Too hot to handle

Kiley Moore Claremont, California

We had a wetter than normal spring, and our five-acre property in Texas was finally out of drought. However, the wet weather brought us swarms of biting bugs like we’d never seen before. My two mares were getting bloody spots on their bellies and up near their udders. The weather was hot and muggy, with heat indexes close to and above 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

I had to put my fly control into overdrive: I would hose the mares off two or three times each day and spray them with a fly spray that was oiland-lanolin based. I would even spray each manure pile SUMMER MYSTERY: These lacelike accumulations of dead skin that an EQUUS reader found on her horses’ coats turned out to have a surprising cause. would scuff their toes as they walked, with hanging heads.

Finally, we trailered the mares to the veterinary hospital to get a better sample and diagnosis. The samples still showed only hair and skin, but my veterinarian was able to diagnose the problem: The “worms” were