Black Flies Are Back (In Force)!

I brought Maisie in at around 1 p.m.; she wasn't better and she wasn't worse - still very sore, particularly on the left front. I put her in the stall for the afternoon to avoid the sugary afternoon grasses. I also brought Dawn in to spend the afternoon in the paddock, so Maisie had her to look at out of the window. Neither Maisie or Dawn complained much - the black flies are back! Black Flies are a short-lived pest, but a really pernicious one when they're around. This web site recommends using petroleum jelly as a barrier, and I'm going to try that on my horses tomorrow in their most sensitive areas. Night as opposed to daytime turnout is recommended, as the flies only feed in the daytime, but unfortunately that's not really an option at our barn.

A number of the horses came in with horrible crusty, fly-covered patches on their girth areas, the undersides of their necks, their throatlatch areas, between their jaws, and their udders (mares) and sheaths (geldings). The flies were just swarming around the horses in the pastures. The flies just latch on and suck blood; the horses had bloody streaks, and were grateful to have the flies curried off despite the blood. Here's Noble, greatly magnified, before currying, showing the flies and crusty, bloodly patches - this wasn't the worst area he had:

I spent some time just hanging out with Maisie, sitting in front of her stall with the stall guard up. It was very pleasant; for a while Bob the barn cat sat in my lap and Maisie did her gentle snuff-a-whuff of his fur. The barn swallows are back, building their nests in the rafters of the barn. I got some fun close-ups - here's the end of Maisie's nose:

And I love the underside of horse jaws - here's the underside of Maisie's jaw - I love the mix of colors and the swirly patterns:

And here's the offending left front, with its unusual color pattern:

And here's the sweet Maisie mare waiting for dinner:

And finally some dandelions in the parking lot - I love dandelions - they're one of the earliest nectar sources for honeybees and native bees, and they provide lovely greens with lots of vitamin C for the horses: