Ways to Keep Pests Away from Your Horse

Pests and various insects can become a serious problem for your horse, especially during the summer months, if you don’t take the right steps. These insects can make life quite annoying for your horse just like they do for us, but excessive bites can also cause serious injury and disease. Fortunately, preventing pests is fairly easy. Learn about the best ways to keep pests away from your horse.

Keep the Stalls and Turnouts Clean

The first step to eliminating pests is to get rid of what pests are drawn to. That means making sure that all your stalls and turnouts are free from manure. This is one of the reasons why it’s absolutely essential to get rid of manure as often as possible. External and internal parasites can be drawn to manure, and the more manure there is, even in pastures, the more likely it is for your horse to be exposed to pests.

While cleaning manure as it appears is ideal, that’s not always an option. If complete removal isn’t a feasible solution, you can break up clumps of it instead. That will at least increase the likelihood of parasites being exposed to environmental conditions like sunlight, which will kill them off.

Outfit Your Horses With Protective Gear

Quite a few different items are available that are useful for protecting your horse from pests. Fly sheets are among the most common, as they’re an easy way to cover the horse’s body and protect it from flies and mosquitos. They offer a bit of additional protection as well by warding off a bit of UV radiation from the sun, which can be damaging if your horse’s haircoat is particularly sensitive.

You may also want to consider implementing a fly mask into your horse’s gear. While a fly sheet protects the horse’s body, a fly mask protects their face and ears. Just keep in mind that you should remove this gear every day to check for any injuries that would otherwise go unnoticed. Sometimes, dirt and other debris can get trapped inside, so you’ll want to clear that out as well.

Use Fly Repellents

Fly spray is one of the most popular ways to keep flies and other insects off of ourselves, so it’s no wonder that it works on horses too. Applying a general fly spray before a ride can make for a much more pleasurable experience, as your horse won’t be annoyed by flying pests getting in the way of their ride. Even turning them out during the day can warrant a bit of fly spray during the outset.

While fly spray can certainly be effective, repellent ointments are quite handy as well. They tend to last longer than fly spray in most cases allowing you to stay protected for longer, which can be especially helpful during shows. Keep in mind that short clipped hair is more susceptible to flying insects, so you’ll want to use repellent ointments in that case.

Protect Your Horse

With these ways to keep pests away from your horse in mind, you just need to find the right products to get the job done. That’s where Healthy Hair Care can help. Not only will you find what you need to keep the pests away, but you’ll find a wide range of helpful tools to make your horse happy, healthy, and show ready.