This nasty little pest is a bot fly; you can see the eggs already laid on Coyote Belle's leg. I take a scrubbing block (like a grill stone) and scrape them all off. They drive the horses crazy and they try to hide in the bushes:
like Peppy is doing here. He wasn't very happy; and they tried to outrun the flies-
Gussie is shaking her mane, all upset. Sassy is the only one who wasn't bothered too much- maybe bots don't like blonds!
Peppy is getting really big now, it's two weeks to weaning time.
He's all blue now; remember that little brown fuzzball a few months ago?
Speaking of colour, this is Coyote Belle's 4th colour change this year. You can see how light she is compared to Beamer in the background. ( Can't wait to see what her foal is going to look like!)
Peppy has long legs; he's going to be tall like his mama. Such a pretty colour too!
5 comments:
That bot fly looks like a really nasty insect. And I imagine a mass fumigation during their breeding season would do more harm then good since it would contaminate the food source for the horses. I can imagine the poor horses feeling absolutely exasperated by having those things on them.
Oh I hate those little buggers! Luckily they haven't been that bad here this year! My mare can't stand them, If they are around the horses I take my hat, swat to the ground and kill them.
Great pics of the horses as always!
Tom, if I could find out where they hang out when they're not bugging (pun intended!) the horses, I'd stomp them all!
huh, I didn't know that bot flies were that big!
Peppy is sooo cute! Who is the black gelding(??)in the second to the last picture?
Not sure which horse you mean, but the black horse in the background is our stallion, Isle Be Midnight, a.k.a. Beamer. The mare in the foreground is Coyote Belle, a 4 year old mare that I raised. She is in foal to Beamer for April next year.
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