As ever, we are busy fighting the flies this summer.  The ponies often get quite nasty bites but thankfully that hasn’t happened yet this year.  Fingers crossed that it will stay that way.  I did try a deet fly spray for the first time but it made Cookster’s skin peel a bit so I have gone back to the plain citronella version which does seem to be pretty effective too.

More of an issue than the bites is Cookster’s eyes.  A combination of flies and his long forelock mean that they can get quite weepy.  The fly mask obviously helps with that but often I go out to find the ponies looking like this.

Then of course, I have to go off and find the missing mask.  Cookster spent a whole day without his mask this week which led to slightly swollen eyelids and a fair bit of discharge.  That prompted me to plait his forelock up – it keeps it out of his eyes and definitely makes a huge difference as they are fully back to normal again.  I like to think that it makes him look a bit like a unicorn too.

Sometimes I quite welcome the wet and windy days – there are far fewer flies about then!