Not too much to report this week. We rode in our improved "arena". It's great, well worth the hard work. Much more comfortable for both of us. Enough room to canter when we work up to it :)
Super hot all week and the flies are over the top... targeting humans as well as equines. A relentless greenhead rode home with me from the barn, repeatedly biting my accelerator foot. It takes some coordination to swat (kill) and drive safely - multi-tasking lol...
I have been contemplating how much fly spray is too much. As someone who works outside, I try to minimize applying pesticides to myself. I cannot believe that putting poison on your largest organ on a daily basis isn't harmful, therefore I only spray myself up when it's physically impossible to work without it.
On the flip side, the non / less toxic pesticides also seem less than effective. I can't bear to watch my horse stomping and agitated. It's been so hot he's likely sweating away much of the benefit he's getting from the spray. We may have to try out fly sheets. Will be shopping around and getting recommendations.
Spent this evening preparing to travel to my trainers for lessons over the weekend. After packing the trailer, (don't forget the treat bucket please!) Val got a thorough grooming - he shared some grooming with me too. Oh, and he's getting a massage on Saturday - lucky boy! Off to bed so I can get on the road at a decent hour.
Calm, Forward, Straight
The flies around here are no picnic either. We try to keep them down by using the fly predators and I do think they help keep the population down. When they get too bad I use Avon's Skin So Soft on myself and some of the horses. I've heard it's not good for horses with light skin(I can't remember exactly why, I think it promotes sunburn) but since Dusty has black skin underneath I figure she's good to go with it.
ReplyDeleteI'll have to look into the fly predators. We didn't really have a problem until the boarders came. Unfortunately I can't convince them to pick up manure in the am and pm like I do. You have to choose your battles I suppose :)
ReplyDeleteI have had no luck with skin so soft although some people swear by it. Supposedly feeding vinegar helps but I'm scared to try anything that would possibly interfere with my guys excellent appetite. I guess it's poison for now.