Desert Horses

Welcome to my horse blog, Desert Horses. We live in the desert southwest, near Palm Springs, CA, but board our horses up in our local mountains where it is cooler in the summer. I have 4 horses, all rescues. Here is the ranch up the mountains where the horses stay.

Saturday, July 31, 2010

Cali update


I went up yesterday to the ranch and checked Cali's eyes. She is now in a corral by herself so that Scout and her previous neighbors can't rip off her fly mask! (...shaking head...) Cali only had her mask on for about 3 minutes a couple of days ago when her neighbor reached over the corral fence and ripped it off! HOW RUDE! So, we moved Cali to Gigo's old corral and moved Scout out and put Gigo in the big mustang corral. Gigo really likes it there as she can run and run! And, Cali seems to like being away from "the monster" (Scout) and being able to eat her food at a leisurely pace. I didn't take any photos yesterday as it was so humid I was dripping with sweat right away. My friend and fellow blogger Barb took this photo of Cali and I when she came to visit last week. Cali's eyes look so much better now and I put a brand new fly mask on her to keep the flies away! All of the horses now have fly masks except Sunni. I tried to get one on him and there was NO WAY he was letting me put it over his ears...sigh...and he seems to have the BITING FLIES! OW! They got on my legs and even bit me! So, this morning I'll go up and put Cali's eyedrops in her eyes, check all the fly masks, and apply SWAT as needed. My vet said he has noticed that none of the major fly sprays seem to work this year! Oh, dear! These flies are so determined to harass the horses and us that NOTHING seems to keep them away! How is your fly problem this summer? I don't remember it being so bad last year. And, honestly, it hasn't been that humid here or that hot here this summer. I don't know why they are so pesky! Could it be all the late rains that we had this spring? (Photo courtesy of Barb D...thank you, Barb!)

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Our flies have been just dreadful this summer too - and we have lots of different types. I'm riding in the mornings now, when they seem to be a little better.

aurora said...

Glad Cali's eyes are getting better.

Nice photos!

We are having more trouble with mosquitos then flys this year...

Cactus Jack Splash said...

I am glad Cali's eye is doing well. Sounds like Gigo loves her new bigger digs.
The flies and gnats are horrible this year. I am having trouble because I can't use sprays with pyrethrines in them. I am giving 300 mg of garlic to the horses and putting a paste I have made of garlic, thyme, mint, cloves, apple cider vinegar, and citronella oil on their chest and belly. This is on top of chemical free sprays.

Nuzzling Muzzles said...

I had the same thing happen the second I put a fly mask on Bombay years ago. Our flies are just starting to multiply this week. August and September are the peak months for our area.