HORSES
Provide
Your Valuable Protection
From Costly SUMMER Sores
Fly season heightens the risk for summer
sores in horses. Use Quest® Gel and
Solitude® IGR, a two-pronged approach
to help protect horses.
Flies are a nuisance in the house,
but the dangers they pose in the
barn can become dangerous and
expensive. Beyond increasing the
risk of strangles and pigeon fever,
flies can produce time-consuming
and costly summer sores — chronic,
nonhealing wounds that often rapidly
progress and enlarge.
This frustrating condition frequently
makes horses unable to ride or
compete, and medical treatment
can be extensive or even require
surgical care.
“Two stomach worm species, specifically
Habronema and Draschia,
cause summer sores,” said Dr. Amy
Poulin, Equine Technical Services
veterinarian with Zoetis. “And when
Habronema and houseflies are
present, it’s a potential problem
for any horse in a warm, humid
climate.”
“When infective Habronema larvae
are shed in horse feces, house flies
can later pick up the larvae and
deposit it into open wounds as well
as the mouth, lip, eye and groin
areas of horses. The inflammatory
reaction results in summer sores,”
Dr. Poulin said. “If fly larvae develop
in manure infected with Habronema
larvae, any horse within the
fly’s quarter-mile migration radius
becomes at risk for infection.”
Losing Precious Time in the Saddle
Summer sores are so prevalent
in southern Florida that they are
infamously referred to as “Florida
sores,” said Anne-Marie Morgan, a
horse owner and head trainer with
EQUINE Health
The red hairs/skin in this photo are stained from a previous treatment.
Miami Equestrian Club. Their impact
reaches across the Southern
states, often severely. Morgan has
witnessed fleshy summer sores as
large as softballs plague horses for
six months.
“If summer sores are untreated
and proud flesh becomes prominent,
horses will lose riding and
training time and could be out for
months,” Morgan said. “They are
extremely irritating and itchy for the
horse and cause frustration for riders
and trainers.”
When Morgan’s horse developed
a summer sore, Morgan spent more
than $120 per month for gauze,
elastic adhesive, saline solution and
topical treatments. That doesn’t
include what she spent on fly spray
and protective equipment, such as
fly boots, sheets and masks, to help
protect horses from scrapes and fly
contact.
48 www.EliteEquestrianMagazine.com
Preventing a Costly,
Career-impacting Expense
While protective fly gear may
help, there are more convenient
and consistent solutions available.
“Products that kill fly eggs before
they are hatched are great assets
to fighting flies in both large-scale
and smaller barns,” Morgan said.
Dr. Poulin recommends including
Solitude® IGR, a pelleted feedthrough
fly preventive, as part of
the daily ration to help reduce
fly burdens. Solitude IGR contains
cyromazine, an insect growth
regulator that dramatically reduces
the number of house and stable
flies by preventing immature flies in
the manure from developing into
adults. As existing adult flies die off,
the overall fly population is significantly
reduced within four to six
weeks.
In studies, Solitude IGR was up to
100% effective in preventing house
and stable flies from reaching
/www.EliteEquestrianMagazine.com