Mosquitoes: the swarm descends

I knew they were coming, those darn little blood-sucking fiends that appear every year about this time. And yes, I mean mosquitoes. Oh, there were a handful around as early as March. The first warm spring days always produce a few, but June is when they really become a nuisance.

It's always a trade-off - no rain, fewer winged biters; more rain, horses knee-deep in lush green pasture grass, full stock tanks, (hallelujah!) lower fire danger.... And swarming hordes of tiny monsters.

At the farm, the top pastures and the north neighbor's grove drain into the northeast horse pasture. Once the water down there gets low enough not to run, the mosquitoes start hatching. Added whiners arrive from the south neighbor's ponds. His pheasant hunting operation/private game preserve is lovely place to ride in the early spring, summer and early fall, with turkeys, deer, foxes, pheasants and all sorts of songbirds to see -- unfortunately, we pay the price in the spring when the murmurous swarms descend.

Last night there was very little breeze, one of those hot, muggy evenings where it might rain, but probably not. At the farm the horses were voluntarily dozing in the upper lot, the one that's bare dirt. A few of them were down the hill under their favorite shade tree, also surrounded by dirt from countless stomping feet. Head to tail, with nature's fly-swatters swishing away, their faces and bodies were still dotted with mosquitoes. Thankful that West Nile shots were done in a timely fashion, I fly-sprayed all the ones that tolerate it (yes, I know, something to work on) and wiped the rest down, for what little good it will do.

Riding, was definitely out. Traipsing around in pastures & fields would mean still more mosquitoes, and the alternative was confinement to the far too small for riding upper lot, or riding up and down the gravel roads, keeping to the center so as not disturb the whiners lurking in the tall grass on the shoulders. If we keep getting rain, warm temps (what, warm weather in the summer - who'da thunk it?) and quiet evenings, I may need to check into arenas somewhere close by.

More immediately, I need to find a mosquito-discouraging fly spray. What I'm using does seem to work fairly well for heel/face flies, but mosquitoes, not so much. If anyone is using a brand or a make-your-own-at-home recipe that works, and/or has other solutions/suggestions, I'd love to hear them. (I've used an ivory soap, apple vinegar, citronella mixture in the past which I liked, but for some reason the foamy horses disturbed the BO when it rained....)

In the meantime, I'm crossing my fingers for that South Dakota wind to kick back in, and lots of sunny days to dry out the boggy spots.