fly sheets/clippers/weird rash on rider

["Glenda R. Snodgrass" <grs@TheNetEffect.com>]

Since I got more private responses than public ones, I thought I'd report
back to the list:

1 - fly sheets -- answers ran about 3 to 1 against putting a flysheet on
Lakota at all down here in the swamplands.  While I didn't get any bad
reports at all on the particular fly sheet I was looking at (quite the
contrary, in fact) ... nearly all agreed that Lakota would be better off
with fly spray and swatting best he can, rather than sweating under a
flysheet.

2 - clippers -- while no one reported any particular problems with horses
that didn't like Oster clippers, several folks did report that the Wahl
clippers are much quieter and probably the best choice to buy today.

Thanks for all the helpful advice!  And now I have another question,
about a weird rash I keep getting on my legs:

This is the first year that Lakota and I are doing real distance rides
in hot weather -- first year I owned him we were just getting started and 
10 miles was a lot for me <g>, and second summer we were on The Great
Saddle Hunt so we didn't do long rides.

The two long rides I've done this year (39 miles at Million Pines and 28
miles this past Saturday on a conditioning ride), I've gotten a very
strange rash on both legs.  It starts just above the edge of my boots and
is heaviest in front and back, not on the sides.  I have very deep, angry
red spots that run into one another, making large spotty red blotches that
look like some horrible skin disease.  The really strange part is that I
don't feel anything at all -- no itching, no burning, no stinging, nothing
at all.  There are no raised areas like blisters, and no swelling like
hives.  The skin is smooth, just very very red.  Both times I didn't even
realize I had it until I took my tights off that evening to get cleaned
up.  The spots fade after a few days and are completely gone within a
week.

I've worn different tights and socks each time -- first time I had on
short socks with spandura tights, and this weekend I was wearing knee-high
Thorlos over supplex nylon lycra tights. At MP I thought maybe it was a
type of chafing or reaction to the sand and water that soaked my legs, but
this weekend's ride was dry dry dry.  I don't use any type of prepared
shampoos or flysprays on Lakota because I have so many allergies myself.  
I've thought maybe it's a reaction to his sweat on my legs, but then I
would think the rash would be worst on the inside of my legs where they
actually contact his flanks, rather than the front & back.

It's just really weird! LOL  Not painful, just strange and a bit
worrisome, since I haven't a clue what this is.  I just thought maybe
someone else had experienced a similar rash at some time and might have an
idea on what it is, whether I need to worry, and what I could do to stop
it.

Glenda & Lakota
Mobile, AL
AERC # M18819 & H27310
SE Region


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