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Fly Rugs and Sheets
Horse Fly Rugs & Sheets
When the cold starts to fade, days become longer and more productive for horse riding activities. Unfortunately, warm weather goes hand in hand with flies and other flying pests that have a natural attraction for our horses year after year. Despite being so small, flies have highly sensitive sensory structures. They can detect decaying matter, organic substances, and odours they identify as potential food sources, breeding grounds, and shelter. Unfortunately for our...Read more
Horse Fly Rugs & Sheets
When the cold starts to fade, days become longer and more productive... Read More
Horse Fly Rugs & Sheets
When the cold starts to fade, days become longer and more productive for horse riding activities. Unfortunately, warm weather goes hand in hand with flies and other flying pests that have a natural attraction for our horses year after year. Despite being so small, flies have highly sensitive sensory structures. They can detect decaying matter, organic substances, and odours they identify as potential food sources, breeding grounds, and shelter. Unfortunately for our beloved horses, flies are highly attracted by their manure, sweat, and body secretions, including tears, saliva, and mucus.
Besides being really annoying for horses, they can cause several health problems, such as itchiness, infections, eczema, loss of concentration, stress, eye irritation, agitation, parasites, and sweet itch in allergic horses. To make it worse, horses, in their despair, can injure themselves when kicking or stomping to shake off flies. The good news is that fly rugs help relieve horses’ annoyance because even if you take preventive measures, keep the stalls super clean, and lay fly traps all over the barn, these displeasing insects are persistent. Fly rugs create a solid, tangible barrier between flies and your horse and are a practical solution, especially in humid areas where the combination of moisture and warmth sets a perfect stage for fly breeding.
Flies don’t get enough of posing on horses’ backs, hindquarters, and legs; they pose on their faces, especially in their delicate noses and eye surroundings near the tear ducts, looking for secretions and causing emotional and physical irritation. It’s a real torment for horses and any horse person watching and thinking about the potential consequences of this harassment. It’s important to remember that biting flies and mosquitos are disease vectors and cause most equestrian pandemics. Fly rugs effectively shield horses from these filthy and dangerous pests, keeping them away from their bodies, reducing irritation and stress completely, and preventing diseases caused by bites. Some fly rugs for horses can even protect their faces, relieving their annoyance and stress and preventing undesirable health issues. Also, is there anything more annoying than a fly buzzing in your ear? Imagine how irritating this can be for hoses’ ultra-sensitive ears. Thankfully, some fly rugs feature full ear protection to keep flies away from your horses’ ears, bringing additional peace.
Horse fly rugs are designed to keep flies away while allowing your equestrian companion to stay cool even in hot summer. They are extremely breathable, and most models offer UV protection. Fly rugs provide excellent overnight protection in the stable and are great for turnout, lunging, and transport. On top of that, some options offer incredible fly protection while exercising or hacking.
Fly Rugs for Horses from Top Brands
At Discount Equestrian, we are horse enthusiasts and understand the impact of flies on horses; that’s why we chose only the best fly rugs for horses for our extensive range of fly rugs and fly sheets for horses to help you address this issue. Let’s take a look at some of our best-selling and popular fly rugs for horses in our fantastic collection:
Bucas® Buzz Off Rain Zebra Rug – “This versatile waterproof fly rug provides the benefits of a zebra fly rug, found by scientists to deter flies, with the added element of a breathable, waterproof upper. This fly rug for horses is useful for those unpredictable British showers since it ensures your horse is always dry when you turn up to ride. Besides, it features an innovative sun-reflective material that helps prevent overheating. This amazing fly rug also offers protection across the body and neck of the horse, including an elasticated belly pad with steel clips to ensure the rug is both protective and secure. You can also find a horse fly sheet version.”
Equilibrium® Field Relief Fly Rug – “Recent studies have revealed that yellow repels flies. This full horse fly rug is made of a yellow mesh with an orange/black binding. This fly rug matches the Field Relief Fly Masks to protect your horse from the tip of their nose to their tail as it repels harmful UV rays, dirt, and pesky flies!”
Hy Guardian Fly Rug & Fly Mask – “This amazing fly rug offers full protection to your horse, including a detachable face mask. It’s made of reflective polyester silver close-weave mesh for maximum protection against all flying insects and UV rays. The neckpiece fits over the ears to prevent it from slipping down. The rug and the neckpiece feature fully adjustable straps, including chest, belly, and removable leg straps, ensuring a secure fit. The mane, tail, and shoulders are fit with anti-rub lining for additional protection.”
Rhinegold® Fly Rug Includes Detachable Neck – “This Fly Rug is designed to protect your horse from flies and UV rays while keeping it fresh. The horse fly rug is made of lightweight, soft, anti-rub, breathable mesh with cotton towelling along the spine for extra comfort. Includes a practical, detachable neck cover for enhanced fly protection and versatility.”
Sweet Itch Rugs for Horses
Sweet itch rugs are commonly used during the warmer months when fly activity is at its peak. They are an essential tool in managing sweet itch and keeping affected horses comfortable and protected from further irritation. Sweet itch is a skin condition in horses and ponies caused by an allergic reaction to the saliva of biting insects, particularly culicoides midges. Horses suffering from sweet itch may develop intense itching, hair loss, and skin inflammation, particularly along the mane, tail, and withers. Sweet itch rugs usually have a slightly thicker material than fly rugs with a finer weave to offer better protection against the smaller midges, which can often find their way through standard fly rug material. A sweet itch rugs also tend to provide more robust protection over the main areas prone to biting. They often include neck covers and belly panels as well as a snug fit around the top of the tail.
Waterproof Fly Rugs and Sheets
Flies never stop, even on those summer days with downpours and drizzle that may surprise your horse out of the barn, or you want to take a break and lead your horse to pasture enjoying the breeze. Here is when waterproof fly sheets and rugs come in handy; you don’t have to confine your horse in the stall or worry about water or flies. Waterproof fly rugs can be used daily but are a great solution for unstable and rainy days while offering excellent fly control, reducing irritation, and preventing diseases caused by flies.
Fly rugs protect your horse significantly against flies; however, it’s essential to take additional preventive measures to keep flies at bay. For example, use approved fly repellents or sprays, bathe your horse regularly with specialised products, and empty potential water accumulation sources, such as buckets, empty pots, etc., among others.
If you need help selecting the perfect fly rug or fly sheet for your horse, feel free to contact us any time. Our expert team here at Discount Equestrian is always willing to help!
Check out other exceptional products from our extensive Horse Rugs collection, like our outstanding Fleece Rugs, Stable Rugs, and Turnout Rugs. At Discount Equestrian, we carefully select our products for your horse’s comfort and well-being.
We aim to offer the best quality products from top equestrian brands at unbeatable prices. That’s why we created our Price Match Promise program; if you find a product listed at a lower price on the website of any online retail competition, we will strive to match that price for you (Terms and Conditions Apply).