Do you recon my horse is allergic to flies?

Question

He seems to be the most bit-able horse on the yard and when he's bitten he seems to come up in huge lumps... I've tried putting his fly sheet on him, insect repellent, given him garlic in his feed. but he still comes in covered in lumps. I don't think I've seen another horse react to fly bites like he does. any ideas? at the momment he has a fly sheet on, insect repellent, garlic breath and when he comes in i cover him in alo vera gel but it doesnt help

Answer 1

If the lumps are grouped together, he may be getting bitten by ants. He may be laying down on anthills. (This happened to my horse one time)

Answer 2

Allergic reaction is very possible.

My horse used to come up in huge lumps due to horseflies and midges - especially because the summer fields were next to a stream. I didn't find garlic helped much, but I do recommend Global Herbals SuperSkratch - smells v. strong, but he actually seemed to like eating it, and I think it did help; also Gold Label Wonder Gel is much better than aloe vera.

The problem with fly rugs is that insects can get up underneath them, you might want to try a sweet itch rug, which wraps all the way around.

My horse only stopped getting them when I moved to a yard where we hardly get any flies, so if it's really bad, you might want to consider this.

Answer 3

He must be allergic to something.  These lumps are hives.  A common symptom of allergy in humans and in horses.

Possibly flies.  Or he might have an allergy to the sun!  Yes, this is possible.  The only way to concquer this is to stable him from early morning to late evening, or put rugs on him that have hoods and neck covers too.  And lots of fly repellant as you are already doing.  

He could also be allergic to pollen.  It might not be flies at all.  Just because the lumps come up all over his body does not mean that it is bites.  Hives come up everywhere?!  As this can be dangerous if they occur around the throat, nostrils etc, perhaps you should consult the vet and try long term antihistamines.  I myself am allergic to lots of things and get hives.  Sometimes we do not know what it was, but I have been hospitalised several times because my throat closed.

Answer 4

it is very possible for a horse to be allergic to flies; my horse was. he was overdosed on a medication and became allergic to anything he was exposed to within a 6month period. this probably didn't happen to your horse, but either way, i still have a lot of tips from experience.

-go to a health food store and buy apple cider vinegar. make sure it is the raw unfiltered kind, NOT the kind you find in supermarkets. feed him a fourth of a cup every night with his evening meal. if he doesn't like how it tastes, split it up: 1/8 cup morning and night and see if he'll eat it then. after a month or so of doing this, the flies wont like him as much. trust me, it works. the garlic doesnt work; you're kind of wasting your money.

-invest in a good fly sheet that covers the neck. try to get one that goes all the way up to the fly mask because the jowl and throat are flies' favorite spot. if your current sheet has rings to attach a neck cover, you can get the neckpeice separately.

-get the large aresol cans of livestock fly spray, but make sure it says on the can that it's safe for horses. it works better than anything i've used.

-find a fly spray other than the livestock spray that works well and rotate the sprays: use one for a few weeks then use the other for a few weeks. if you use the same spray for an extended amount of time, the flies ignore it.

-you can try my homemade fly spray concoction- equal parts of mouthwash, avon's skin-so-soft, and apple cider vinegar (this doesn't have to be the unfiltered kind). its cheap and it works well for when you ride because it smells wonderful and works decently.

-hang sticky flypaper up above your horse's stall

this is what helped my horse tremendously. the apple cider vinegar was amazing, because it made him taste bad to the flies, so they stayed away from him. as i think of more, i'll let you know!

Answer 5

The big enormous horse flies will do that to every horse that I have seen. Are you sure that its not hives from something in the pasture? It might be good to ask your vet about that. I don't think garlic helps, at least not around here. Grant it, it smells like hel* but we don't see a difference in the horses that use it. I have been called to look at many (fly bite) type of situations and it turned out to be hives from various situations out in the pasture, etc. Something he/she is allergic to. If you really honestly believe its flies then keep the fly sheet on him. Also you may want to try avon skin so soft. He could be having a reaction to the fly spray or something else. Avon Skin so Soft will repel flies but its not toxic to the horse itself. Hope this helps.

Answer 6

Yeah, it's the buggy season. Sounds like you're pretty much doing everything you can. The only thing I can think of is maybe try a different fly spray. Maybe the one you're using doesn't work well. I recommend ENDURE. It works great and lasts. Pyrahna also works really well, but doesn't last as long.

Also, it's very possible he has a fly allergy and he is not only showing fly bites, but hives in reaction to the fly bites. My horse has uncountable allergies, including one to flies and I give her an herbal drink supplement in her feed. She used to break out in terrible hives and now she doesn't. Here's a link to the product so you can get the info, but you should buy it off of ebay cuz it's WAY cheaper that way. (I think retail is like $55 a bottle or some outrageous price!) http://tunguskablast.com/corp I give my horse one ounce a day except during high allergy times when I bump her up to 2 or 3. Normally, a bottle lasts about a month.

Answer 7

My friend had a pony that came out in bad hives. we used homeopathic remedy APIS(which is made from bee sting) for him. Mostly available in  tack shops or chemists(you don't need to buy especially branded for  horses..human pills are fine !). It worked a miracle in getting the hives down and I used it on my cob when he got a bad bite and his sheath swelled right up. Dosage should l be on the container.

Answer 8

My horse gets hives from bites. We've done two things - use Flysect spray (we spray once every two days or more often) and we've chipped in with other folks at the barn to get Fly Predators. These two steps have drastically reduced issues with flies. Also suggest your barn put up fly strips, bat houses and finds a way to be friendly to insect eating birds like barn swallows.

Answer 9

i think it is possible

the best thing you can do is call out the vet

its better to be safe than sorry