Flies and biting insects can ruin your horse's day. Besides being annoying, their bites also spread parasites and diseases. Fly control and flea control products can help reduce the pest population and keep your horse comfortable–in the barn, in the stable, and in the pasture.
Where there are horses, there are usually horse flies. There are also house flies, face flies, horn flies, stable flies, gnats, fleas, ticks, chiggers, lice, mites, and other bugs with really long names. With basic maintenance, and the right pest control products, you can keep pests to a minimum.
- Start by taking care of manure. Keeping the stable area clean will also reduce the odor, attract fewer flies, and reduce their breeding nearby. Move the manure away from the stable, and the flies will follow.
- Clean your horse’s stall regularly. Even the smallest urine and manure residue will attract pests. Besides, wouldn’t you want your “room” to be clean?
- Keep your horse’s feed inaccessible to critters.
- Put a horse on a regular worming schedule. Sometimes the most damaging, even fatal pests are the ones we can’t see.
- Don’t forget to help protect your dogs and cats from fleas and other bugs with flea and tick treatments.
Because flies are inevitable, maintenance won’t be enough. Keep your stable stocked with a variety of pest control products. Fly masks, fly boots, and fly sheets can put a solid line of defense around your horse’s hooves, legs, skin, and face. Repellents and sprays can be as well. Feed through fly control works to treat your horse’s manure as another repellent to prospective breeding grounds.
Taking these steps won’t eradicate those bugs completely, but you’ll have a cleaner barn and happier horses.