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Roo
Bronze Member
104 Posts |
 Posted - 22 Apr 2007 : 9:36:08 PM
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My arab gelding is beseiged by tiny black flying insects. They only really seem to be interested in his belly - presumably because he can't flick them away with his tail or reach them with his nose.
Last year he had the same problem and he lost a line of hair about an inch wide from the girth area all the way back to his sheath area. This year they seem to be much worse and his belly is covered with them and he has lost a much wider strip of hair over the same region and is starting to look distinctly bald underneath.
I have tried fly spray to no effect and this evening a friend gave me something else to use - think it was called 'Itch Away'. Possibly made by Dettox? Anyway it comes in a big pot and is pink and thick and gooey and contains Deet. I smeared this all over his belly and within seconds there were loads of these insects stuck in it - so much for repelling them. I might as well have put on Vaseline (which incidentally I have tried - without success - as it was suggested by my vet last year).
They really are horrible. They seem to attach themselves to the hair as I find lots of them dead but still there the next day. The other horses in the field seem untroubled by them.
Has anyone else experienced this. And if so, is there a solution?
Karen
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Roseanne
Moderator
United Kingdom
6708 Posts |
Posted - 22 Apr 2007 : 9:47:06 PM
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Karen these are simuleum flies (I don't know the exact spelling but will look on the net). I have a horse that is allergic to these. The problem they cause is called 'buttercup' disease as these black flies are around during the time buttercups are in flower. They are a dark charcoal fly which leaves a deposit behind (like black grains of sugar) where they have fed. I guess they suck blood and poo out a dark substance which you will find on and near the sheath, and along that dorsal line from sheath to the chest and on the centre of the chest in front.
They are a real PAIN and if your horse gets allergic (i.e. you don't protect them and they get bitten too much!) you then get a horse that gets a completely swollen sheath and surrounding stomach area which requires box rest out of the reach of these horrible flies. Then the same happens every year as soon as the flies emerge.
The answer I believe is to get a preparation called Barricade from your vet. It's a very strong insect killer which you dilute at 1:50 ratio with water then spray it on your horse so it soaks the skin. That will kill these things off. You have to respray the horse every week (though the bottle says it should last two weeks it doesn't!).
Your horse may be like many that don't get allergic. But if you're in a hotspot for these flies you should watch out, as I think bombardment could result in an allergic reaction. I think the same thing happens with midges and sweetitch, in that if you protect your horse from early on, it doesn't get the intense reaction.
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Roseanne |
Edited by - Roseanne on 22 Apr 2007 9:48:25 PM |
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Nedds71
Gold Member
Wales
679 Posts |
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Zan
Platinum Member
Scotland
3213 Posts |
Posted - 22 Apr 2007 : 9:50:59 PM
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It sounds very like a problem I had with my old mare years ago---tiny black flies that sort of clustered on her udder and along the mid line of her belly.Sometimes when I brushed them off they left tiny spots of bloood, so they had been hanging there sucking blood. The horse she was with wasn't affected. I'm sorry to say that I could find nothing to repel them, and it got so bad that her udder got swollen and sore. At that point I started stabling her through the day and out at night, which worked. By the next summer we had moved fields, in the same area, and never had the problem again.
ETA---Roseanne that sounds like the flies that attacked Rosa. I tried every kind of repellant tha vet could offer, but maybe barricade wasn't around then---can't remember. The strange thing was, they didn't even settle on the other horse that was out with her. |
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Edited by - Zan on 22 Apr 2007 9:54:13 PM |
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katherineepea
Gold Member
England
883 Posts |
Posted - 22 Apr 2007 : 9:58:41 PM
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| my gelding gets this! they leave little tiny bloody specks on their tummy. he's not so bothered by them as the sweet itch tho. any fly spray u can buy in tack shops does nothig to them tho so barricade might be a good option |
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Roo
Bronze Member
104 Posts |
Posted - 22 Apr 2007 : 11:12:13 PM
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Dear Roseanne
Many thanks for your reply. I have looked up both the flies and Barricade on the web. I will speak to my vet tomorrow and, hopefully, order some. Bit pricey though at £60-£70 for 1 litre. Still, if it works it will be worth it.
Thanks again.
Karen |
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Poppy
Gold Member
England
549 Posts |
Posted - 23 Apr 2007 : 08:07:56 AM
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Hi Karen I second Roseanne with Barricade -brill for all things including mites and sweetitch preventer . I have a Welsh D mare that was hogged when I bought her 4 1/2yrs ago, due to rubbing out of her mane all the time. She now has a full mane 3yrs on. Apply once a week - it's well worth the money believe me. Just remember to use gloves when applying.
Janet
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gossy
Platinum Member
England
3639 Posts |
Posted - 23 Apr 2007 : 09:43:10 AM
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Yellow summer fly cream is excellant as is a green paste unsure of name, i will find out,when i go down the yard! all four of my girls have been bitten and swollen, but they can go out because this thick green paste completely protects them.
Paula. |
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Roseanne
Moderator
United Kingdom
6708 Posts |
Posted - 23 Apr 2007 : 09:52:39 AM
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Karen you won't have to spend that much. If you ask your vet he or she will give you a small bottle of about 100 ml for about £5. Two capsful will dilute to a 500 ml ordinary fly repellent spray bottle (I keep them to use for home made preparations). The £60 - 70 tin is about a litre and would be enough to spray a herd of 100 cows every ten days for ten years!!
You'll find out that this problem goes once the buttercups go. It's a strange phenomenon. I think like midges, the females have to have a blood meal before they can breed. My gelding is out of action for several weeks and then his whole swollen sheath area peels. This year I've been Barricading him for for past month as a precaution but all the horses were kicking their stomachs yesterday and it was definately those simuleum flies.
Others have said the yellow fly cream is good. My vet gave me some once for suspected lice in my grey mare's fetlocks and the yellow stain didn't come out til she moulted!!
(She ended up not having lice anyway, it was an allergy to alfafa!!). |
Roseanne |
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gossy
Platinum Member
England
3639 Posts |
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madmare
Platinum Member
England
2129 Posts |
Posted - 23 Apr 2007 : 11:55:48 AM
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| we have just done our lot with Barricade! Crystal got a scabby patch under her tum last year when she was losing her coat...and the year before as well..I put it down to just stress....but this year, after being Barricaded..nothing! It's great stuff!!!!! |
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