Friday, July 31, 2009

Waiter, there are no flies in my soup..........they're all on my horse!


It's that time of year again, when those annoying little buzzing pests start dive bombing our equine buddies with incessant glee. I hate flies. I was pleasantly surprised when I first moved up to the Pacific Northwest from California. The flies here in Oregon were nothing compared to down there. I laughed and scoffed and thought hah, is that the best you little buggers can do? I think they might have heard my taunting because this year they seem to be out in record numbers!

I put a fly mask on Lily for the first time this year, which she took to readily and I broke out the fly spray, something that for the last two years I really didn't need (I guess they're making up for lost time sheesh) I've tried a lot of different fly sprays over the years, Tri-tec, Ultra Shield etc and this time around I really wanted to try somthing that was less harsh chemical and more natural so I tried Eqyss Marigold Fly Spray, it's botanical and smells nice but..........I think the flies are snickering because it doesn't seem to keep them at bay for long. I've heard that Avon's Skin So Soft is a great fly deterant and I've used it before on myself so I know it smells great, have any of you used this and if so how did it work? I've also seen a product by Absorbine called SuperShield Green that has Citronella, tea tree oil and witch hazel which I may try before going back to harsher products. What is your fly battle strategy? I'd love to hear about the products that work for you and your horse natural or not.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

I used a vinegar dish soap combo which works fine when you put it on, lasts a day, but that's it. If you don't apply it 2x a day it's not very effective.

and your horse smells like bad salad dressing.

:)

Velvet Valeska said...

Thanks for the tip!Bad salad dressing.......... hmmmmmmm lol

allhorsestuff said...

I have been trying some alternatives this year...soothing stuff that is a bit thicker since we have these pesky and hard to dislodge horseflys(or deerflys)they leave HUGE-O- welts that don not go away in 24 hours and sometimes not for days! Pigeon feaver has been at large around these parts too...so, I have been using cedar oil(from Port Orford) and Vicks Vapo Rub..yea..from clidhood..it really snells nice feels good to the horse before and after a bite..stays longer for the underbelly application too. I also have my mare in a lightweight sheet..it goes under her belly and up her neck..seems to help tons..an sometimes I spray it with "Equisect"instead of her!
What ever you use natually ...does take repeated applications . But my PBO and I take turns doing it.

We are about to start a "feed through" fly control that is natural...it has finally been on the market long enough to have good results and no side effects.