Looking for natural horse fly repellent.......

[Crystal Dragon]

Hi everyone
Now that summer seems to have finally arrived here in the UK, my friend's shire horses are suffering with horse flies and I wondered if anyone here might know of a natural horse fly repellent that works. My friend has tried both garlic and lavendar with little success - any ideas please?
BB
CD

[Saille-Panthera]

A friend of mine makes her own spray, which works wonders if I am to believe her! (and I do believe her)
I will ask her the recipe!!

[Crystal Dragon]

Many thanks Saille-Panthera & Welcome back
This lovely sunny weather is nice but the horse flies certainly seem to be out in force just now ......
Solstice Blessings,
CD

[Corwen]

I know people here have used citronella, but I don't know how well it works. Besides, the problem here is mostly midges rather than horse flies.

[Spirit Bear]

Disinfectant, Insect repellent,
One tsp Tea Tree Oil to one cup warm water. Place combination in a spray bottle and spray the inside of a trailer to minimize flies. Spray buckets, tools, stalls, etc., when needing to disinfect equipment. Spray your horse and yourself prior to a trail ride and prevent flies from bothering you.
Add two TBS to your wash tub when washing blankets or saddle pads and allow this to soak for 30 minutes to disinfect. Apply Tea Tree Oil directly to cuts and wounds. It will minimize pain and eliminate itching yet stimulates healing. This makes it great for sweet itch, greasy heel, ringworm and other dermatitises.

Be sure you buy a good quality of tea tree oil ( Melaleuca alternifolia). There are some cheap bad quality or chemical oils on the market too.

It works also very good for dogs against fleas and ticks. Spray your dog with a mixture of 10 to 15 drops of tea tree mixed in a little water. Or add the drops to some almond oil and massage in the fur.
I have good results with this. When we go to the forrests in the Ardennes where there are a lot of ticks, my dog never got one while dogs who had frontline chemical anti flea and tick repellant had a lot of ticks on them.

You can also put some drops of tea tree on your pillow to keep away mosquitos at night. But as tea tree oil has a very strong smell and lot of people don't like it, maybe it also keeps your wife/husband away... lol

CAUTION! Never use tee trea oil on your cats, it can be toxic for our feline friends.

[Saille-Panthera]

Disinfectant, Insect repellent,
One tsp Tea Tree Oil to one cup warm water. Place combination in a spray bottle and spray the inside of a trailer to minimize flies. Spray buckets, tools, stalls, etc., when needing to disinfect equipment. Spray your horse and yourself prior to a trail ride and prevent flies from bothering you.
Add two TBS to your wash tub when washing blankets or saddle pads and allow this to soak for 30 minutes to disinfect. Apply Tea Tree Oil directly to cuts and wounds. It will minimize pain and eliminate itching yet stimulates healing. This makes it great for sweet itch, greasy heel, ringworm and other dermatitises.

Be sure you buy a good quality of tea tree oil ( Melaleuca alternifolia). There are some cheap bad quality or chemical oils on the market too.

It works also very good for dogs against fleas and thicks. Spray your dog with a mixture of 10 to 15 drops of tea tree mixed in a little water. Or add the drops to some almond oil and massage in the fur.
I have good results with this. When we go to the forrests in the Ardennes where there are a lot of thicks, my dog never got one while dogs who had frontline chemical anti flea and thick repellant had a lot of thicks on them.

You can also put some drops of tea tree on your pillow to keep away mosquitos at night. But as tea tree oil has a very strong smell and lot of people don't like it, maybe it also keeps your wife/husband away... lol

CAUTION! Never use tee trea oil on your cats, it can be toxic for our feline friends.

Way, way, way to much for dogs! Even for horses I would not use more then 2 drops straight on like that!! Tea tree isn't soluble in water so you are giving your dog pure tea tree oil on it's skin, which is known to cause ataxia and other neurological symptoms. (those symptoms are reversible, but still...) And also not unimportant: most dogs hate the smell!! (and the warning with cats goes for all e.oils unfortunately, darn cat livers..)

