For every season and every occasion, you can find all sorts of rugs. From spring until autumn you can use fly sheets for your horse, but what different types are there and when do you need what rug? We’re telling you all about it in this blog.
Fly sheets protect your horse from all kinds of insects. By putting on a fly sheet and/or fly mask, you protect your horse from bites and stings and help keep your horse calm, as there will be less insects to chase away.
Material
All
fly sheets are made of mesh. It’s nice and airy and offers protection without being heavy or warm. But please note: the less grams per meter, the more vulnerable is the rug. That’s something you should keep in mind if you have the ultimate rug destroyer in your stable. You should also take the colour into account, as a dark colour will warm up more in the sun than a light colour.
Sizing
Because a fly sheet is usually worn in the pasture, it’s super important that it offers enough freedom of movement. Some versions also have a neck piece, belly flap or mask. Make sure that those parts are also spacious enough and fit well. There’s fly sheets available specifically for
wide horses, like drafts, but also tiny versions for small ponies, starting from
90 cm bottom length.
Versions
Of course there’s standard
fly sheets, but there’s also a lot more. Is the weather mixed, but there’s lots of flies? Then it’s best to choose a fly sheet with
a waterproof top to keep your horse dry and protected. Going on a trail ride? There’s multiple types of
fly exercise sheets with cut-outs for the saddle, and even
fly sheets for driving, so you can have a calm carriage ride through the field and forest. But don’t forget the fly repellent for yourself or wear long but thin clothing for yourself.
Sweet itch
Does your horse have problems with sweet itch? A normal, standard fly rug will probably not be enough in this case. The most unruly insects will still be able to sting or bit, which results in bad itching. For sweet itch horses, it’s best to use a
sweet itch rug for proper protection. Sweet itch rugs are also available in lots of different versions.
Extra protection
With a fly sheet, the body, neck and sometimes the top parts of the legs are protected. But the head is still unprotected, apart from the forelock and some shaking to get flies off. In order to protect your horse’s head from annoying insects, you can use a
fly fringe or
fly mask. Fly mask also come in lots of different version, from simple straight-forward to halter masks to masks with removable parts (like for the nose).