Market research…

[Horsekaren]

Hi,
I'm doing a little bit of market research and was looking for some opinions.
Since retiring my boy i don't ride very much and spend most of my time just caring and patching him back up im very content doing this but i have got a bit of a reputation as a potion queen!

Now my question...
Would you purchase grooming/ caring sets for your equine that were all natural and environmentally forward thinking?

For example - fly spray, would you purchase a fly spray bottle in a set with a top up syrup which you mixed with water to keep refilling your fly spray bottle, saving money and plastic ect. Now... for arguments sake lets just say it was a fantastic fly repellent, not just some citronella and neem mixed with water that would curdle ect, a lot of natural science goes into development of the products. Natural and kind ingredients only but with a lot of clout!

In terms of price, lets says a 500ml premixed bottle was £10.00 and a top up syrup equating to aprox 3 litre's worth was £20.00 and a starter set was around £25.00 for the bottle and the top up. Would you part with your cash ??


A kind of lush for horses if you like
I cant stress enough this wouldn't be a homemade recipe type it would be professional and only the highest quality repelling ingredients.

I know it wouldn't appeal to everyone but would be keen to get some feed back

 

[Expo]

Yes, I would buy something like this. I think anything we can do to minimise the use of things like spray bottles has got to be a good thing and I like the idea of being able to add water to the top up concentrate. If all natural ingredients work as a fly repellent then I'd say go for it.

 

[TPO]

100%

 

[Northern Hare]

For non-equine cleaning products and shampoo etc, I always prefer to buy concentrated versions that I dilute myself, so it'd be the same with horse products of I were to get another horse.

Ref fly sprays, there was an interesting thread on here last summer which may be of use:

https://forums.horseandhound.co.uk/threads/making-and-selling-fly-spray-legal-queries.807304/

 

[MuddyMonster]

Yes, but there are ready natural and environmentally friendly companies (e.g compostable 'plastics' with refill options) offering products for less than the prices you've quoted so it would need to be competitively priced & work better for me to swap brands.

But, in theory, yes

 

[TPO]

Yes, but there are ready natural and environmentally friendly companies (e.g compostable 'plastics' with refill options) offering products for less than the prices you've quoted so it would need to be competitively priced & work better for me to swap brands.

But, in theory, yes

On the other hand if the product OP supplied actually worked I'd pay more!

Haven't found anything yet that does the job. Biteback is the closest but a certain type irritates my horses skin and burn mine and some of the types absolutely stink.

Horse I'd very allergic to bites but also seems to attract every biting thing going. If someone made something that worked, even better if it was something that was gentle on skin and "natural", then if pay a lot more than £25

 

[dorsetladette]

I would but as the spray bottle would be reusable I'd want it to be more robust than the usual throw away ones.

 

[[153312]]

Personally no

 

[meleeka]

Yes. I buy my fly repellent online and it’s more expensive than you are proposing (Biteback) It would have to work though.

 

[MuddyMonster]

On the other hand if the product OP supplied actually worked I'd pay more!

Haven't found anything yet that does the job. Biteback is the closest but a certain type irritates my horses skin and burn mine and some of the types absolutely stink.

Horse I'd very allergic to bites but also seems to attract every biting thing going. If someone made something that worked, even better if it was something that was gentle on skin and "natural", then if pay a lot more than £25

As would I if I had issues or it worked better than what we're currently using. But the stuff we use works really well for us - it's natural, environmentally friendly & does what it says on the tin so I wouldn't pay more for the sake of it

If mine wasn't environmentally friendly but there was a EF version that was more expensive, for me that would be worth a cost increase.

Good luck with your proposed venture OP!

 

[TPO]

But the stuff we use works really well for us

What do you use of tou don't mind me asking?

Not even had our proper winter yet but can never be too prepared for blinking midges!!

 

[daffy44]

It sounds similar to the kind of things Honest Riders do, and I think its so important that we start to think about the things we use with horses to more environmetally friendly, using refills whenever possible etc.

 

[MuddyMonster]

What do you use of tou don't mind me asking?

Not even had our proper winter yet but can never be too prepared for blinking midges!!

We use Alchemist Garden - a mix of their fly balm for sheath, around the face etc and fly spray all over.

