The flies seem to particularly bother Gracie in her ears. It helps if I keep her ear hair clipped close, keep the insides clean with mineral oil, and keep that fly spray on there. She has a thing about the sound of a spray bottle, so you have to take it slow with her and gradually work your way up towards her head and neck (that's the other reason I spray the fly spray on the fly bonnet rather than directly on her face. Otherwise I just spray it on my hand and rub it on.)
We have these small triangle shaped flies around here that seem to mostly land on ears. Once they are there it seems like no amount of head shaking, even with the mane brushing them will get rid of them. I finally just got Harley use to having me stand at his shoulder and I spray fly spray over the top of his head to cover his ears and down on his nose. I’ve tried putting it on with my hand, sponges, clothes, and it just doesn’t seem to get on heavy enough to help.
Becky