Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

Got to love the horse files you guys get up there. They are as big as 
the B1 bomber but slow as the dickens. I take batting practice with them 
using a crop. I've seen them fly 20 feet off a whack. They are so slow 
they are easy to hit. I got to watch it though. If old Rocket gets one 
on his butt - he'll try to buck it off.

We don't have the big guys, but we sure have the deer flies. A few years 
ago I bought this stick with about 18 inches of horse hair on the end. I 
just swing it to get ride of the flies pretty much how you use you 
sappling. Works fine. I also ride the Jbird and Rocket with a fly mask 
to keep them from landing on their face. There is nothing more 
disconcerting than cantering on down the trail and have your horse try 
to rub a fly off his face on his leg.

I do put fly spray on the belly. It seems to keep bugs off better then 
when I don't. But the horse hair things works better.

Truman

rides2far@xxxxxxxx wrote:
> Before I ever get on I cut a sappling or limb off a tree about 4' long
> and strip the leaves off all except a tuft at the end to use to swat
> flies away. I look like a helicoptor...or fan dancer going down the
> trail. I swing a steady pattern over and down the left side, over and
> down the right, whack around his ears (he loves it) can reach down under
> his belly if he starts acting like there's one there. Fly repellents just
> don't do much against deer & horseflies. 
>
> If a horse has any problem with my swatter I'll just cut a good long one
> and stand out in the yard swatting flies as he grazes. They learn very
> quickly that it's a great addition to their tail. Kaboot had no problem
> distinguishing between this and a whip. He would go bananas if you
> touched him with a crop, but you could flog him with the fly swat and
> he'd doze.
>
> Eventually, my horse will "point" at one that's landed that I don't see.
> My daughter and I also have a running competition on horsefly kills so
> we're grabbing them out of the air and crunching them too. If you can
> keep them from getting eaten alive while warming up for 15 min. a good
> trot usually keeps them from landing again and I just tuck my swatter
> back facing his rump while we're making time, then start swinging again
> if we have to walk down a hill or something. I think it works a lot
> better than vinegar, and you'll come to enjoy knocking them out of their
> flight patterns. :-)
>
> Angie
>
>
>   


--

"The opposite of a correct statement is a false statement. The opposite 
of a profound truth may well be another profound truth."    Niels Bohr 
-- Nobel Laureate, Physics




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