Bonjour, my blogger friends!
No, I'm not in France. I'm still in NY, in the height of the horsefly season. AKA, the WORST time of year ever. Even worse then winter.
Horseflies are JERKS. I was wondering already where they were this year, but now I realize they must just not come out until just before fall. These buggers are HUGE. And disgusting, and PAINFUL. I read up about them a bit; these flies have "scissor-like" teeth that slash open the skin of a horse/cow/person, so that the blood comes out and they can lick it off. It's very painful. Luckily, due to them being so huge, they're very easy to smack and kill. However, I must have killed at least 30 or 40 this season already, and they're still there. Of course.
Riding is kinda a pain right now; literally. I haven't been bit, but I DO NOT want to be. They fly all over and threaten biting you. Yesterday Daisy got bit by one while out grazing, and she was bleeding, so I felt SO bad. Today, I had her out to free-graze, and I listened to her outside the window running back and forth to avoid them. She went in her stall, the only place to avoid them, but came back out; poor girl just wanted grass! I had sprayed her with fly spray already, so I was trying not to watch; I knew she wanted to graze, but I hated the flies.
Then I looked out and saw this:
Daisy doesn't normally go in the garage, but apparently she was about to go in, hoping for some relief. And I found these munching happily on her:
No, I'm not in France. I'm still in NY, in the height of the horsefly season. AKA, the WORST time of year ever. Even worse then winter.
Horseflies are JERKS. I was wondering already where they were this year, but now I realize they must just not come out until just before fall. These buggers are HUGE. And disgusting, and PAINFUL. I read up about them a bit; these flies have "scissor-like" teeth that slash open the skin of a horse/cow/person, so that the blood comes out and they can lick it off. It's very painful. Luckily, due to them being so huge, they're very easy to smack and kill. However, I must have killed at least 30 or 40 this season already, and they're still there. Of course.
Riding is kinda a pain right now; literally. I haven't been bit, but I DO NOT want to be. They fly all over and threaten biting you. Yesterday Daisy got bit by one while out grazing, and she was bleeding, so I felt SO bad. Today, I had her out to free-graze, and I listened to her outside the window running back and forth to avoid them. She went in her stall, the only place to avoid them, but came back out; poor girl just wanted grass! I had sprayed her with fly spray already, so I was trying not to watch; I knew she wanted to graze, but I hated the flies.
Then I looked out and saw this:
Daisy doesn't normally go in the garage, but apparently she was about to go in, hoping for some relief. And I found these munching happily on her:
OUCH(just so you all know, I killed all three just after the pic was taken).
SO. I stood there wishing I had a flysheet. I've never bought one, used one, never considered one...but then, like *magic*, I thought of my show sheet! And, voila:
I got it on my birthday a year ago from my cousin, Anika, and planned on using it for showing, to keep Daisy clean...I never ended up using it, though, because Daisy never rolls anyway (yey for me!).
Daisy kinda spook at it, though, as she always does when wearing a blanket for the first time in a little while. Notice how her butt is pulled in; yeah, she spooked BAD, trying to run away from herself :-P lol.
Then she was fine. Fly-free and happy, she got to keep grazing. :) yey!
I must say, I think she looks like she's grazing in a pair of pajamas :-P lol
Soo...I imagine I'm not the only one who struggles with the horseflies....what do you do to keep them away??Until next time,
4 comments:
that is a funny post, but good. I am glad you found the blanket as a solution to the fly problem!!
Poor Daisy-Mae! But now not so poor anymore. Yay!
Schöne Foto`s Melissa;schaue sie mir stets gerne an,nur was wäre es so schön würdest Du auch in Deutsch schreiben,mein Englisch ist leider mehr als schlecht!
Lieben Gruss Jutta
YAY! heheh i love the blanket on herr! its sooo cute!
blah! i HATE horse fly's, fly's, or any bugs that bite my horse. oh and i HATE deer flys!!! :P
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