Didn't here back yet CB, it was also a mixture with essential oils, she made a lot of money selling it at her stable last year

[Spirit Bear]

Way, way, way to much for dogs! Even for horses I would not use more then 2 drops straight on like that!! Tea tree isn't soluble in water so you are giving your dog pure tea tree oil on it's skin, which is known to cause ataxia and other neurological symptoms. (those symptoms are reversible, but still...) And also not unimportant: most dogs hate the smell!! (and the warning with cats goes for all e.oils unfortunately, darn cat livers..)

Didn't here back yet CB, it was also a mixture with essential oils, she made a lot of money selling it at her stable last year

What I wrote before is how I learned it at my holistical medicine for animals course and paraveterinary training 17 years ago. I've worked in an animal hospital for years and we have never seen any problems. I know that lately there are discussions about the use of tea tree with a pro and con camp. I can only speak of my experiences and they are positive.

About the soluble in water issue: Barbara Fougere (President of the Veterinary Botanical Medicine Association, Australia) writes in her book 'Essential oils for flea control should always be diluted in water and then sprayed onto the coat... Alternatively, add 10 drops total (of one or more oils) to 20 ml of almond oil, and use 1 drop per kg of body weight by massaging into the coat twice weekly".

If you don't want to use tea tree here's another flea-free blend for dogs:
Place 4 drops per 5 kg of body weight onto a bandana daily, and 1 to 2 drops per 5 kg to the base of the tail.
Mix together:
- sweet almond oil 15 ml
- lavender 4 drops
- citronella 1 drop
- peppermint 5 drops
- lemon 3 drops
- clary sage 2 drops

Store in an amber bottle.

Some recepies for natural horse fly repellent:

Recipe from Mary Brennan, DVM, author of Complete Holistic Care and Healing for Horses: The Owner's Veterinary Guide to Alternative Methods and Remedies
1/2 teaspoon oil of myrrh
2 cups water
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/4 teaspoon of citronella oil

Another one:
2 cups apple cider vinegar
2 cups cold (prepared) tea, such as sage or chamomile tea
20 drops eucalyptus oil
20 drops citronella oil
10 drops lavender oil
10 drops tea tree oil
10 drops cedar oil
20 drops emulsifier, such as polysorbate 20

And another one:
1 cup water
1 cup Avon Skin So Soft Bath Oil or Baby oil
2 cups vinegar
1 tbs. Eucalyptus oil
Optional: few tablespoons of citronella oil.
Shake spray bottle well before spraying on horse, human or dog!

If anyone has problems with flies in the barn, try filling a quart jar with this mixture.
3 cups of water
1⁄4 (one quarter) cup sugar
1⁄4 (one quarter) cup white vinegar
Mix, punch holes in the lid, and set it where needed. It works great.

Blessings,

[Saille-Panthera]

What I wrote before is how I learned it at my holistical medicine for animals course and paraveterinary training 17 years ago. I've worked in an animal hospital for years and we have never seen any problems. I know that lately there are discussions about the use of tea tree with a pro and con camp. I can only speak of my experiences and they are positive.

Me to My teacher aromatherapy has much experience (she is a walking aromatherapy encyclopedia) and has seen the side effects of tea tree with dogs a couple of times. But well, the tea tree DOES work, there is no doubt about that. But I think you should also consider the fact, despite from the health issues that sometimes arise, that most dogs hate the smell, combined with the important role for smell with dogs!

But we drift away from the topic, didn't hear back yet, which irritates me a bit but well. I believe she used a mixture of lavender, citronella, geranium or something... but you've provided lots of recipes, so that should work out just fine

[Spirit Bear]

Here you can find ready made natural fly sprays http://www.greenhorseflyspray.com/Ingre ... tails.html with lavender, geranium....

Essential oils that have fly repelling properties are:

Eucalyptus
Eucalyptus Citriodora (lemon scented)
Eucalyptus Dives (peppermint scented)
Citronella
Tea Tree
Lavender
Lemon
Lemongrass
Patchouli
Clove Bud
Cedarwood Atlas and Himalayan
Geranium
Garlic
Rosemary
Peppermint
Thyme

Neem oil is also very effective and can be added to blends (add 5ml (teaspoon) to 500ml)

[Crystal Dragon]

Hello Spirit Bear & Saille-Panthera,

Thank you for all the wonderful recipes and advice which I will pass on to my friend

Blessings,

CD