Site Menu:
This is an archived Horseadvice.com Discussion. The parent article and menus are available on the navigation menu below: |
HorseAdvice.com » Horse Care » Routine Horse Care » Controlling Houseflies and Biting Flies » |
Discussion on Spot on repellents | |
Author | Message |
Member: jd1947 |
Posted on Wednesday, Apr 25, 2007 - 1:51 pm: Hi,Now that my mares are no longer having babies, I am thinking of trying one of the repellents that you spot onto several areas on the horses body (poll, legs, topline ect). Has anyone here tried this product, and if so, how did it work and which brand did you use? Thanks so much for nay info. |
Member: leilani |
Posted on Wednesday, Apr 25, 2007 - 3:51 pm: Hi Joanie,A friend of mine tries everything, so I tried a sample when it first came out. Nothing. Flys still landed and my friend was a few dollars poorer. Leilani |
Member: zarr |
Posted on Wednesday, Apr 25, 2007 - 6:08 pm: One warning for spot on fly stuff they are considered lethal for cats so if you have barn cats you might want to check that out. They may have better ones now but the warning is right on the product when I checked them out a few years ago. Cindy |
Member: scooter |
Posted on Wednesday, Apr 25, 2007 - 9:24 pm: Hi Joanie, I tried them and they seemed to work a LITTLE, however 2 of mine at the time had skin reactions to it, and also rubbed their eyes on it...which caused them to swell. I still use it on their tail heads and manes to keep the ticks off, which seems to work. |
Member: paul303 |
Posted on Wednesday, Apr 25, 2007 - 9:46 pm: We've discussed this before, so you should be able to find something if you search. I live on a state forest that is heavily infested with ticks of all kinds. Like Diane, I find it does help with the ticks and chiggers. I can't say I've noticed any difference with the flies. |
Member: jd1947 |
Posted on Thursday, Apr 26, 2007 - 11:55 am: Hi,Gals...thanks for your replies...I guess like most things, some work on some horses and some don't...trial & error, but that gets darned expensive!! lee, I did that search and read the posts on the 'homemade' repelent using distilled vinegar (I assume that's white vinegar), water & dawn dish soap. So many members had good luck with that, I am going to try it. I'll spray it on a small area of each mare & our geldings to check for reaction and go from there...here in Northern WY., we don't have many flying critters yet...been a rather cold and very wet spring (which means the bugs will be worse than ever)...but once they start, it's horrible. Once I begin using this mixture, I'll post back to tell you all wether it works for my horses or not... I may try it on myself too...when we are in the fields irrigating all summer, the mosquitoes are terrible...swarms of them...and the Deer Flies hurt so bad when they bite...so I hope it'll work for me... several years ago I needed to repair some fenceline where we kept our stupid cows...the mosquitoes there were your worst nightmare, so I covered myself in a paste of Garlic...I really thought the 'geeters' would stay away...but NOT!! I guess some have luck using Gralic...but it sure did not keep the little buggers away from me!!! Thanks again. |
Member: nadia |
Posted on Friday, Apr 27, 2007 - 6:11 pm: I tried this mixture last year. My horse did not like it at all - he would try to avoid the spray and would try to bite me. I think it stung. I went back to using Tri-tec spray - for some reason, he has no problem with it.Nadia |
Member: jd1947 |
Posted on Saturday, Apr 28, 2007 - 3:38 pm: Hi gals,Wouldn't it be wonderful if there was even just one bug repellent that really works!!! I suppose like so many other things, as I said before...trial & error...just wish it didn't cost so much. I decided I am going to try the spot on with my geldings...see if it works and I doubt they'd have a reaction...pretty tough horses. I'm going to try the homemade stuff on a small area for both my mares...being Thorougbreds, they may not like it, especially my grey mare, but I'll try it and have some buckets of fresh water close by in case I need to get it off them in a hurry. If neither of those tactics work, then it'll be back to the drawing board. I have found that over the years the best bug repellent I have used is "Pouriton" (not sure about the spelling)...it's a gel like substance that you either pour across their top line, or wipe on with a mitt...it does work pretty well, but it's expensive stuff. Good luck to all of us in the battle against the bugs!!! |
Member: mrose |
Posted on Saturday, Apr 28, 2007 - 4:10 pm: Sometimes it seems like we go from one "battle" right to another! Snow, mud, now flies and bugs. That's not counting problems with feet, vacinations, etc. And just why do we do all this? I bet that somewhere in this world there are people that see a warm sunny day, grab a glass of tea and a book, and sit around and relax! No one I know does that, but I've seen pictures of it so it must happen somewhere!An added problem with fly sprays/bug repellents is that I'm allergic to most of them, including the "natural" ones and ones made with Avon Skin So Soft, as is one of our stallions. I think it's going to be a tough fly season around here, too. |
Moderator: DrO |
Posted on Sunday, Apr 29, 2007 - 9:02 am: There is one that works Joanie and we discuss it in the article along with recommendations for its use.DrO |
Member: jd1947 |
Posted on Sunday, Apr 29, 2007 - 10:47 am: Dr.O,Thank you...guess it's the Farnum product, which I can actually buy locally. |
Member: muffi |
Posted on Thursday, May 3, 2007 - 6:56 pm: I have tried the homemade formula with vinegar and the Dawn detergent - My guys were sticky feeling, dust settled all over them and it really didn't help much. Made cleaning easier when you hosed them down though! Also last time I used it one of my horses reacted to it with hives - so I am back to the ol' yellow bottle of stuff and Fly Preditors. I keep their area really really clean - scoop a couple of times a day and where we compost it on the property trails I break the balls when we dump it twice a day. so Our population of flys & skeeters is not too bad right now. that yellow stuff and the fly masks do the trick for us. |