Horse Flies.........Ughhhh

I took Anky in the school today, Jim had to go out so I thought I'd ride her at walk for 20 minutes in the school. Hacking Anky out alone doesn't make for a relaxing time. She felt ok. She felt straighter in the walk with a much more genuine bend on the left rein. She's still reluctant to bend to the left and wanted to tip her nose, but after a couple of minutes she started to give a more genuine bend and stretch the outside, with a much softer feel in the outside rein. She felt quite soft on the right rein.

I always feel sorry for the horses in summer, having to deal with the flies, the mouche plats are gross, crawling around under their tails they must be so annoying. The ones I hate the most are the big brown horse flies, they give a terrible bite. The only good thing about them is that they are pretty dozy and easy to kill.

Yesterday whilst riding, one of them got me on the arm and by the end of the day the swelling was from wrist to elbow, tight, hot and very itchy. I'm not a hypercondriac, at least I don't think so, but last night I felt like I was starting with flu and I'm sure it was the bite.

Anyway I made the mistake of looking for info on the internet. Now that could make you into a hypercondriac..........

Anyway general concensus for treatment is anti histamines, aloe vera and an iced towel.
I'd love to grow some Aloe Vera, I wonder if they have it at the local garden centre. :-)