A Horse Allergic to Flies

That's right, you heard me.  This horse is allergic to flies.  What an unfortunate affliction for a horse since flies and horses seem to be synonomous.  For the last 18 years, I have been managing a horse that is allergic to flies.  And, trust me when I say, that we have tried absolutely everything.  Some things work better than others, but for the most part, this is a condition that has to be managed rather than cured.

To keep this horse comfortable, year round, we put a lot of effort into trying to keep the flies off of him. 

1.  Moved to a New Barn

I gave up access to riding trails and trainers to take lessons with to move this horse to a small barn, away from the river and other water sources and with a smaller equine population with better manure management practices to reduce the number of flies in his environment.

2.  Fly Spray By the Gallons

Although I have never found a fly spray that works for any "long" period of time, we do our best to deter the flies with generous coating of the expensive fly sprays like Ultrashield and Pyrhana.  Jackson gets coated with fly spray at least 3-5 times a day.

3.  In the Stall and Out to Pasture

Jackson's stall gets cleaned 2-3 times per day, and considering that he only spends a few hours in it, that means that there is never more than 1 pile of poop or 1 urine spot in his stall (or any of the others in the barn) at any given time.  We also put a fan in his stall (this is partially to deter flies and partially because this older guy doesn't sweat very well). Out in the pasture is a little more difficult.  Because he doesn't sweat very well, I do not like to use fly sheets on him.  Plus, most of his fly bites occur in all of the areas not covered by the fly sheet anyways. However, I do use fly boots or wrap his legs when he goes out to the pasture to keep them from biting his lower legs and causing scurf.

4.  Medical Interventions

For the last six years, Jackson's fly allergies have been well-controlled using corticosteroid injections. However, some recent health issues have kept us from continuing this treatment. Jackson now gets a generous dosage of benadryl to help with the allergic reactions.  I kind of think the pharamacy that I go to thinks that I am nuts when I come in and buy out all of the children's benadryl bottles.

Of course, we have tried all of the other stuff too...antihistamines, serum injections, and the like. 

5.  Accupuncture for Allergies

This one is brand new to me.  I only tried it for the first time a few weeks ago, and since then it seems to be helping.