Summertime is typically filled with continuous days of beautiful weather and weekends at the horse show. Unfortunately, those warm months also bring along a tiny pest. The dreaded fly. These insects not only frustrate our four-legged friends, but also transmit diseases. Solid preparation and proper management of fly control are vital to keep the fly count down at large equine facilities as well as in your own backyard. 

Preparing for Battle

Many tactics can be used to prepare for the peak of fly season. Commonly used products include feedthroughs, barn misting systems and fly predators. Valley Vet Supply, an online veterinary and livestock online supply store experiences increases in products to battle against and protect horses from flies. Omar Hinojosa, president of Valley Vet Supply, said the company carries a wide variety of products that help horse owners prepare for fly season.

“For us, our fly control product sales start to ramp up in mid-February with a peak in June or July depending on weather,” Hinojosa said. “There are a couple things you can do to prepare for fly season. We do sell fly predators, which you can sprinkle on manure. The fly predator would lay their eggs in the pupae of the flies to prevent them from ever maturing into adult flies. If you don’t get ahead of them, these products don’t work well. The regularly scheduled shipments of this product are important so that as these fly predators lay eggs and die, you have more fly predators to take their place later. We offer feed-through products too. Some product examples are Solitude and Simplifly. These feed additives inhibit the larvae from maturing in the stool.”

American Quarter Horse Association World Champion trainer and AQHA judge, Robin Frid, Argyle, Texas, also believes preparing for the season is important. He has heard great things about the feedthrough product Diatomaceous Earth.

“Paul Thurston told me he uses the Diatomaceous Earth and it’s amazing,” Frid said. “It’s a feed-through and you have to feed it to every animal on the facility, not just the horses. Any animal that would attract a fly has to be fed the product. He said he probably cut his fly problem by 80%. He is in North Carolina and had issues with summer sores before using this product. You have to start early in the year to get ahead of it. I would love to try it, but there are too many animals on the property that we don’t own. We wouldn’t be able to control it like I would want.”

When building a facility, it is essential to consider how the fly population will be controlled throughout the barn. Brad Jewett has been training horses for over 25 years and is currently in the process of creating a new facility for Jewett Performance Horses to call home. He has taken extra steps to ensure flies won’t be an issue in the future.

“We are going over the top to reduce the manure and dust in our new facility by having the mattresses and rubber paver walk about put in the back of each stall,” Jewett said. “This will use less shavings. They will have enough room to get out and stretch their legs, but not enough to run and hurt themselves. We will have a fly misting system that will be sure to have open space under the nozzle as to not drip on something and create a mess underneath. We are taking extra lengths to have fresh air circulate through the barn regularly. Whether it is by the fans or by the design of the barn, we want it never to smell moldy or damp.”

Holding Your Ground

In the heat of the fight with flies many methods have proven to be beneficial. Fly sprays, traps, baits, masks, sheets and misting systems are just a few of them. Everyone has their own preferred method of dealing with the flies in their region.

Frid prefers to acclimate his horses to flies and not spray them constantly at home. He does use other products when the horses are turned out and when they are in the barn.

“I’ve used DAC fly spray since they came out with it and I love it,” Frid said. “That is what we use at the horse shows. It’s all natural. It even smells good. It doesn’t give that burning sensation in your lungs like other products. At home I am not a big fly sprayer. When I ride, I do not use fly spray unless I am doing the slow stuff in the Trail. If Jenny is working on Showmanship she will spray them sometimes too. I think they have to get toughened up and used to having a fly on them. It makes them not freak out so much at horse shows. I want to make it to where when we take them to a horse show it’s a treat to get fly spray, not a necessity. The clients will always get mad at me when I tell them not to use up the fly spray at the house. I’m pretty sure they sneak it. In the summer, we will use fly masks and fly sheets. Our show horses don’t go outside a ton, but our retired horses get turned out every day. The show horses normally go out by five or six in the evening and then they are brought back in the barn by nine. It’s just too hot for them to be out during the day.”

Valley Vet Supply carries several brands of products used for fly control during the season. Dr. Arnold Nagely, veterinarian, co-founder and CEO of the business is proud to offer many options for customers.

