Good fly repellant - does it even exist??

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Quartz

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Does anyone know of a good fly repellant. My poor horse is covered in flys, I have never seen so many!!! He has a fly mask and I have tried a roll and spray fly repellant (citronelle). It does not seem to work. I feel so sorry for him, and I cant put a fly rug on because it is 35 degrees at the moment and he will just cook. So any ideas, homemade or other wise greatly appreciated. Many thanks
 
I've found Coopers to be the most effective, although it is quite expensive.

I did run out and made some up using vinegar, cold tea, some dettol, a drop of washing up liquid and some drops of tea tree oil. It did seem to make a difference. Apparently making a 'tea' from elder leaves is effective too although I've never tried it.
 
Im using barrier super plus just now and its the best stuff ive ever used....it totally stinks (in a really good fly repellant way :D) A lot of others i've used in the past have smelt a bit too flowery and im sure they attracted more flies!
 
After trying loads I think 'Leovet Power Phaser Phazer Fly Repellent Spray' is the best, it stinks but no flies come near my horse for hours :) it is very strong.

The next best one is 'Barrier Super Plus Fly Spray Repellent' it smells lovely and it keeps the flies away for a while at least :)
 
leovit power phaser is excellent even with big horseflies and bots, the gel is amazing and lasts for hours, excellent stuff and not excessively expensive.
 
It's a bit random but we use "Skin so soft" by Avon. It's not an equine product but apparently all the trawlermen use it up in Scotland. My mum's mare suffers awfully from sweet itch and it is the only thing that works for her. It's £4 for a little bottle but they last aaages, also it smells pretty good too! We don't like those uber strong ones because you can just smell the chemicals you're putting on your horse!

http://www.alternativeinsectrepellent.co.uk/

Hope this helps! :D
 
Leovet Power Phaser is the best I've used so far, although it doesn't work on those large blood sucking horse flys I'm afraid.
 
power phaser brings on my asthma really badly - doh!!

i rate coopers and the barrier avocado one :) i put both on every morning - coopers on sensitive parts and barrier as an all over spray :)
 
I use ruggle it on the exmoors for the midges which is great (plus waterproof) plus barrier super fly plus for the cleggs etc the super fly plus is the best fly repellent I've tried and have tried power phaser etc
 
i have just won the nex tex fly spray out of horse magazine and i have to say its pretty darn good!
it looks like water in the bottle as its clear (so perfect for greys!) it smells nice and it has really worked on my paper skin, fly attracting TB!
 
do you guys think that each one of these products could be a bit different on each of our horses, depending on their skin/coats, just like perfumes on humans?
 
I've had good results from Equimins fly repellent spray. Really stopped the flies annoying my boy and is the only stuff that seems to work around here.
 
The best ones I've used are
Coopers,
Phaser, and
Barrier Super Plus.

Coopers is quite expensive. It is a lotion, and is supposed to last a while. The only downside to that is if you need to hose your horse down daily after exercise, like I do at the moment. I get the feeling I'm just washing all the coopers off.

The others are OK, but tbh once it's dried and evaporated off, the flies seem to come back.

Have you tried feeding garlic or one of the fly repellant feed supplements? It may help a little bit too.
 
We've been making our own at my yard. It consists of lemon and rosemary and appears to be working very well! Even on my TB who is very sensitive to flies

X
 
Parafin, as advised by famous prof in Liverpool. I have a sarcoid prone horse and tried loads of horsey products...useless. Ok horse smells like a petrol station but IT WORKS.
 
I had a girl with sweet itch last year (when she arrived to me)

THis year I have been using Coopers (Till i ran out of money)
Then Barrier Super Plus - (This smells yummy to me! and seems to last well)

So i think the power phaser and the two above products seem to be the most popular.

However as suggested before - i think that like perfumes certain products work better on certain horses. So start with the Barrier Super Plus and see if it works - if not - Upgrade to the more expensive stuff! :D

p.s. This year - NO signs of rubbing or missing tails!!! :D
 
tessaolley said:
It's a bit random but we use "Skin so soft" by Avon. It's not an equine product but apparently all the trawlermen use it up in Scotland. My mum's mare suffers awfully from sweet itch and it is the only thing that works for her. It's £4 for a little bottle but they last aaages, also it smells pretty good too! We don't like those uber strong ones because you can just smell the chemicals you're putting on your horse!

http://www.alternativeinsectrepellent.co.uk/

Hope this helps! :D
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Wow, this works against flies????!!!!
 
Misinterpreted said:
The best ones I've used are
Coopers,
Phaser, and
Barrier Super Plus.

Coopers is quite expensive. It is a lotion, and is supposed to last a while. The only downside to that is if you need to hose your horse down daily after exercise, like I do at the moment. I get the feeling I'm just washing all the coopers off.

The others are OK, but tbh once it's dried and evaporated off, the flies seem to come back.

Have you tried feeding garlic or one of the fly repellant feed supplements? It may help a little bit too.
Click to expand...

When feeding garlic, do I feed it raw and how much?? Thanks
 
After reading a post on here recently I have been treating my cob with dilute dettol just sponged over him each morning. The flies do seem to be keeping away form him now that he smells like a hospital, lol. Its very diluted but smells strong even from a distance.
 
I am using Effol for horse flies and it does seem to work better than others. Supposed to work for 5 hours, but have to say Im not up the yard long enough to check if true
 
Quartz said:
When feeding garlic, do I feed it raw and how much?? Thanks
Click to expand...

I buy the horse garlic in the refill bags, I put about a cup in my soaking sugar beet, it keeps the flies off the sugar beet and then mixes with their feed, I do use quite a lot but then I have 8 horses - they all love it :)
 
My friend swears by this......Mix all this in a 500 ml spray, Avon oh so soft dry oil (on offer at £2) 1" out of the bottle, 1 teaspoon of citronella oil, good slosh of vinegar, fill up with water and a dash or two of baby oil to hold it all together. shake each time you use.
I have just sent for the ingredients off the internet to try it myself, hope it works because it will be a lot cheaper than stuff you can buy. It seems if it mentions 'Horse' on the label it is three times the price! Good luck
 
mik said:
do you guys think that each one of these products could be a bit different on each of our horses, depending on their skin/coats, just like perfumes on humans?
Click to expand...


maybe! plus there are different flying bitey things in different parts of the country. we don't get bots up here and generally horse flies arent as bad up here as they are down south (until this summer :(). The midges are horrendous and we get these other horrid things that leave your horse with circular patches of skin missing (about 5pence piece size) that get infected easily-having seen what one of these things can do when stuck under a fly rug I am reluctant to use them all of the time so they have them on when bugs at worst. Skin So Soft did nothing, Phaser worked but only for about 30mins, Coopers wasnt effective. my big horse isnt affect by midges, both the exmoors are and one of those gets relentlessly bitten by cleggs, the big horse has to put up with the other.
 
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