With the warmer weather biting insects and flies are waking up. The blackflies have already made their appearance here; pesky little bugs that you don`t notice have bitten until after they`ve had their meal. They love to nestle into the hair on the horse`s ears, leaving behind itchy lumps. We have found that AVON Skin So Soft Original Scent works well to repel them, although the effect is not long lasting. There are lots of sprays around to help repel bugs, fly masks to keep them off of eyes and ears, and fly sheets to prevent your horse from being bit and developing welts that might be uncomfortable and not look so great in the show ring. 
Muscovy ducks can help control stable flies.
Photo 2007 Rick van Helden Muscovys are fly eating machines! I've never had much of an appetite for duck though since learning this, and my sister telling that one of hers caught and ate a mouse.
I've tried homemade sprays, but have never found one that was very effective. Most smelled bad--mainly like vinegar--and in some cases I wondered if the bugs appreciated the condiments I had sprayed on my horses. Some folks like to add garlic or cider vinegar to their horse's diets. There's some question about the wisdom of feeding garlic to horses, and vinegar in any application doesn't seem to do much.
If you have a stable you might want to keep a few muscovy ducks.
Photo 2007 Rick van Helden
What do you do to repel those biting insects? Have you found a sure fire method of fly control for horse or stable? Take the poll, and leave your comments below!
Comments
hi – I use the fly trap cylinders such as farnam.s trap and toss… I hang them up in late March – (Illinois) altho they look quite disgusting they are effective..They hang at every door entrance and exits ..and work best if in the sun ..good luck..
My mom uses these at her barn as well. Yes, they look pretty bad, but they do collect a lot of flies!
Tried several “eco-friendly” fly products and none of them work. I am feeding Buggzo to my horse now and that is supposed to keep the flys off him. So far, there are a lot fewer flys on him but they all are not gone. The best results I have have is buying Backsider, a fly spray made for cows that is supposed to be mixed with motor oil. However, I mix it with baby oil. It will last for several days in the hottest days of Las Vegas, NV, does not smell bad and the more I pet my horse, the softer my hands are.It keeps the flys away!!! I use about 2 ounces of Backsider to a 12 ounce bottle of baby oil that I buy at the 99cents store for 99 cents.I start by rubbing it on with a rag or sponge and after a while the horse lets me spray it on him. Many people laugh at this idea, but they haven’t tried it. The few who do, thank me again and again. Ed
Marmite!!Don’t know if you can get this in
the US, it’s a vegetable & yeast extract made into a very strong flavoured, sticky, spread, for human consumption, but if you dissolve some in hot water and add it to the feed, (most horses like the flavour), the sweat the horse makes is repellent to flies. Same goes for humans, if you eat it, flies keep away!
Thanks Pam, I’m going to pick up some marmite next time I grocery shop. I love it spread thinly on toast. Vegetarians eat it because it supplies B vitamins they might not otherwise get. It’s definitely an acquired taste though! Trillim likes salty flavours, so perhaps she’ll be enthusiastic about it.
Ed: I’ve heard of the product you mentioned. Mixing it with baby oil is a great idea. Can’t imagine spraying motor oil oil on my horse!
With the Marmite… do you think it is the B Vitamins that repel the flies? Wouldn’t it be easier and overall more beneficial to simply give the horse a B Vit supplement?