“Sprays and wipes certainly are very popular with horse owners,” he said. “One example would be Pyranha Wipe N’ Spray. It comes in a quart and a gallon size. Incidentally we have a nice wipe applicator mitt to use on those products. We have another topical application called Permectrin CDS. It can be used as a wipe on or a pour on. SWAT is another great product. It is an ointment that works very nicely to put around the ears and face to keep the gnats and flies away. Those are a couple standouts for equine topical applications. Some of these products are tailored for the equine market, but the ingredients can still be used on other species. We find that in the heat of the battle with these flies you have to do treatments of wiping the animal down or using a mist, on a daily basis.”

A premise spray is also a useful tool to ensure the fly population isn’t growing rapidly around your barn. They are very user-friendly with a timer for you to determine how often the area will receive a spray.

“We have a Pyranha SprayMaster Kit that is very popular,” Dr. Nagely said. “The kit includes everything you would need. It’s intended to be used while the horses are in the barn. It sprays automatically every few hours. It has a programmable timer. You don’t have to remove horses from the barn or premise for any of the sprays we offer.”

It might seem like common sense, but proper manure disposal is vital in maintaining a low fly population in a barn. Not doing so can lead to major problems. Mark Russell sees these issues while working for the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service as an equine specialist.

“The best way to manage manure ultimately depends on where the person lives,” Russell said. “If they happen to have a large barn but also plenty of acreage, the quickest and easiest way may be to purchase a manure spreader and spread in the pasture. Smaller barns also mean less manure, but if there isn’t a means to dispose of, then it can be tricky. I’ve heard stories all over the board on what people do. I’ve heard some people store manure themselves and allow nurseries to come and pick it up, as well as some that put it in a dumpster and it’s picked up by someone else to compost. In a perfect situation, the barn owner can either use it as fertilizer or sell it for a profit. If a barn owner lives in a rural area, he or she doesn’t seem to run into as many obstacles. Those in urban areas need to be concerned with city ordinances. To compound the problem no matter if it’s urban or rural, can be storing issues. If it’s stored improperly around the barn, it can lead to assortment of problems, including developing a breeding ground for insects.”

Russel recommends using a local extension agent as a source for horse owners with questions regarding their manure disposal.

“The county extension agent is always one of the best contacts a person can make when looking for answers to anything agricultural related,” he said. “They’ll be the most familiar with the area and can find answers quickly if they don’t have them.”

DEFENSE AT THE HORSE SHOW

No matter how much we try to coat our horses in fly spray at the show, sometimes those pesky bugs find a way through. We have probably all seen a run quickly go south when a horse happens to realize a fly is attacking its body. Bobbi Rae Bauman, Howell, New Jersey, regularly competes at AQHA events and happens to have a very memorable fly influenced Showmanship run.

“My first incident with a fly (that was as big as a bird) happened in Sussex, New Jersey at the AQHA fair show,” Bauman said. “It has somehow continued for years at the same facility. No matter what time the Showmanship class started during the day, the huge fly has always appeared. The first time this happened it flew around me in the practice pen all morning. No matter how much fly spray I put on, which was at least 10 layers, it still landed on my horse at the entry gate. It was bad enough to make my horse look like a bronc at the NFR. As I got my horse to settle and get to the cone it buzzed by again and actually followed me throughout the pattern. It was horrible. A few of the years this occurred I happened to have the NFR action during the pattern. Needless to say, the flies have no mercy on me.”

Every judge handles the fly situation differently. Watching the Showmanship versus the Horsemanship provides a different view point on what’s going on with the horse. Frid tries to be a very forgiving judge on that issue.“I watch them and I can tell if it’s a fly,” he said. “If they just move their foot once or maybe twice and I see the fly, I’m not calling the penalty. If they kick out at a fly, are rude about the situation or constantly moving their feet I have to call it. When they are pivoting and I see them flip their leg quickly at a fly I don’t call it. Same goes with the setup. I just leave it alone. Even with the most sprayed horse, those flies can get through it. I give them the benefit of the doubt. I try to be really forgiving with that. It’s a lot trickier when they are riding, but in Showmanship you can really see the demeanor of that horse and tell what’s happening.”