Fly sprays that WORK with minimal harm to watershed?

[Simkie]

What’s your concern with the watershed? What you put on your horse is unlikely to wind up in the watershed, unless something like a spill happens in an inopportune place. Applying to a horse is a bit of a different question than spraying on a garden.

You can minimize risk by applying in a protected area. Wiping on rather than spraying limits what the wind takes away, and rubbing into the coat can up effectiveness and longevity. Don’t apply to your horse before rain, if they’ll be out in it, to reduce what comes off the horse. Oil based might “stick” to the horse better, but really what comes off them is so minimal.

You can limit what you need with sheets, masks, and boots. Effective manure management will also help. Barn swallows, purple martins and bats are excellent to reduce your fly numbers, so giving them space is useful. Giving your horses dark spaces with fans to hide during the worst parts of the day can also reduce your need for spray. Fly predators might also make a dent, depending on what you have nearby. Traps (hung away from the horses/barn) will also reduce the population.

[SLW]

@emeraldcity

Ecovet is the only thing that remotely works for me. I know some people are not fans, and DEFINITELY apply it outside and stand upwind. It’s not a miracle but it’s far more effective than anything else I’ve tried. I also use freedom 45 for ticks.

My horse is turned out in full gear in the worst months. I ride in the ring in just an ear bonnet, but for trail rides I have a riding fly sheet, a quietride fly mask, he wears galloping boots to help with the leg flies, and I put SWAT on his belly. Some people in my barn trail ride in their shoofly fly boots, but I’ve never tried it.

I have had great success with EcoVet too.

[2DogsFarm]

Nothing that meets your guidelines really works.
There was a Brit poster here - Thomas1 - who exchanged his All Natural Secret Formula for a donation to leukemia research (he was a survivor).
As best I recall it contained oil of citronella, neem oil & a 3rd essential oil I can’t recall.
Results were Meh.
I currently use Gordon’s concentrate, mixed at 1.5X suggested. It’s 10% permethrin, which occurs naturally in marigolds(?).
But like anything else, it’s not a surefire, 100% effective deterrent.
I’ve stopped using flymasks as the horses don’t seem as bothered by flies sipping near their eyes as I am & the B52 Bombers don’t go for the head.

[JB]

@emeraldcity

Ecovet is the only thing that remotely works for me. I know some people are not fans, and DEFINITELY apply it outside and stand upwind.

I have several friends who dilute this with another fly spray, or vinegar, and the awfulness of it diminishes enough they aren’t clutching their chest, but still works just as well

@hemitheconyxcaudicinctus

I’d prefer stuff that doesn’t have any strong negative effects on the environment like some of the pesticides people commonly use for gardens in other areas do.

There’s a giant difference between things that get liberally sprayed on the “ground”, and worked into the soil by rain, and potentially then into the watershed, and something you spray on a horse. I wouldn’t at all be concerned about the tiny amount of chemicals in fly sprays that randomly might drip to the ground after a rain. And it’s amazing how much the soil breaks down some of the chemicals as they percolate down through the many feet to the watershed, if they even make it that far.

@hemitheconyxcaudicinctus

Also, is homemade effective?

Maybe short-term, like for a ride. If you add some mineral oil to the mix and shake before using, you can extend its effectiveness for a bit longer. Water-based evaporates fast. Essential oils evaporate pretty fast, and you need some sort of oil to get them mixed into water to any significant degree

Flick’s is a natural spray I have found most effective for a ride

Otherwise, It’s things like UltraShield black, Repel-X (same dilution ratios as McGurk does for the same reasons), Pyranha (or Dumor Platinum fly spray (silver bottle, not white) from TSC which is the same thing but cheaper), are the things that seem to work the best, for the longest. Tri-Tec is another.

[beowulf]

Rather than watershed, I imagine OP would be horrified to know that the sprays directly impact insectivores like swallows, bats, spiders, other bugs, etc.

I’ve tried really hard to eliminate sprays for that reason. I do still use Ecovet in the summer. My guys are also on a mix of Freedom 45 and Equispot.

Agree fly predators and encouraging other natural predators to do flyovers helps. Our swallows and bats live in/around the barn and they do make a dent, however small.

A few years ago there was a Microtek (IRC?) spray that had natural oils, mostly marigold, that worked okay. I haven’t purchased it recently but I remember it being used almost exclusively in a barn I worked in that was right next to a major reservoir.

[Simkie]

One more tool in the box to reduce population is BTi. We talked about it here, and many of us have found it quite effective.

