Re: [RC] HELP!! Eaten alive by mosquitos - Kristen A Fisher
What about fly sheets?? I have never used them
but might try it in that instance.
Worst mosquitoes I have ever experienced were at
the Llano Estacado ride last Sep near Amarillo. About 1/4 mile from camp on our
pre-ride scouting, we realized why they had given everyone a can of 30%
DEET OFF with your ride packet.
It weakened my Lycra britches and made the
plastic of my GPS gooey but it kept the mosquitoes off. Long sleeves helped too;
maybe you could try some of the bug repellant clothing made by hunting
stores??
Kristen in TX who loves that Amarillo ride and
will be prepared this time!
Is there anything that will help keep mosquitoes
from biting? I am about to go crazy. We have had an unusual amount of rain
this past month, and it appears we have a bumper crop of mosquitoes. I have
never seen them this bad. My poor horses are just running around the pasture
and are very restless. In the evenings it gets soo bad, that they roll all the
time. Chemical warfare does not appear to work, I have an arsenal of chemicals
that the mosquitoes just laugh at. It's a condiment for them.
Guys, I am not exaggerating, they attack
viciously, they horses are literally covered with them. When you walk outside,
it just hums, you can hear them!
To give the horses some relieve and rest, my
husband installed an extra heavy duty industrial sized fan in the barn, we now
have hurricane force winds inside the barn, but it does a good job of keeping
the skeeters out. It's funny to watch the barn swallows fight the air current
to get to their nests now. The horses keep arguing who gets to stand closest
to the fan, they look so funny with their manes and forelocks blowing in the
wind, looks like they going really fast on a motorcycle, HE HE.
But to keep this endurance related, I don't know
what to do about conditioning. Today I told myself to just suck it up and go
ride. The skeeters are least active in the middle of the day, so I went out
there to get my horse. He just gave me a dirty look. I liberally sprayed
myself with 100% DEET, and soaked the horse in "Mosquito Halt" HA! What a joke
that was, within 15 minutes, I had about 25 mosquito bites, and I react badly
to them and swell up. Jazz was stomping and throwing his head, he was covered
in mosquitoes. The way it looks right now, I might as well forget about the
rest of the ride season, there is no way I can ride in this.
The only other endurance rider in the area is in
the same boat I am in, and the casual riders just don't venture
outside.
Any ideas? Some old cowboy guy mentioned spraying
the horses with Tempo, but it's not labeled for that use, and I don't want to
poison my horses. ANY Ideas (other than moving)???
