Heeding dire predictions for a scourge of bugs this summer, I did my duty as an American and invested my tax return shopping online. Did I buy new shoes? No. A new hat for my CDE debut? No. I bought full body fly armor for the boys and a natty fly sheet for Kitten.
Flies are the bane of summer. They eat my horses alive. Welts that itch turn into crusty bumps that itch more and turn into open sores. I have several fly spray recipes of homemade hooch variety that I use, but treating the bites is next to impossible on my four steeds. I have had fly sheets in the past and most of them are shredded in hours. My horses are hard on clothes.
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| Testing Fly Armor In Reduced Calorie Pasture: the Weatherbeeta Dura Mesh Detach A Neck Fly Sheet and Roma Mesh Leg Wraps |
Major, Don Pecos and Bijou [Ace] get the majority of bites on their noses, cheeks, jowls, necks and legs. Kitten gets them on her body. In the past, I have used Sleazy Sleepwear on the boys and a conventional sheet on the girlie, but they trash them in record time and any brand but Sleazy doesn't fit and invariably gets pulled over their eyes which causes no end of irritation. As Sleazy-s are not intended as fly protection, although they do work, I wanted to find something that was made specifically for the task and would hold up to the rigors of the Morgans.
So, this year, armed with Uncle Sam's bequeath, after researching the reviews on Smart Pak, I purchased Weatherbeeta Dura Mesh Detach A Neck fly sheets, Roma Mesh Leg Wraps and a Baker Fly Sheet. The reviews online were of great assistance in making a choice and I felt hopeful, if not entirely confident, of my purchase.
The Weatherbeeta DMDAN sheets were only available in what appeared to be a ridiculous lime green and grey plaid, which I was sure was going to appall Don Pecos. The event of his probable protestations were over ruled by the industrial grade fly sheet material. I couldn't resist the lovely brown plaid Baker Fly Sheet for Kitten because she could take no offense at the color nor the quality.
As it would happen, I bought the last two WDMDAN fly sheets in existence, but Smart Pak assured me they would find me another and ship it as soon as was humanly possible. Meanwhile, I received the two full body fly sheets, the Baker and the leg wraps and set to fitting them, which, on my compact Morgans, is always a trial usually involving my sewing machine, testing my sewing skills.
The reviews told me to order small, which I usually do, the Morgans are small, albeit round. I was very pleasantly surprised that the Weatherbeeta sheets were not nearly as offensive in color as I had feared AND they fit quite nicely. The hardware was of good quality and very, very well designed. They have belly coverage with the closure instead of the usual, rather useless nylon strap, serving the dual purpose of keeping the sheet in place as well as deflecting flies. A great deal of thought and engineering have gone into these sheets and they are well worth the price. There are some negative points: attaching the neck piece to the mask requires addition fasteners not included and because the neck piece is approximately 6" too short, attaching it would probably mean they would rip off the mask when they graze and the sheets have a nasty, new plastic odor.
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| Kitten Models The Baker Fly Sheet: Lovely |
The Baker fly sheet is lovely, lovely, lovely. Why, oh why Baker do you not make the neck attachments, too?
The Roma Mesh Leg Wraps come in a set of four, so I divided them into two pair for Don Pecos and Bijou and affixed them to their front legs which bear the brunt of the fly assault. They are a little long for my short cannon boned boys, but 24 hours later, they are still on, and more importantly up. Stomping flies ceased immediately and after the initial comedy, "What is wrong with my legs, I can't possibly walk with these things on," the boys seem content in their armor.
Bijou tested the products vigorously by rolling immediately. They stayed on. Then he decided to try to rid it of the Made In China Smell and rolled some more. It stayed put and I must admit it is smelling more like Bijou, it still looks pretty good and I think it will stay looking better than the all white sheets, which look hideous after the first roll. Twenty four hours later, the Baker sheet looks like it just came out of the box, naturally.
I will have to wait to fully endorse the Weatherbeetas to see if the unattached neck panel to fly mask keeps the flies off the horses necks and from biting their throatlatch area. The masks are a little short, too, I would prefer them to come further down on the horses' noses. However, my initial, overall response is quite pleasantly favorable.
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| The Emperor Awaits His New Clothes With An Admiring Glance At The Full Body Fly Armor On His Brothers |
Major is still waiting for his armor, wearing last year's useless excuse for fly protection: stained, stretched, shredded. But, Smart Pak emailed me yesterday to say the last sheet had been located and shipped. All in all, I must commend Smart Pak for their service. This is my first order with them and it will the first of many.
Although, I hope not to be ordering more fly armor for a while.
Kind Regards,
Michelle Blackler
Serendipity
www.hossbiz.com
Serendipity is an Accidental Sagacity Corporation company.
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