UPDATE: Post 9: Mosquito Dunks & flies...help me remember

A year or two ago there was a thread about flies and someone mentioned using mosquito dunks, maybe in a sprayer? Can’t remember. Seems to me it was an accidental fly-repellant discovery. Anyone remember the details? Or does anyone have any anecdotes about using mosquito dunks as premise fly control? Black flies are the worst they’ve been here in several years. My normal fly control methods of the Country Vet misters in each stall and the aisleway and fly traps don’t seem to be putting as much …

[Xanthoria]

An effective (yes!) natural tick, mosquito and culicoides midge repellent I use on myself and horses is lemon eucalyptus based Repel (and other brands) available at the drugstore. Not lemon, not lemongrass, not citronella, not eucalyptus but “lemon eucalyptus”

Repel Plant-Based Lemon Eucalyptus Insect Repellent, Mosquito Repellent, Pump Spray, 4-Ounce, Pack of 2 https://a.co/d/bOpoDg9

For regular flies, I can’t help

[equinelibrium]

I’ve had good luck with this fly spray, but I don’t live in a very buggy area. Ecovet also works very well.

Horse Spray Quart - Equiderma

[LCDR]

Are you EcoVet fly spray users remarking on the odor basing these comments on the original formulation? I don’t find the new scent (relatively new, introduced about 4 years ago) to be offensive at all.

And it isn’t intended to be applied liberally, like many of us apply pyrethrin sprays. But you users already know that. I do too, but some days I fall into the “more is better trap.”

Ecovet: How to Apply (Condensed Version)

[Kyrabee]

https://www.guaranteedhorseproducts.com/fly-bye-plus
Fly Bye Plus.
My barn owner got me onto this last summer when NOTHING else was working (beyond 5 minutes) including Eco-vet. I have never seen flys so resistant but we did have 20+ days above 100 degrees .

I will be ordering a gallon for the summer.

Susan

[cnd8]

I saw this graph one year, so I tried Ecovet and Outsmart. Ecovet makes me sick, it is so disgusting. It may work, but not enough to endure spraying it. LOL So, I use OutSmart. It is nontoxic and plant based. It smells nice, and it is safe to apply to myself as well. It works very well here in South Georgia where the gnats are horrible, the mosquitos can carry you away, and the flies are abundant.

Independent Study: Ecovet Outperforms All Other Repellents* in Both Ef

[CindyCRNA]

We like Flicks. My guy is super sensitive to fly spray and this is the only one that doesn’t make his skin peel. https://www.pbsanimalhealth.com/products/flicks-all-natural-essential-oil-horse-spray

[quietann]

Current BO does not allow “chemical” fly sprays. For some reason, EcoVet is in that category to her; otherwise that would be my choice. Fly Bye Plus may meet with her approval. I use Freedom 45 every 10 days year round, but it’s better against ticks than flies. I tried the Equiderma spray but it really only worked in the exact areas on the horse where it was sprayed.

What helped a lot was fly masks, a fly sheet if it was not too hot (I got a Turtleneck that is awesome, but mare has sweating issues so she could not wear it in the daytime if it got really hot), and fly boots. I used Shoo-fly boots but their quality has declined. Somewhere in the forum, there is a suggestion for another brand, but I can’t find it right now. We also used a lot of Zephyr’s Garden solid fly repellent on areas that flies were especially attracted to, like midlines on the belly and the chest.

Horses are out 24/7 but have nice big sheds with solar powered fans in them. That helps. And when flies are really bad, my mare has a Cashel Fly-Ride getup for her walks. I don’t ride her, so use a surcingle and tie it to the rings.

[DMK]

Technically speaking, that combination of oxygen and 2 hydrogen molecules could be considered a “chemical”!

Ain’t faulty logic the best?

Add me to the ecovet crowd, and the newer version isn’t as bad as the old version but nobody wants a snootful of it. I hold my breath as I spray each side. I do keep endure or pyranha on hand for after baths because they are still wet when I kick them back out

[candyappy]

@S1969

Nothing keeps biting flies away from a sweaty horse. That’s how they eat.

They don’t even have to be sweaty.

@hemitheconyxcaudicinctus I can’t see how the spay is gong to go from your horse into the underground water supply or make it to the ocean, honestly.

I have tried the make it yourself versions but went back to Gordons oil based spray and use it only as needed. it works.

[Simkie]

@quietann

Somewhere in the forum, there is a suggestion for another brand, but I can’t find it right now.

Stomp stoppers.

STOMP STOPPERS

[luvmyhackney]

I had almost no flys last year using fly predators, between fly sheets, masks, fly boots there isn’t much horse left to land on.

In stalls they have fans.

B52’s and Bot flys are still an issue but not much stops them.

[quietann]

Thank you!

[SLW]

The new “odor” is much better, less irritating, than the original formula.

[pony_baloney]

@SLW

The new “odor” is much better, less irritating, than the original formula.

I agree, but I think it’s a bit less effective than the older smellier version.