If he gets itchy, I use their soothing itch balm (which to be fair, is quite liquid-y) but works well!

They have various shampoos, member and tail spray etc too. You can get sample size products to trial too.

I really rate them.

 

[TPO]

We use Alchemist Garden - a mix of their fly balm for sheath, around the face etc and fly spray all over.

If he gets itchy, I use their soothing itch balm (which to be fair, is quite liquid-y) but works well!

They have various shampoos, member and tail spray etc too. You can get sample size products to trial too.

I really rate them.

Thank you! I've never heard of them so will look them up

 

[RHM]

Absolutely I would. For some reason I don’t throw away the old spray bottles anyway and now have quite the collection ?‍ I hate how much waste this industry produces.

 

[Horsekaren]

ah wonderful feedback, thank you all
The plan would be to hopefully get a local charity involved so they can be donated the product and get a percentage of profits .... i dont think i have ever purchased an equine product that kicks back to the horses in need.
My head is about to explode, it will either be beautiful or a big fat flop. Watch this space

 

[ihatework]

Would definitely consider this if the product worked!

 

[Carrottom]

If it is effective I would buy.

 

[Floofball]

I would try bottle and if it worked definitely buy refills, lovely idea for % to charity - but it would have to really work!

@MuddyMonster sorry but giggled at member and tail spray (I’ll grow up one day! ?)

 

[scats]

I think the equestrian world needs to get a move on with regards the over use of single use plastics. The amount of supplement tubs I have is ludicrous. I desperately try to find a use for them, mind.
So yes, if the spray was effective, I would definitely go for this.

 

[SBJT]

So long as it works then absolutely!

 

[Kaylum]

We sell bars of horse soap and they are very popular. They aren't strong smelling because horses senses of smell is different to humans and they can't get away from the smell. But they really do work.

They aren't expensive either.

 

[Red-1]

I use a similar product, hot horse showers fly spray, it comes with one bottle, and you buy pouches to dilute and fill the bottle. It did actually seem to work, so I will buy for this year too.

 

[Dontforgetaboutme]

There is already a product available called Shoo Fly. I used to buy but since switched to hedgewitch

 

[Horsekaren]

Thanks all, good to see there are people doing similar things already
My concern with most of the ones out there is that the ingredients are not stated … I know this is perfectly within the law but not something i am a fan of. I’d plan on listing all the ingredients just like a human product would require.

My other concern is as it would be entirely natural it doesn’t require testing or legislation,
Licensing ect … obviously I would run my own sample tests and gather feedback and adapt. I understand this would require liability insurance ect
But my big worry is despite every horse product advising patch testing is required. What happens if a horse has a reaction to the natural ingredients? Despite every warning and contents of the bottle being stated on the bottle things can still happen.
Obviously this is a risk we all take with any product we put on our horse but this does worry me.

Im pleased with the feed back so far, the throw away nature of the equine product industry does need addressing! Also the use of chemicals… even in some home made insect repellent the ingredients shock me what people are willing to put on their horses.

 

[MuddyMonster]

I would try bottle and if it worked definitely buy refills, lovely idea for % to charity - but it would have to really work!

@MuddyMonster sorry but giggled at member and tail spray (I’ll grow up one day! ?)

Haha! Oh gosh, I didn't even notice that typo ?

 

[GoldenWillow]

I would definitely buy the pack you were mentioning but would like to know that it worked first and my horse didn't have any reaction to it so would prefer to buy a small sample size bottle before purchasing the big bundle. I already try to buy refill packs of anything I use.

 

[tristar]

refill bottles would be great but would need to have spray heads that continue to work well over and over

insect control is needed for the future, as the climate warms, and in my lifetime they have got worse.

one thing very much needed is insect control methods for the eyes, i have seen many horses with eye probs in recent years, a whole range of wash, clean, protection and cover ups, even if they were properly effective for 12 hours

 

[criso]

I use the red horse fly spray and already buy the big containers to refill my spray bottle, so yes a concentrated option would be even better.

 

[Muddywellies]

In my experience, fly repellents that are natural just don't work. I'm a bit of an eco warrior and can't abide how much plastic is used in packaging, but my sweet itch prone horse needs fly repellents that really do work, regardless of how its packaged.