When I was a kid, one of the songs we sang started, “Shoo fly, don’t bother me. ” Zelda is humming that now. The horse flies almost always show up around the 4th of July and this year they are right on schedule.
Poor Zelda, those suckers have quite a bite. Even with a wonderful tail like hers, it’s almost impossible to get them off.
Horse flies are vicious. They’re tenacious and fearless. My Arab, Jordan, would come running to me, tail swishing, wanting me to slap that damned fly on his belly. I would, too…and he knew a hard slap was not punishment, but relief.
It’s the only time of the year that I feel sorry the horses live outside. There’s no place to take refuge except their sheds. They come up to eat, but if I take too long, they run down the hill again and hide.