Every spring, I watch the greening of my farm with a mix of feelings.  On one hand, it signals the start of so much that I deeply enjoy … gardening, outdoor building projects, riding without frozen fingers and toes.  But on the other hand, those first balmy days are also harbingers of the summer campaigns to come.  Now, I bet you’re thinking I mean a political campaign and you’re wondering what’s up given the news about Kurt’s unsuccessful primary.  But, in fact, I’m using the term in the historic context. Back before the industrial age, summer was that time after the crops were put in the ground but before they needed to be harvested. In other words, summer was when farmers could be spared for use in a different kind of field – the battlefield.  Summer was time to kick enemy ass.

If you are a horse owner in the Mid-Atlantic, summer presents war on two fronts.  You’ve got the Battle of the Bugs and the Battle of the Bulge.  I’m a peaceful kind of person, but I took a solemn oath this past winter that I’d take the battle to the enemy with some preemptive strikes.  So, what does that mean and, now that it’s June with summer just a week away, am I ready?  Let’s discuss the enemy and my battle plan individually.  This post is about the Battle of the Bugs.

What forces does the enemy have and how do I plan to fight them?  Let’s use WWII analogies.

The Bombers -- Horseflies are the “B” class planes of the biting insect world -- they’re huge and pack a lot of TNT.  If you’ve ever seen a horse bucking like a rodeo bronc for no apparent reason, the odds are it has a horsefly gnawing on its fanny.   A horsefly will keep sucking blood from a horse while it is being drenched in a heavy stream of bug spray.  I’ve not found a way to combat them, and welcome input.  For now, however, I’m sorry boys, you’re on your own when these bastards attack.

The Combat Planes – Deer flies are the Mustangs and Corsairs of the pasture.  Squadrons of them surge into the pasture from the cover of the forest. Individual fighters swoop in for bloody attacks on strategic targets – usually horse ears.  Well applied roller insect repellent seems to keep them at bay though they do have a nasty habit of kamikaze attacks that leave their wrecked bodies tangled in manes.

The Artillery -- Black flies are relentless; breaking down a horse’s defenses with a ceaseless attack on their legs and eyes.  Roller on legs and a fly mask will be deployed each morning for pasture turnout.  Horrid smelling (rotten meat, anyone?) fly traps hung around the paddock and barn.  These are my chosen defenses though I know that, even with these, I will take some black fly damage.

The Infantry -- Individually they are easily vanquished.  But, in swarms they are devastating.  They are the gnats.  They go for your horse’s vulnerable anterior chain -- infesting the underside of the jowl, the chest, the belly.  Once they are allowed a foothold, they literally dig in for the season. For these there is spray and fastidious manure removal.

These four insect classes – horseflies, deerflies, black flies, gnats -- are the enemy.  They come in the millions.  I, one woman, must keep them at bay or see my horses stomp their hooves to shreds, rub their tails and manes to frizzy stubs, and go through the summer with the gummy, rheumy eyes of aged coal miner.  The horses seem to understand the mission.  Every morning, when I come into the paddock, they line up in pecking order – Juneau, Guillermo, Izzy.  I take them in turn.  Fly mask put on; ears and legs rolled, anterior chain sprayed; gate opened; treat given, horse released to the pasture for a day of grazing and insect battle.  Once they’ve been deployed to the field, every crumb of manure is removed from the paddock.  Every few weeks, sickening bloated bags of fly carcasses are tossed in favor of ‘fresh’, extra-fragrant ones.  In this way, when the sun is high and the horses come in to find shade in the run-in, they are not greeted by droves of poop-drunk gnats and black flies. 

Thus far, it seems to be working.  But we have yet to hit the height of the campaign season.  I have additional defenses in mind.  I can buy fly boots that will make my horses look like 1980’s Flashdance tribute troupe.  I can suspend fans from the run-ins ceilings.  Is mustard gas available at Tractor Supply?  Wait, no, that was WWI.