Zebra Stripes

The zebra’s coat coloring is a natural fly repellent that can be used on horses to manage pesky bugs.

The zebra’s coat coloring is a natural fly repellent that can be used by horses to manage pesky bugs.

Gotta Be Him, aka “Jaxson,” needed three bottles of Zyrtec allergy medication to survive summer. Bug bites caused welts, some golf-ball sized. The swelling lasted three days or more, and the sorrel gelding developed soreness in his front feet from excessive stomping.

Supplements and fly sheets didn’t work.

Owner Deborah Klotzbach was skeptical of zebra-striped fly sheets and hesitant to spend money on another failed solution, but she decided to give it a try after her daughter tried one on another horse.

“The first day Jaxson wore it was a happy day for both of us,” she says. “Observing him in the pasture, I saw he wasn’t swatting or stomping at flies nearly as much. When he came to the gate, he had one fly around his head.”

The real test was when she removed the sheet: there were no bug bites. It was a relief. Flies had been able to get under other sheets and bite him, but not the zebra-striped sheet.

Animal print patterns on support boots, saddle pads and blankets are trendy. However,