Are you having the same problems with flies in England as we are here?
they seem to have gone mad this year!

Poor Magno, who has only half a tail is going crazy
We´ve had to buy him a fly blanket, he already has a fly mask, and when we ride he gets as close to Nuri as he can get without being kicked (her tail is left longer at this time of the year on purpose!

Magno has even decided that as soon as he sees a bottle of fly spray going into his stable he walks in after it! And when he sees his fly rug he comes rushing to you to put it on!

Does anybody have any other ideas to fight these pesky flies?
have tried vinegar on Magno, 2 different types of fly sprays for horses, fly sprays for stables, sticky fly paper stuck in the stable to trap the flies....

The ONLY good thing about our rubbish summer so far is that the flies have been kept to a minimum!

I was surprised to find that there are a lot more flies around in Hampshire than Exeter. I've yet to find a fly spray which really works, however oily substances such as Avon Bath Oil and Gold Label 'Itchgon' seem to keep the flies away quite a lot.

I've got a recipe for home-made fly spray somewhere which I can dig out if you'd like?

Thanks, if you could post it here or pm it to us we would be grateful

Am thinking of cutting off a chunk of Nuri´s tail and glueing it to Magno´s (just joking!!!!! )

We seem to have a lot more flies than normal. I am sending a visiting mare home bald and she never did that last year. Is this because the winters aren't as cold and killing off more insects?

Baby oil is great unless you are trying to hold on to reins that have got covered in it!

Fly Spray Recipe

1/2 Pint of strong (4-5 bags) Chamomile tea
1 tbsp vinegar
2 tbsp meths
15 drops citronella oil
10 drops tea-tree oil
A little bit of Dettol and a little Avon Skin-so-soft bath oil.
You can also add: 5 drops of sandalwood or cedarwood oil and 5 drops of eucalyptus oil

We have been using this recipe for a few years but always test it on a small area first in case of allergies.
It has saved us a lot of money because it is just as good as the fly sprays you can buy in the shops!

Thanks!!
We´ll definitly be trying it

Chamomile tea also works wonders with runny eyes from the flies, if they are puffy and red - it has great soothing properties.

Thanks everybody for your ideas!
Now, if we could just stop Magno bashing his stable door, it would be a perfect life!

Hang a doormat on the inside of the door, they don't like their knees hitting the bristles! Haven't tried this but heard it works! My horse bashes the door too, drives me crazy, lucky he's rarely in the stable these days!

Magno has a paddock around his stable and lately he has been bashing to go in, bashing to come out, bashing to tell us he has a poo in his stable or paddock... the worst thing is that he manages to bash from inside with his top door shut!!!!!!