Stable Flies

I just learned today that those pesky houseflies that make the horse's stomp aren't just houseflies, but biting, blood-sucking S.O.B.s Different species! These little guys can home in on a horse from 70 miles away. So why does all the pest management literature tell you to keep all the manure cleaned up when they can come in from just about anywhere? Who knows! I have my fly parasites tucked into strategic places around the property. All my compost is much too dry to harbor larvae as the monsoon has not yet started. The stalls and paddocks are cleaned before breakfast and my fly traps are an inch deep in other species of flies.

I have been mixing my own horse fly spray with baby-oil, pinesol, skin-so-soft, flea soap, and whatever else I think might work (like pennyroyal oil, or eucalyptus soap). It works almost as well as the commercial stuff (which hardly works at all). The donkeys legs get it the worse. Stable flies are attracted to white. White boards with Tanglefoot adhesive are the only specifically recommended stable fly eradication plan I found. The literature suggests only treating the problem when the average number of flies on a horse are greater than 10. We exceeded that criterion a long time ago.