Sunday, August 28, 2016

Shoo Flies

Upon publication of this post, I will have improved my posting frequency from last year by 300%. ๐Ÿ˜‰

Well, we tried a fly sheet.  That tone sounds promising, right?



No after pictures, but the fly sheet lasted less than 24 hours before suffering a critical tear. At least I bought it on sale! 

The very next week, the flies became so bad that my horse would not leave the shed to eat his dinner.  A horse not eating is a serious matter, as all horse people know.  When I came to his rescue, he was in the shed, stomping in a frenzy, and covered in flies that would not budge. He had a bloody scrape above his left eye, probably from biting at flies and accidentally banging into something. I even had to call the vet's emergency number, because I was not sure if he needed stitches. Thankfully, he did not. Poor guy.

I have never seen anything like it. All the horses on the farm were in distress and we ended up putting them in the barn.  So all our free-range horses very happily traded their paddocks for a break from the biting pests. Harley ate his dinner and I went home to purchase more fly gear. 

Enter the fly mask and shoo flies.







Wow!  The shoo flies are awesome. They really work. Four horses on the farm are using them and their comfort level is so much higher than before. The flies stay off their lower legs, the leggings do not rub, and they are very lightweight and airy. Stomping is so much less!  Harley has had to grow out hoof wall cracks from stomping for the past two summers. It took months and I had to trim his feet very often to prevent the cracks from worsening. I am hopeful that the shoo flies will prevent that problem this year. So far, so good!







I actually got to ride my horse several times since my last post. It was heaven! Despite how infrequently we "work", Harley is still the same horse. Loves to ride and his memory is fantastic. Even though he should be unfit for serious dressage work, he doesn't feel that way. In fact, my trainer came to New Jersey all the way from Oregon and we had a lesson with her. Harley offered to canter during some of the exercises, so we went with it and he did great. It was fantastic to review some of the biomechanics priciples that she teaches and to have a horse that was happy to move out and participate. I am seriously spoiled with this horse. He still amazes me and we are approaching our 10-year gotcha anniversary.





I cannot resist a few kiddo pictures. I am back to work this week (and back on the pumping to feed my baby train) and they are starting preschool and daycare. We had an amazing seven months together. I can hardly believe everything that we did and all the changes that both of them went through in the past half year. It was so much work and endlessly challenging, but I will miss spending all day with them very much. At least I am in an occupation that allows me a great deal of time with them after work and during the year.

10 comments:

  1. Might have to try those boots, flies are nasty out here in Cali this summer. And love the kiddo photos, isn't two crazy more work than one? Watching them interact is priceless though.

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    1. Tons more work. The juggling act is the toughest when they both need me. I absolutely love watching them interact.

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  2. Such beautiful kids! I love his smile.
    I shall have to look into those shoo flies. Carmen was stamping her feet quite badly yesterday

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    1. Thank you! They are not expensive and seem comfortable for the horses. The stomping is so exhausting for them.

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  3. Poor Harley. The flies are horrendous this year. I'll have to look into the shoo flies for next year. Glad you got a few rides in Harley must have been so pleased and happy to have you back.

    The girls are adorable!

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  4. Fly boots and masks are a must around here. Sheets are an iffy proposition because they're hot. Glad Harley found some relief, and SUPER glad you're getting to ride a little! And the kiddos are adorable!

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    1. Yeah, I wondered if the sheets make them hot. Riding again was the best!

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  5. THOSE HOOVES! ๐Ÿ˜๐Ÿ˜๐Ÿ˜

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    1. I put a great deal of time into them. Thank you so much!

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