Horses & Flies

Horses & Flies

Horses & Flies

Few ways of protecting your horse or pony:

1. Fly Spray - this can be expensive! Making your own can save you a fortune. See below for details.

2. Fly Fringe or Mask - this attaches to your horses headcollar (or sometimes can be put directly onto the horse's head without a headcollar). It will keep the flies away from the horse's eyes (and ears with some masks).

3. Fly Sheets - a light-weight (and often UV-reflectant) rug that will keep the flies off your horse and also help to keep them cool.

4. Garlic Supplements in feeds - garlic is a natural fly repellent. The oils in garlic will secrete through the horse's skin, emitting an odour that repels the flies. Garlic is also good for a healthy coat, and has been shown to boost the immune system.

Homemade Fly Repellent Recipe

Making your own fly spray will work out a LOT cheaper than buying from shops.

On average you will spend approx 8-10 for 500ml of shop-bought repellent. If you follow our recipe, it will cost you approx 1 for 500ml!

You need to buy a spray bottle, but you can pick these up from supermarkets or garden centers for around 1 and re-use them for each batch you make. A good tip is to spend a little bit more and get a decent spray bottle. You will be able to re-use it, and in my experience cheapo spray bottles can leak! It takes a lot of washing to get rid of the fly repellent smell, if it gets onto your hands!

There are lots of different recipes for fly spray. I'd recommend trying a few, and modifying them with different quantities or ingredients if they aren't working.

Some of the ingredients we use in our fly repellents are:

* Citronella (essential oil)

* Tea Tree (essential oil)

* Cold Tea (made as you would a regular cup of tea, but left to stew and go cold)

* Vinegar (cyder or white wine)

For the full recipe, go to the Tips&Bits website - http://www.tipsandbits.com/flyrepellents.html

I've also heard of other people adding ingredients such as garlic or rosemary. If you do decide to add a solid ingredient, you should soak it in the liquid (i.e. the tea, preferably when it's still hot) overnight and strain before putting into the spray bottle. This is to stop the solid ingredients clogging up the spray mechanism.

Happy fly repellent making!

The TipsandBits Team

www.tipsandbits.com

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