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 Expert
Posts: 1343
  
Location: Oklahoma | In my other post, I mentioned I have 2 broken ribs. I got these when I was thrown from my 5-year-old gelding. Now he is very laid back, easy going, sweet, has been on the track. I've had him about 3 months and he had never made a wrong move before last week, in fact was a little lazy. I had ridden him about 30 minutes, loped circles, worked barrels, etc., and was headed back to the trailer. One second we were walking and the next second he blew up and I was on the ground in 2 jumps. He then ran back to the trailer and stood there. I hurt too much to get back on him, but I did unsaddle him and left him tied to the trailer. I kept an eye on him and he was fine for about an hour, then blew up at the trailer and went totally bat **** crazy, broke loose from the trailer.
So, I have come to the conclusion that he threw me when a horse fly or possibly a bot fly got after him and he just couldn't handle it, the same thing as when he broke loose from being tied at the trailer. I think this must the only hole this horse has in him, but he definitely should not be acting like this with a rider on him. Other than using industrial strength fly spray, does anyone have any ideas? Or maybe I should only ride him in the winter, LOL.
ETA: I never saw a fly on him. All I saw were stars!
Edited by shaunar 2018-09-26 1:15 PM
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 My Heart Be Happy
Posts: 9159
 
Location: Arkansas | Bump |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 898
Location: Mountains of VA | First, you are WAY tougher than I am to be riding with broken ribs!! I read your other post, I am a little younger than you and I would not be riding with broken ribs...........HURTS like H@LL but I would not let my horse sit and have time off.
Giant horse flys seem to find the greenest horses I'm riding, they will usually just pop up but not buck enough to get me off but I try not to ride in the afternoon. You can also use a half fly sheet thing that goes over the rump. I have one broodmare that HATES botflys, she will take off running in the field with her foal trying to keep up..........I am so afraid that the foal is going to suffer from running and trying to keep up.
Hire someone to ride for you so you will have time to heal...........ride that horse into the ground so IF a horse fly/bot fly gets after him, he is too tired to do much about it but wait on a human to help him.
Get some rest and heal.
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 Not Afraid to Work
Posts: 4717
| That's a tough one. I don't know how to desensitize for that. I guess if it were me, I would start doing general ground desensitizing. Trying to figure out what sets him off and find anything that seems similar to bugs. I would worry about that explosive behavior. That tells me he has a "go to" move. I hope you get some better suggestions. |
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Member
Posts: 5
| Horses are susceptible to bugs. There are many ways in which you can provide the protection they need:
- You can hang old-fashioned fly paper or fly traps, where your horses can't get to them.
- Place a fly insecticide misting system in your barn or stable. It's harmless to your horses and will keep the fly problem down significantly.
- Also, use fly sprays and repellents on your horses. You can also make one yourself (mix a little apple vinegar, baby oil, and fabric softener in a spray bottle).
At last, if horse flies infestation is still troubling you, consult pest exterminator for suggesting some other effective solution. Do forget to use a good fly blanket & a fly mask to keep your horse from being irritated. |
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Expert
Posts: 1343
Location: Oklahoma | stayceem - 2018-09-26 8:05 PM That's a tough one. I don't know how to desensitize for that. I guess if it were me, I would start doing general ground desensitizing. Trying to figure out what sets him off and find anything that seems similar to bugs. I would worry about that explosive behavior. That tells me he has a "go to" move. I hope you get some better suggestions.
Yes, I'm thinking this is his "go to" move. I haven't had him that long, 2-3 months, and am really doing some hard thinking about them. Thanks for all the suggestions! |
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Expert
Posts: 1343
Location: Oklahoma | MarianJackson - 2018-09-27 4:30 AM Horses are susceptible to bugs. There are many ways in which you can provide the protection they need:
- You can hang old-fashioned fly paper or fly traps, where your horses can't get to them.
