Ridin'On
11 posts
Aug 20, 2010
5:50 PM
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Help, I need all the ideas I can garner on how you all get rid of those darn Bot flies. Jethro is getting to the place where he comes up to the gate and waits for me to come and get them off of him. They are very annoying, my horse will not stand for spraying unless he is haltered so I cannot go out and hit them with a killer spray and I am not too good at catching them in my hand. As a general rule I use a rub
on fly deterrent and only when the flies are very bad. Suggestions needed.
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gaitedboomer
62 posts
Aug 21, 2010
1:39 PM
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You can spray all you want to and won't keep the bot flies from laying eggs.
Bot flies don't land on the horse. They hover and instinctively shoot the eggs thru their tail shaft. They really are vulgar little creatures:(
I know there are some horses that are literally driven crazy by them and will hi-tail it to a shed or run-in if one is available.
I have heard of people spraying pam, or rubbing vegetable oil on their horses legs so the eggs won't stick and it might even deter the fly because the odor is different.
That being said, I think the bot flies must have some sort of smell sensor because I have noticed they will put the eggs in places where my horses groom each other a lot.
The alpha dominant horse never has bot fly eggs anywhere except where he can reach them because he has never gotten involved in the grooming process with anyone --- ever. He is coming 23 and I've owned him since he was coming 3, I've yet to see him ask someone to partake of a grooming ritual.
The Arab's mane is always polluted with bot fly eggs because he likes his grooming buddy to itch his neck.
This isn't solving the fly/horse problem, but the eggs come off much easier if they are soaked in warm water for a few seconds, then immediately take them off. The warm water makes them automatically loosen up because they think it's the warm saliva of the horse licking them.
I hope the spam prevention works --------------
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krystle09
332 posts
Aug 21, 2010
7:02 PM
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My first mare was rittled with them when I got her.
Since then,..no horse of mine has had a problem.
Ivermectin, I believe is what kills them. But I read some awful stuff about their migration in the mouth to the gums to the throat and stomach and they are disgusting indeed. There is no eradicating them completely I know. But there is a stone like a pumice that you can buy to scrape the little bugger eggs off or a blade as well. I used a schick disposable razor for that first mare and it worked fine. She was absolutely infested with those eggs. it was all new to me.
Your worming program will take care of the internal Bots,..gosh..its a whole different world under a microscope isn't it! Monsters all!
YUK!
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BaysR4Me
176 posts
Aug 22, 2010
8:09 AM
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The fly spray that has the number 7 in it is good, Spectrum 7 maybe? It wipes em out.
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gaitedboomer
63 posts
Aug 22, 2010
11:49 AM
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Krystle, you are right to keep up with scraping the eggs off.
My horses have not had bots in their manure for years. I check everyone every day and keep the eggs scraped off them; even if it makes me late for work.
Your are correct about the migration:
1. Bot eggs have itchy substance that sticks them to the horse.
2. Horse itches with his mouth trying to get them off.
2.1 Horse does get them off because the warm saliva releases the eggs into the horses mouth and that is how the migration into the intestines starts.
ALSO, there is a different type of bot fly that lays eggs right underneath the chin/jowel area. THOSE eggs somehow have the ability to migrate themselves into the horse's mouth!
I never saw that kine until I moved to Middle Tennessee so I looked them up on the Net. Being as how you are in FL, you might want to check the chin/jowel area to be sure your horses aren't getting any of those either.
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Ridin'On
13 posts
Aug 23, 2010
4:58 PM
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Thanks for the information. The Bot flies DO land on the horse. That is how I Catch them. I grab them with a gloved hand when they land. A favorite place is on the horses rump just out of reach of his head or tail. They bite and it really hurts. I got one in my boot once when I was riding and it is as bad as any bee sting. I have had success with a bot knife with another horse but so far Jethro has not had an egg problem, however he is on a daily wormer that helps with the intestinal invasion. I will try the spray with the 7 maybe I can knock them out of the air !!
Thanks for the help, gals.
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gaitedboomer
64 posts
Aug 23, 2010
6:06 PM
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Those are not bot flies. Bot flies do not land on the rump and sting. They land on the legs, chest, shoulder (including spraying the manes), and often times the flank area.
They never spray their eggs on the rump because the horse can't reach its rump to lick itself and somehow they instinctively know that.
There's a picture of a bot fly clear at the bottom of this link:
http://www.nzitrap.com/Nzi_trap/horses/Horses.htm
What you are seeing are those big black horse flies and yes they sure do hurt when they sting. They have a stinger to rival the tip of a needle used for injections.
Here's a link with a good picture of the black horse flies. Some of them even have "nuclear-green" eyes, further adding to their evil appearance.
http://www.whatsthatbug.com/2010/08/14/black-horse-fly-6/
And if anyone knows of a fly spray that, for absolute fact, will keep those miserable black horse flies off the horse, I am all ears. I have a couple barn fans on timers and aimed at the run-in stall. More than once I've seen the horses make a bee-line for the barn & fans to get those flies off them.
When I posted, this it won't let me click on the link, so you will have to copy/paste the links to get them to open. Either I didn't copy them correctly or that may be a result of the patch that was done to keep the spammers of the forum.
Last Edited on 23-Aug-2010 6:11 PM
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Ridin'On
14 posts
Aug 24, 2010
5:56 PM
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Wow, Thanks for the info...All this time I thought they were Bot Flies because one of the oldtimers in the neighborhood said that's what they were. We did not have them in the area where I used to live. We never stop learning.
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DixieMom
103 posts
Aug 30, 2010
12:08 AM
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gaitedboomer, try mixing Skin-So-Soft in with your fly spray. It gives it an oily, sweet smelling fragrance that the flies and gnats seem to stay away from. I rub the mixture around eyes in the morning, as I can't keep fly masks on because of Buddy. (Dixie keeps hers on because she doesn't let anyone near her mask - she LOVES her mask.) The oil may be what helps also. We don't have all the black biters that you do, but we have the horrible tiny biting gnats. Without the eye treatment the skin around their eyes is literally covered with house and stable flies. Not a single fly with the treatment. A couple of our feed stores carry SSS in large bottles, so I know other people must be using it, too. The only drawback is that my son hates his mule smelling so "girly." Oh well - "get over it and teach Buddy to keep his mask on!"
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gaitedboomer
65 posts
Aug 30, 2010
3:59 PM
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I may re-visit the SSS. Years ago I got a fly spray recipe from someone that included SSS. I probably had the only horse east of the Mississippi that broke out in hives from the SSS and cost me vet bill - lol
I have never used it since, but that was "a few horses and 30 years ago" to paraphrase Leanne Womack's song - lol
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Ridin'On
16 posts
Aug 30, 2010
6:33 PM
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I used to use skin so soft mixed with vinegar and H2O and citronella oil to keep the mosquitoes off the mules when we rode in infested areas (which was most of the time) I haven't used it for a while but will have to mix some up again.
Thanks again.
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