fly season is upon us

Miniature Horse Talk Forums

Help Support Miniature Horse Talk Forums:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

dixie_belle

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 19, 2005
Messages
655
Reaction score
462
Location
South Central, KY
Over the years I bet I've tried every fly spray known to man and not achieved any really satisfactory results. Today while I was walking one of my guys, he just looked miserable. I had sprayed him just yesterday. The flies were aiming at his underside where there is no hair. He would swish his tail, stomp his feet and just generally swat at them any way he could. And I actually pick up the manure almost as quickly as they produce it, put it in plastic bags and deposit them in a big green garbage can with the lid closed. So it isn't the manure that is attracting them. I noticed all of the horses had about a dozen of these large evil flies circling them and they all looked absolutely miserable. So, in desperation, I brought Peanut into the garage and gave him a quick squirt of deep woods OFF on his underside. Then I took him right back outside where minutes before the flies were attacking him in earnest. To my amazement, not one landed on him. He appeared calm whereas before he was so uncomfortable. So now I'm wondering if I should give everyone a little squirt on their....um.....man parts. It certainly worked for Peanut.

Has anyone else sprayed OFF? I'm just curious.
 
I would be extremely careful that when you spray them - it is aimed in a direction where none can enter the canal of their.....um.....man parts. Because if you thought they were miserable with the flies...there is no comparison to what that would do to them.
 
I do use OFF, or mostly Muskol, on the horses, mainly for mosquitoes; I've never found anything effective on "bulldogs"--those big flies that could carry off a small horse if 10 or so of them worked together!--it does also work to some extent for sandflies. I do spray it along their undersides though obviously avoid spraying it into the sheath or directly on the penis should it be hangling out--also on chest, neck and along the topline, which are the places the mosquitoes bother first/worst. I've never had a reaction to ordinary Off but the Muskol or Deep Woods which is stronger in DEET does sometimes cause allergic reaction--in all the years I've used the product and all the horses I've used it on, only 2 ever had a reaction--one had severe hives and was so itchy, I bathed him to remove all residue. The other, just last summer, swelled up--he had massive hives on his back half, swelling all along his neck, and his eyes swelled shut, even though I hadn't used the spray on his face....a shot of Predef 2X gave him relief within an hour.

Never apply a heavy amount of spray--that's why I like the muskol, it comes out in a very fine mist & the horse doesn't get much on.
 
For the past 2 years we have not even had to spray the horses with fly spray. I did see 1 fly today. It is good to know you can use OFF.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top