The flies have been getting bad again and my go to fly control of permethrin sponged on is no longer effective. The flies are not bothered by it at all. Any suggestions that flies haven’t got immune to yet?
You might try the Centaura stuff, but it’ll cost you a small fortune. I had some vets in Colorado that highly recommended it and use it on people and dogs when the bugs are bad–works quite well there.
I switched from Pyranha (which has worked well for me for YEARS) to the black Ultrashield or Endure this summer. Both have been working better.
I started making my own fly spray for my horses. The store bought stuff just wasn’t working anymore. Plus i got fly sheets and neck covers as well. With all the rain we’ve had where i am, the mosquitoes and deer flies and horse flies have been horrid. When your horses come inside from pasture with blood dripping down their neck and chest and with huge welts the size of a cancer growth… theres a serious problem!
Boil water,
put 3 tablespoons of whole cloves,
2 teaspoons of dried thyme herb,
and a 1/4 of a cinnamon stick in a jar. Fill the jar with boiling water, shake and let simmer for several hours. Strain the tea and put it in a spray bottle. Next add 1 tablespoon of Vanillin (make sure it doesn’t have foodcoloring in it or i’ll dye your horse a caramel color 
Find one that has the least ingredients as possible.
Add a cup of soap base (I use HD Gold, or Basic H) then fill the rest of the spray bottle with water.
This works AMAZINGLY on all flies and misquitoes too =D
Inclined…thanks for the recipe. Do flies just dislike those herbs and scents??
Yep. They’re too strong and theres something about the scent of cinnamon and clove that they highly dislike for some reason. A lot of herbs like those were used back in older times whenever someone would slaughter a lot of livestock to keep the insects away from the raw meat. My mom came up with the idea years ago to try using them on the horses works like a charm!
The vanillin helps make the scents of the other herbs last longer and the flies don’t like it because its too sweet smelling, but for some reason it doesn’t attract bees o.O huh… I don’t know why but it works well so Im not gunna question it lol. Its expecially great for my sister’s mare who has really bad COPD and has coughing attacks whenever any chemical flyspray is used around her.
Oh and if you happen to have it, 5 drops of cedarwood essential oil and 10 drops of Eucalyptus essential oil adds extra power for the mosquitos and deer flies.
I also use a few teaspoons of dried lemon balm herb to the tea batch. I make herbal remedies for my horses and some clients as well so I always have a lot of different herbs on hand and this year I got a bumper crop of lemon balm and discovered it works amazingly well in fly spray too! So if you can get ahold of some go for it 
Manna pro makes an all natural spray that has been working for me pretty well. I can’t remember off the top of my head what it’s called. It’s in a green bottle, not that that helps much!
Thanks everyone for the suggestions! I will check them all out including that recipe. My BO uses essential oils and herbs for a lot of things, so maybe she can make that fly spray for all of the horses
[QUOTE=Inclinedtowhisper;8294539]
I started making my own fly spray for my horses. The store bought stuff just wasn’t working anymore. Plus i got fly sheets and neck covers as well. With all the rain we’ve had where i am, the mosquitoes and deer flies and horse flies have been horrid. When your horses come inside from pasture with blood dripping down their neck and chest and with huge welts the size of a cancer growth… theres a serious problem!
Boil water,
put 3 tablespoons of whole cloves,
2 teaspoons of dried thyme herb,
and a 1/4 of a cinnamon stick in a jar. Fill the jar with boiling water, shake and let simmer for several hours. Strain the tea and put it in a spray bottle. Next add 1 tablespoon of Vanillin (make sure it doesn’t have foodcoloring in it or i’ll dye your horse a caramel color Find one that has the least ingredients as possible.
Add a cup of soap base (I use HD Gold, or Basic H) then fill the rest of the spray bottle with water.
This works AMAZINGLY on all flies and misquitoes too =D[/QUOTE]
QUESTION: When you say “let simmer for several hours,” do you mean to actually simmer it on the stove or just let it sit in the jar after you add the boiling water. “Simmer” is a very low boil; so after several hours, there would likely be no water left!
Sorry, wrong terminology on my part lol. I meant steep. I just pour the boiling water into a jar on top of the herbs and shake it up then cover it so the steam doesn’t escape. The steam holds the oils and highest properties and scents in the herbs so you’d loose a lot of the scent if the steam escapes.
