Farrier Fly course

Okay, I might be just a dumb horseshoer, but I did take an entomology course in college. But as with many things, the school of hard knocks can give you the best education. I am still learning the wax and wane of the bug cycle here in Nevada, but it is a little similar to what I observed after years of shoeing in Wyoming. And as a shoer, I find it important to know what pest is bothering the horse. Flies are not just flies. There are horse flies (green heads and black & yellow ones), deer flies, house flies, barn flies, nose flies, and then you still have a few types of bees that are pests to watch out for when working under a horse. (Not to mention mosquitoes)
I find that these bugs show up in the above order throughout the summer. The horse flies typically just bother horses (not people), and give a little warning. It is though they land on the horse and pester them enough to make the horse begin to switch its tail and even hunch up back muscles before they go for blood. Then is a good time to have your horse handler seek out the big nasty looking bug or put down the foot and swat the fly. For some reason most (not all) horses seem to know when you are slapping a fly off their backs and not just disciplining them. Its like they stand for the fly slap, but the same slap to make them stand still makes them cringe or jump away. Go figure…I think it is cool that most “know” the difference.
Now deer flies seem lighter and give no warning. They have a quick needle-pricking bite and I know this because they seek horse and human flesh alike.
What I call barn flies (the above mentioned house flies shouldn’t bother the horse unless you are shoeing in the house!) are tiny harmless-looking black flies that seem to really annoy the horses’ legs. It you are holding a foot up and see these flies on other legs and if you can reach over and brush the affected leg you can keep working. If your horse holder can just periodically brush the legs with the lead line this also helps. Otherwise, the leg that is being held needs to be put down so the horse can stomp the leg that is pestered by the little flies. Or just continue to struggle with a twitchy horse.
Later in the summer I find little nose flies and sometimes a little sweat-type bee shows up. These will kill you…well, not the pests themselves, but the horse could because the horse gets to striking at their nose and you better not be in the way of those seriously, fast, hard flung hooves.
You say, why write about the flies being a problem, just use fly spray!?! Well, I really haven’t found anything that works for very long. When I use spray I like to put it on the horse I am working on and have another horse close by that isn’t sprayed….Sort of like a scapegoat scenario. Stuff that is wiped on seems to work better than most sprays, but anything that really seems to work that clients wipe on their horses can give me a headache, but I’ll put up with that versus getting killed by a kicking horse. I’d like the horse owner to be prepared with a fly repellent to use on their horses instead of using my own. Number one, I think that is the courteous thing to do for the farrier. But secondly, I may use something that the horse reacts to. One home remedy is a combination of water, vinegar, and dish soap, but it shouldn’t be used where the saddle pad goes as the soap can irritate the skin.
Fly season is just another reminder on the importance of having someone holding the horse who understands not only where to stand, when to move, but also, how to deter pests from bugging the farrier and horse.
So there is a short course in entomology from the ground up. Yes, I even have more thoughts and theories and remedies on flies, but I don't want to bug you any more in this read. ...Now that was pretty poor...