feetsies + flies for the 4th

Happy Independence Day to those of you in the States! I thought we could use this opportunity to take a brief intermission from our Fair Hill HT recap and talk a little bit about a different type of independence: from FLIES.

And, related to flies, I want to discuss the various other things I'm doing to protect Charlie's precious (and expen$ive) new shoes from the rigors of summer stamping on hard ground.

This quite naturally leads into another quick update on the tools and products that are currently in heavy rotation here at 'Fraidy Cat Eventing.

the standard arsenal, or, er, most of it!

A - Repel-X from concentrate: This is my second summer in a row using this fly spray, mixed as needed in a spray bottle. I typically go for a heavier concentration than recommended (usually closer to 1:4 instead of 1:7). It works well but needs reapplication after heavy sweating.

B - Horze ribbed bell boots: Charlie is luckily not hard on these suckers bc they likely wouldn't stand up to any abuse. The velcro has already come detached at the seams in places (purchased in December with only moderate use). They continue to do their job, but I likely won't repurchase once they well and truly die.

C - Hoof pick: Self explanatory. This came in a holiday gift bag from a former barn mate. I've heard tell of very fancy extravagant hoof pics, but this oldie but goodie works for me!

D - Sore No-More Gelotion: I bought this for Isabel but continue to use for Charlie. I've also since picked up the liniment for mixing into braces after hard rides or events. Seems like good stuff, gives my hands a pleasant tingling sensation and Charlie yawns a lot when I rub it into his back.

E - Keratex hoof hardener: Picked this stuff up in November at the recommendation of my vet. Still working on that first bottle, but went through a long period of not using it. We've since gotten religious again - now mostly applying directly to the nail hole areas on all 4 feet (tho the farrier specifically recommended just the fronts). The idea is to strengthen his hoof walls, while also adding flexibility (ie, keeping them from growing brittle) so that he might hang onto those shoes more easily.

F - Scritchy bath mitt (from Dover but now I can't find a link): I often use this instead of a sponge when hosing off a horse, or when using a bucket of water to "sponge" off the horse after a ride. I find the mitt does a much better job of invigorating the coat and eliminating sweat and grime, leaving a clean and clear coat behind.

G - Shires plastic curry: I'm a die-hard traditionalist when it comes to my curry combs. It's these old school plastic curries or bust for me. I've even found that some sensitive skinned beasties seem to prefer the hard plastic to the soft jelly curries. This purple one just joined the team after my last one fiiiiinally bit the dust.

H - Horze body brush (review here): I already reviewed my thoughts on this particular brush last October. This is mostly just to say that I still love this brush, and it continues to hold up to daily duty without showing any signs of wear (beyond the Horze branding rubbing off haha).

that's 33lbs of farriers formula. and those are just the refills. he's got another ~30 pounds in a bucket in the feedroom. homeboy eats a LOT of it.

Charlie's hoof care regimen also includes a nutritional element, as might reasonably be expected. My farrier claims to put the most faith in Platinum Performance, which Charlie has been getting since around January. Notably, the addition of that supplement to Charlie's diet coincided with when he became the most reliably sound. He just recently came off the loading dose but will stay on a maintenance dose.

However, I've also added a loading dose of Farrier's Formula to Charlie's diet. And damn but he eats a fuck ton of this stuff. I actually had to legitimately buy new measuring cup scoops to include in the bucket for barn staff so that they wouldn't be counting out interminable scoops with every meal. The reputation with this supplement is that it's very much a "Long Game" type approach - you see the difference in the new hoof growth, but... ya know... you gotta wait for that hoof to grow. We'll see!

the newest addition! and charlie's tootsies haha

And in the meantime, I'm doing what I can now to help reduce the beating those feet take while Charlie is in turn out. Summer heat means hard ground and flies, as we all know. So in addition to covering the horse in fly spray and treating those hooves with Keratex, I've recently added Kensington fly boots to the equation.

here's hoping they help provide relief!

I've been a little reluctant to do so, bc the key to fly boots seems to be finding a pair that stays ON but doesn't rub the horse in the process. Furthermore, if the boots get too hot, the horse will just sweat underneath them - thus attracting more flies. So idk.

We're very much in the trial period with these, but my fingers are crossed that they'll provide at least a little bit of relief - and maybe get Charlie back to a 4 week shoeing cycle instead of 3 weeks (fml)...

and naturally charlie's gotta keep his superstar face protected too!

And for the sake of completeness, Charlie's last little bit of fly gear is this new Roma fly mask. I learned pretty quickly that Charlie likes to take his masks off - in fact he quite politely hung his last mask in the same mulberry tree EVERY DAY.

Since barn mgmt has better things to do with their time than hunt down my horse's mask, I picked up this 'sleeve' type mask. There's no velcro - it's just a stretchy tube with eye and ear mesh coverings. So far Charlie has left this on without issue, and doesn't appear to get hot or nasty under it. So it's proven to be a good solution for him. Might not necessarily hold up against a horse who's a little... harder on his gear tho lol.

So anyway. That's where things currently stand with Charlie and his emancipation from flydom. Have you added any new pieces of gear to your horse's outfit in the fight against flies? Or found any tools or sprays that have helped keep the flies off and the shoes on? Or anything else you've tried, nutritionally or otherwise, that's made a difference for your horse?