Protect Horses Against Flies and Related Health Problems

Use topical fly repellent, fly sheets, and other tactics to protect horses from flies and related diseases.
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If you are around horses or a stable lately, you might have noticed an increase in the number of flies pestering nearly everything that moves. Leslie Easterwood, DVM, clinical assistant professor for the large animal clinical sciences department at Texas A&M University College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, said flies are worse in the summertime and this year they they seem particularly bad.

"Last year it was dry and hot so it didn’t seem quite as bad, but this year we’ve had rain and the temperatures haven’t been as high so there seems to be an increase," Easterwood said.

Flies can cause a number of physical problems for horses. Often, the flies congregate around the horse’s face and try to drink the fluid at the corner of the horse’s eyes. Since flies often carry bacteria on their feet, they have the potential to deposit bacteria, larvae, and parasites on the horse’s face and around the eyes. Easterwood said that flies often deposit Habronema larvae on open wounds and the horse’s eyes.

"As the larvae migrate through the tissue, they (can) cause open sores and that is very common in horses this time of year," Easterwood said

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