I’m looking for opinions and suggestions on the best fly spray, especially for living in Florida. I’m hoping to find the most natural one possible that still works effectively. I have some respiratory issues and the more natural stuff is just easier on my lungs, but I also want my horses to be comfortable and not constantly being attacked. Right now I’m using Equiderma fly spray and I think it works pretty well so far, but we’re not in the summer months yet, and we only just moved them home a couple weeks ago. I just ordered fly predators and I have them on auto-ship every three weeks, so I hope that helps too.
What’s your definition of “natural”?
Pyrethrin is from chrysanthemums. Permethrin is the synthetic version of it. Most traditional fly spray has one or the other or both.
Then there’s Ecovet which works on totally different tech with specific fatty acid and many find it really effective … but a lot of people also find it very irritating from a respiratory perspective, even though it’s “natural.”
There are a lot of sprays that depend on a various mixture of botanicals (like Equiderma, which uses neem and citronella and a few other things) but they tend to not be as effective as the pyrethroid options, or Ecovet. If you find something with an ingredient that seems to work well for your specific population, you can always buy it alone and either add it to other stuff, or add more to potentially up the effectiveness. A tricky thing with the botanical sprays is there’s often a lot of stuff that any one person or horse may react to.
Given all that, I tend to mix traditional spray (pyranha, ultrashield black) with other stuff depending on where we are on the season. I’ll cut it with a botanical spray when bugs aren’t bad, or I’ll add a little ecovet when they are, or I’ll add some neem if that seems to be working well for a particular year, or add more permethrin in late summer.
I also use fly predators, and spray my manure pile with an IGR, both of which seem to make a pretty solid difference.
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OutSmart by Smartpak. Hands down. (I’m in South Georgia swampland)
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This chart showing OutSmart out-performing everything besides Ecovet is what sold me and then continued use for 3 years has made me a forever customer. https://eco-vet.com/blogs/ecovet/study-ecovet-outperforms-other-repellents-in-both-efficacy-and-duration
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I came here to say OutSmart and I’m glad to see someone else beat me to it. I know everyone has different experiences with various sprays, but I’m in Eastern NC which is very similar in god-awful humid climate and intense bugginess.
If I’m riding into the woods…well, honestly there’s nothing to combat the deer flies and gnats and mosquitoes that mob the horses and us in the woods in the summer. So, I stay out of the woods. LOL. But IF I feel like I need something more than OutSmart when riding, I use TriTec 14. I find it has a pretty mild smell and my sensitive-skinned Appaloosa does great with it.
I was sold on OutSmart when my trimmer used it on my horse one day and I noticed he didn’t have a bug anywhere on or near him the entire time she was trimming his feet. It’s natural, you can use it on yourself too. To me it smells like a cross between Wrigley’s Spearmint and Big Red gums. I always tell my horse he smells like a big stick of gum when he’s got it on. Could be worse!
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Piranha pyrethrin for me. My horses last year had serious allergic reactions requiring emergency treatments to something in the Absorbine brand eco green bottle spray, and my vet said she’s also seen it with Piranha green. I do keep one bottle of Ecovet around, but the horses walk off
when they see me coming with the Ecovet spray bottle. They stand peacefully munching hay for any other brand.
I have a fly spray system in my barn and rather than paying for spray bottles holding 32 ounces, I just refill empty spray bottles from the barrel. Much less costly than buying 32 oz of spray at a time in spray bottles. And in ten years, the horses have never manifested signs of allergy to it.
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Outsmart gave my horse very mild chemical burns (peeling skin but fur stayed) and did nothing for bugs. Two HUGE thumbs down for me.
Ecovet works great, smells awful. It seems to last longer than anything else I’ve seen.
Yellow Piranha (sp?) also works well and smells better than Ecovet. Does not last as long. Does attract dirt as it’s an oil base.
I’ve used Repel-X for years (and years) --be sure to read the directions. The directions say to mix a new batch every use. If you are like me, you mix a container and use it until it is empty, then mix a new one. Older and wiser now, so if I am going to someplace where flies are terrible or it is really important that no flies land on horse (Showmanship class at a horse show), then I do mix new for that occasion. Otherwise, I keep doing what I do --make a container of Repel-X and use it until it’s gone, then make a new one . . .
FYI if I am riding with others who swear by “Skin-so-soft” mixed with eye of newt and hair of dog with a couple of drops of Dawn dish soap to keep flies off, I use it a lot quicker because they all borrow it. Same with those spraying their horses with garlic and vinegar . . .
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Yellow Pyranha makes my Old Man break out in hives.
EcoVet is capable of melting paint. Not going to spray that on my horse.
Absorbine Black is expensive and I swear it works for about 5 minutes.
I haven’t tried the OutSmart, I’ll give that a whirl this year, when I’m done spending up last year’s left overs.
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I really like the Espana Silk Bug Spray. All natural ingredients, and actually smells good. Good for more than just flies. I even use it on myself, and the dog, if going to be out in longish grass, and worried about ticks.
Lasts through sweating, as well.
I have always had the best luck with Endure and it has a very light scent. I do use the yellow Pyranha occasionally as well but I feel like I smell like it for a solid 6 hours after I put it on them.
This stuff sounds interesting and worth a try.
For everyday rides at home I use bronco in the white bottle. I feel like it works just as good as anything else in the short term and it’s cheap enough that I don’t feel bad hosing it off after our ride. If we are off property in the field or woods I use Endure and if the bugs are really bad also some deep woods off on the legs/rump/belly.
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I’m already battling deer ticks here. I’m trying the Tractor Supply own brand in the silver bottle, and so far so good. And it isn’t too violently chemical scented.
I will use Deep Woods Off on both of us if I’m heading into deer fly territory, though.
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Do you find Deep Woods Off works on deer flies? I always thought they were sight hunters and nothing worked. I may have to give it a try…
I used the CVD aerosol my farrier recommended.
I figured if anyone knew how to keep flies off, he did.
But the price kept going up, & I resented paying for air, so I switched to Gordon’s concentrate & mix it @ 1-1/2X recommended strength.
It’s water soluble, so not messy & seems to do a decent job.
A pint lasts me over a month.
This (at Walmart & TSC)
I’m trying pyranah zero bite. Not sure if that will work well or not.
I do this too, and make sure to thoroughly hose when the ride is over. That stuff is also capable of melting paint.
The little shits with the neat looking wings?
No, I haven’t found it works. They target ears, it seems, so I just make sure to put a bonnet on when they’re bad.
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Endure is still my favorite here in
Buggy Florida
Must spray daily for best coverage.
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