You know the scene. You haul to a jackpot on a Saturday morning, back your horse out of the trailer, and the flies are already waiting. They swarm the warm-up pen, they crawl along his face while you're trying to set your saddle, and by the time you're in the alley they've got him stomping and wringing his tail. A horse that's fighting flies is not a horse that's thinking about the pattern.
I've tried a lot of fly control over the years, and Absorbine UltraShield EX has been my go-to for the last few seasons. It's not the cheapest bottle on the shelf, and it's not the one with the fanciest label. It's the one that actually holds up through a hot Texas weekend, so it's the one I keep reaching for. This list is the practical side of why fly spray matters, the stuff I wish someone had spelled out for me when I was hauling to my first barrel races.
Keep the flies off so your horse can think about the run.
Absorbine UltraShield EX is the spray I keep in the trailer for a reason: it covers fast, holds up through a long day, and keeps the bugs off the places that matter. See today's price and a full rundown below.
Amazon Check Today's Price on Amazon →A calm horse at the gate is a horse that's listening
I've watched more than one good run fall apart before it started. The horse stands at the gate switching his tail, tossing his head, dancing sideways, and the rider is already spent trying to hold him together. Flies are a big part of that. When the bugs are handled, Biscuit walks into the alley with his head down and his mind on the job. That's the whole ballgame right there.
One application holds through a full haul and a full run
The reason I stick with UltraShield EX instead of the cheaper pump sprays is the staying power. I'll spray Biscuit down in the morning, load him up, run a jackpot in the heat, and he's still got coverage when I'm loading him to come home. I don't have to reapply in the middle of a busy day, and I don't have to keep a second bottle in the tack room. That's worth a lot when you're on the road.
The sprayer reaches the face and ears without a fight
Biscuit is good about most things, but he's never loved anything near his ears. The sprayer on the UltraShield EX bottle puts out a mist that settles instead of a stream that spooks. I can cover his face with a couple of quick passes while he's eating, and I'm done before he even thinks about pulling away. For a horse that's head-shy, that's the difference between a two-minute job and a twenty-minute argument.
Fewer stomps in the warm-up pen means a better ride
Watch any horse in a fly patch and you'll see the same thing: head down, legs stomping, hide twitching. That's energy leaving the tank before you ever get to the pattern. When the flies aren't landing, the horse stands quiet, and quiet is where a good warm-up starts. I want Biscuit loose and relaxed in that pen, not wore out from fighting bugs before the gate even opens.
It keeps the tail and mane from getting rubbed out
A horse that's tormented by flies will rub his tail against the fence until it's nothing but a rat's nest, and he'll do the same to his mane. That's not just a cosmetic problem. The hair is there to protect the skin underneath. Keeping the bugs off keeps the rubbing down, and keeping the rubbing down keeps the skin healthy. It's one of those small things that saves you a bigger headache down the road.
The trailer stays calmer on the drive home
Flies love a dark trailer, and a horse that's being eaten alive on the way home is a horse that's sweating and fidgeting before you ever get to the barn. I spray Biscuit down before I load him, and the trailer rides quiet. He stands, I drive, and we both get home in a better mood. When you're hauling every weekend, that hour on the road matters more than people think.
It handles more than just house flies
Around here we deal with flies, sure, but we also deal with gnats that get in a horse's eyes and mosquitoes that come out at dusk. Absorbine UltraShield EX is an insecticide and repellent, so it's killing and keeping away a whole list of pests, not just the ones that land on his back. One bottle covers the bug problem, and that means one less thing to keep straight in the tack room.
Your horse can give you his full attention down the pattern
Barrels are won in the turns, and the turns are won by a horse that's locked in. A horse swatting at flies with his tail is a horse that's half a stride late out of the second barrel. I want every bit of Biscuit's attention on the pattern, and keeping the bugs off him is part of that. It's not the flashy part of a winning run, but it's the part that keeps the run from falling apart.
It stops small bites before they turn into bigger problems
Some horses react to fly bites with hives or raw patches, and those turn into vet calls if you let them go. I've seen it happen to a friend's gelding that rubbed a spot raw on his chest in one bad weekend. A good repellent cuts that down before it starts. I'd rather spend a few minutes with a spray bottle than a few hours on the phone with the vet, and I figure most folks feel the same.
It gives you one less thing to worry about on a busy weekend
Rodeo weekends are long. You're hauling, saddling, waiting on your run, cooling down, and doing it all again the next day. The less time you spend fighting flies, the more time you've got for the things that matter, like watching the other runs and visiting with folks you only see at the grounds. A good fly spray is a small piece of that, but it's a piece that pays off every single weekend.
What I'd Skip
If you only haul to one or two shows a year and your horse lives in a stall with fans and screens, you can probably get by with a cheaper spray. And if your horse already has open sores or raw skin, spray alone isn't the answer. That's a vet call first. UltraShield EX is a good tool, but it's not the whole toolbox. It shines for people who are on the road every weekend, and it earns its spot in my trailer. If that's not you, save your money.
The difference wasn't the saddle or the bit. It was that Biscuit stood in the warm-up pen with his head down and his mind on the job, and that started with keeping the flies off him.
Give your horse one less thing to fight this weekend.
Absorbine UltraShield EX is the bottle I keep in the trailer, and it's the one I reach for before every haul. If you're tired of fighting flies all weekend, this is a good place to start. Check today's price on Amazon and see if it fits your routine.
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