I was scritching stonewall last fall and found a two inch narrow strip of what appeared to be ecsema on his midline at the front of his belly. Stonewall is a half walker/ssh and half old foundation mccurdy (small, very old genepool). Anyway. i started looking around for what could be causing no see ums first. because our pasture is SO sandy and dry. What i have read is they like swampy wet areas. And around here I have seen no see ums are worse the closer you get to the coast, a marsh, a swamp etc. so first I found when I scraped up where their hay ring was situated there was wet old rotting hay underneath. So I had my husband put the hay roll in a different spot each time, and we scraped up all the old damp hay.
Then, my vet has this stuff that i really hesitate to recommend and I would have to go read the name on it, but it is a "goat dip" that he gave me when I told him biting flies were attracted to stonewalls white stockings more than any other horse and he would have little bloody spots from them. He told me to wear gloves when applying and to take a cloth and just wipe his stockings with it. What I found is when I did that not a bug in sight would come anywhere near him and then later, I would find if I petted him I would feel a slight burning sensation where he had nosed at his stockings then touched his sides and got it all over him. I felt bad about that! But I put a drop on my fingertip and rubbed his ecsema spot with it and it went away but maybe it was the better pasture management also... I am in sort of a big no see um zone. biting flies too! but whenever I see no see ums (pardon the pun :) I go looking for the damp spot... Janice-- yipie tie yie yo
