Is there any way to stop ticks eating my horse alive?

[sandi_84]

Blasted things! Keep finding them but he's taking lumps out of himself itching and I couldn't get one out today because he'd pulled at it till the skin had bled a bit and then set like concrete round the nasty beastie. I tried rubbing in some antisceptic spray but the hair was still stuck like glue around it, mum's going to get some warm water to it and see if she can get it out but in the meantime can you get anything that prevents the suckers from eating my horse?

 

[Ellen Durow]

Blasted things! Keep finding them but he's taking lumps out of himself itching and I couldn't get one out today because he'd pulled at it till the skin had bled a bit and then set like concrete round the nasty beastie. I tried rubbing in some antisceptic spray but the hair was still stuck like glue around it, mum's going to get some warm water to it and see if she can get it out but in the meantime can you get anything that prevents the suckers from eating my horse?

Have a word with your vet. "Frontline" and other flea preventatives for cats also act against ticks and there may be an equine equivalent.

If the tick is still present and skin has grown over it you should get the vet in to sort it out before infection sets in.

 

[Jnhuk]

Stuff that I have heard but no direct experience of, is that feeding garlic can help plus there are tick repellent products out there but I believe that free range chickens can to help control tick numbers

 

[cheeryplatypus]

You need a Tom o tick remover to remove the beastie. You can get these on eBay or the lymes disease website Do not try anything else as irritating them makes the tick regurgitate its stomach contents into the pony's bloodstream and can spread lymes disease etc. (yuk)
agree with trying spot on or similar but phone your vet first as its not licenced for horses.

 

[sandi_84]

Have a word with your vet. "Frontline" and other flea preventatives for cats also act against ticks and there may be an equine equivalent.

If the tick is still present and skin has grown over it you should get the vet in to sort it out before infection sets in.

You need a Tom o tick remover to remove the beastie. You can get these on eBay or the lymes disease website Do not try anything else as irritating them makes the tick regurgitate its stomach contents into the pony's bloodstream and can spread lymes disease etc. (yuk)
agree with trying spot on or similar but phone your vet first as its not licenced for horses.

Thankfully the skin isn't over it, it's just gummed up in the hair with a bit of blood and seabum
I'll definitely look in to the spot on and tom o tick remover though! I was going to ask if there was such a thing as spot on for horses but feared I might be laughed at ha ha!

 

[Ellen Durow]

Stuff that I have heard but no direct experience of, is that feeding garlic can help plus there are tick repellent products out there but I believe that free range chickens can to help control tick numbers

Garlic certainly repels flies and midges (but has to be fed year round to have any effect).

 

[cyberhorse]

Frontline spray will help them drop off without leaving the heads in. It can provide some short term protection also. Check with your vet it is OK for horses too as I have never used it on my horse, just on my cat's ears where the spot on does not seem to work.

 

[sarahann1]

Ask your vet for barricade, its used for cattle. Wonderful, but very potent, stuff. I used to keep my lads in a tick infested area, this stuff meant that those ticks that bit, didn't stay on for very long at all.

 

[Dexter]

You can get butox swish. 250ml for about £17 and you only need 30ml a horse every 6 to 8 weeks. Does ticks, lice and even flies. It's brilliant! Mine are at the bottom of the North Yorkshire moors surrounded on all sides by forest filled with deer and were getting 30 or so overnight!!

 

[neep]

I use butox on my guys in France and they have gone from 10 ticks a day to 1 or 2 a week I have a tick remover too. I hate the little ******s my mums cob even had one on his nose

 

[Foxhunter49]

The best thing for fleas on dogs, ticks, flies, midges, mange and many other things is Neem Oil.

Far cheaper and less toxic than Frontline.
2 tablespoons 100% pure Neem Oil (I use the Neem Team)
2 " liquid shampoo
1 litre of hot water.

Neem stinks like nothing else but you do get immune to the smell after a while!

I use the above mix as a fly spray and bathe the dogs in it and they stay tick and flea free for about 3 weeks.

Neem easily solidifies so you often need to stand it in hot water before using and, again best to use hot water to mix it and sponge it on the horse.

 

[LynH]

I got a Frontline spray for my horses from my vet last year and it lasts for several days at a time. They did say to get back to them if it didn't work as there were other alternatives but more expensive. I was pleased with the Frontline spray.