and to procreate. Horses and their habitat can provide a perfect medium for both of these activities. While wild horses can take evasive action like mud baths or running to escape pesky fly hordes, domestic horses are often at the mercy of flies. That’s why our horses need all the help we can give them. Fly populations can be reduced by using fly traps, insect predators, misting systems, and good management practices. Fly spray applied to horses will give varying degrees of relief for a limited time. Fly gear can provide non-chemical fly protection and it can be used on horses in stalls or pens, out on pasture, or while you are riding.

Fly Sheets

Protective horse clothing should fit the horse, be appropriate for the horse’s activity and for his environment. A flysheet is very versatile and the number one item in a horse’s summer wardrobe. There are basically two types of flysheets—scrim sheets for use on stalled horses, and turnout sheets for horses in pens or pastures. A scrim sheet is usually made of lightweight cotton or nylon mesh and fits more like a cooler—quite loosely. This makes it unsuitable for turnout but it works quite well for keeping flies off a well-groomed horse in a clean stall. An added benefit is that it acts as an anti-sweat sheet, which minimizes fly attraction. Today, the most popular flysheet is the turnout style made of the same type of mesh fabric that covers your lawn chairs. It not only keeps a horse’s body fly free, but it also protects the horse’s coat from the sun and helps keep him cool. The mesh fabric of any flysheet tends to “groom” a horse’s hair coat as he moves, massaging......... To read more about fly sheets, go here: Fly_Sheets.

Fly Masks and Accessories

A well-fitting fly mask can protect the sensitive areas of a horse’s head from flies or gnats without the use of chemical sprays or creams. Sometimes applying a mask often makes a nervous horse noticeably calmer, perhaps partly because it stops flies and partly because of reduced visual stimuli. A fly mask can also be used to protect a horse’s eyes from wind-blown objects when trailering a horse in an open trailer or during turnout and from dust and contact when treating an eye for an injury. A mask that blocks more light can give relief to a horse with light-sensitive eyes. A mask fastener such as Velcro that will release under strain is preferable over an unyielding snap or buckle for use during turnout or for use on unsupervised horses. If a horse should catch the mask on something and the fastener doesn’t release, it's likely that either the mask will be damaged or the horse will be injured, or both. For best results make sure the mask fits properly—horses’ heads vary greatly in size and shape and so do fly masks. A free-form mask made of soft, supple mesh will fit a wide range of head shapes, but the draping material usually lays against the eyes or lashes, which could cause........... To read more about , go here Fly Masks and Accessories.

Fly Gear for Riding

Some items described in the previous two articles can be used while riding or there may be similar items specially designed for riding. A muzzle or ear bonnet designed to be used with a bridle, for example, can greatly reduce or eliminate bug-related head shaking. A blaze orange cape can make for a safer ride during hunting season.

Fly Cape
Have you ever been riding when your horse started prancing and violently swishing his tail—then you finally turn around and see there is a big horse fly feeding on the center of your horse’s rump, just where he can’t reach it? A fly cape that extends behind the saddle to cover the horse’s rump and flanks can eliminate that problem and decrease tail swishing better than fly spray can. A cape made of open weave polyvinyl keeps hot sun off the horse and is also said to wick moisture away from a sweating horse. For added fly protection spray the cape with fly spray.

Tassels
Horsehair tassels (“shoo-flies”) and other devices can be hung from bridles and saddles to swing with the................. To read more about Fly Gear for Riding, go here Fly Gear for Riding.

Ask Cherry: Horse Flies!!!!!

Dear Cherry,
I am having a major horsefly problem. Any suggestions? I have no mosquitoes or regular flies just humongous horse flies and they are eating my horses up. H E L P P L E A S E! Frank ;o( Hello again Cherry,
I wrote you about a month ago to ask if you had any suggestions on Horse Fly control...my reason for asking was the fact that I was having a major Horse Fly problem...My eight year old Thoroughbred Stallion was being eaten up by Horse Flies...I had tried daily sprays, rubs, strips etc. but nothing was helping...Not hearing from you I continued searching and asking everyone I could, was there a solution?...I purchased a Horse Pal horse fly catcher. I put it in my one acre paddock one month ago and I am almost Horse Fly free... Frank ;o)

Hi Frank,
Ah, yes, those pesky heavy-duty, blood-sucking bombers that line up on a horse's neck like shingles on a roof. We do have problems with them here in the Colorado foothills near our creeks and springs and on trail rides, so I've seen first hand how they can drive a horse crazy and cause large welts from their painful bites. Read more about horse flies and deer flies.

I've found that a long sided fly sheet with neck plus a fly mask with ears and nose shield are a great deterrent to any flies. The only place I have to spray or apply fly cream is under the jaw, and on the belly and legs. Unfortunately, as you've discovered, application of fly products don't seem to deter horse flies and deer flies for very long. And the fly traps that I talk about in Fly Control are effective for trapping house flies and stable flies but don't attract horse flies and deer flies. And I am not aware of any fly predators that target horse fly or deer fly larvae. So I was interested to learn of the trap you discovered. The trap not only has received your endorsement, but that of the Horse Journal and Golf Course Management Magazine along with many great testimonials from folks who have provided daily trap counts.

Collectible Books - Excerpt

If you've never read a Will James horse book, you are in for a treat. One of his best books, "Horses I've Known" is a collection of stories about various horses including one called "Joker (A Horse That Lived Up to His Name)". Here is just once choice sections that really got me chuckling this weekend:

Klim Team Awards

Since the last newsletter, my husband Richard Klimesh and I have received several nice awards for our work.

American Horse Publications, 2002 Book Award, Third Place "Cherry Hill's Horse Care for Kids"

American Horse Publications, 2002 Book Honorable Mention, "Horse Housing"

All Industry Marketing Awards for 2002, General Consumer News or Feature Article, Third Place, for "Fly Gear" in Western Horseman magazine.

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Take the time to browse the complete Cherry Hill Horse Book Library.

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