- Place a fly insecticide misting system in your barn or stable. It's harmless to your horses and will keep the fly problem down significantly.
- Also, use fly sprays and repellents on your horses. You can also make one yourself (mix a little apple vinegar, baby oil, and fabric softener in a spray bottle ).
At last, if horse flies infestation is still troubling you, consult pest exterminator for suggesting some other effective solution. Do forget to use a good fly blanket & a fly mask to keep your horse from being irritated.
Thank you for all the suggestions, but I live in Oklahoma where bugs and flies are plentiful. I do use a daily fly spray and it has always worked well, Pyranha. I am thinking it is more of a "behavior problem" with my horse. |
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Veteran
Posts: 217
| I have no real experience with, just a thought. Bucks strap with stuff hanging off of it just to irritate him? Strings with beads so it might feel like something biting him randomly? |
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 Miss Laundry Misshap
Posts: 5271
| Maybe buy toy bugs and put them on his rear?? If he's that sensitive to little things landing on his hind end, it would be worth a shot. Idk...just a random thought.
If it's the buzzing, I'm not sure what to tell you.
But to me, it's the feeling, because mine warn me with a head up, ear swivel, before a whopper lands, so I'm ready. |
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 Go go girl
| I have a sensitive horse who has a severe phobia of bees. A week or so ago I was riding him in my arena and could hear what sounded like a giant bee, he heard it, my husband heard it. We couldn't figure out what it was, my horse was terrified, bowed up and totally ignoring me so I had to get off of him. Looked up and saw a drone!! So maybe get a drone to fly around him, cause they sure do make a loud buzzing sound like a bee and horsefly. |
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Defense Attorney for The Horse
Location: Claremore, OK | A fresh horse and a persistent horse fly can be a problem.
Living in OK and riding a lot of young horses I deal with horse flies quite a bit. I use Dynamite fly spray (comes in a concentrated oil base and is mixed in water) and I add lemon/eucalyptus oil to it. It seems to help, even with deer flies and horse flies.
As far as desensitization, I would make sure I could pay him all over his hind quarters, especially on the hips, flag him all over and make sure he wasn’t overly reactive. I woud also make sure I could pat him on the top of the hips while riding.
When you’re riding your horse you can hear a horse fly coming. Make sure your horse’s feet are moving, not running away, but trotting or loping in a circle with several changes of direction. If you make yourself a difficult target the fly will go somewhere else.
I really can’t blame a horse for trying to get rid of a horse fly, they’re very painful.
Edited by Liana D 2018-09-27 9:17 AM
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Married to a Louie Lover
Posts: 3303
| MrsHound - 2018-09-27 9:07 AM
I have a sensitive horse who has a severe phobia of bees. A week or so ago I was riding him in my arena and could hear what sounded like a giant bee, he heard it, my husband heard it. We couldn't figure out what it was, my horse was terrified, bowed up and totally ignoring me so I had to get off of him. Looked up and saw a drone!! So maybe get a drone to fly around him, cause they sure do make a loud buzzing sound like a bee and horsefly.  Â
I was totally going to say this. Our rodeo horses are pretty dang bomb proof, down to we parked RIGHT by the fireworks launch pad once this summer. Goes for most seasoned rodeo horses of course.
But there’s 1 rodeo where a local marketing company likes to get overhead shots of the arena with a drone throughout the night...talk about horses losing their mind...sitting back at trailers and general being anxious messes.
Buy a small drone...
But I also agree, that could be his go to move. I’ve sold ones over it. I’m more than happy to vet a horse and fix something if it hurts - but it won’t be the last time they encounter pain or frustration, or bugs. It’s not an acceptable reaction. |
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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 317
Location: MS | For some reason the horse flies love to fly around my young geldings junk. He used to really freak out. With age he has settled down and
now he just bows up gets prancy. I have tried every kind of fly spray. When they're bad I will put some swat on him.
Just the buzzing around is enough to get him going.
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