Yeah, I'm tired of brushing swallow poop out of Cammies coat too.
In the "old days" before fly spray, well-to-do folks used leather-strip
curtains to discourage flys and birds from entering stalls. Leather
curtains were sometimes quite fancy, incorporating beaded designs.
These "fly curtains" covered the doorways and windows of stalls, and
were long strips of leather hung vertically. The concept is the same as
the beaded-curtain look of the late 60's and early 70's, and is seen in
use as the "fake forelock" contraptions that can be attached to bridle
browbands or can be strapped onto a "naked" horses head.
In your paddock, a frame hung over the waterer with some sort of curtain
would probably do the trick.
I intend to add horse-curtains my barn and run-ins next year to keep
both flys and swallows out. I'm planning to use two to four foot wide
strips of shade-cloth, that can be purchased at most hardware stores.
Picture a fly-sheet for doorways. I'll attach curtain weights to the
bottoms to keep them from flapping open too easily.
Most horses need to be led through curtains a few times so that they
realize that going through is okay.
If shade-cloth isn't available or is too expensive, burlap is cheaper,
but cuts back on air circulation and doesn't stand up to cleaning like
a heavy-duty shade-cloth will. In this part of California, shade-cloth
is available by the yard at Orchard Supply Hardware, usually year-round.
Linda
Gilroy, Calif