the BM has decided she does not have time to fly spray my pasture horse. I want to know if this product has worked for you or if you may have had issues with it. it says it lasts 2 weeks. That would be ideal in my situation, but i also worry about adverse reactions to it. Is it too strong? will it burn the skin? Thanks for any opinions on this product.
http://www.doversaddlery.com/freedom-45-spot-on-fly-control/p/X1-23054/
I have used this and others in three different climates (Northwest, Midwest and New England) with no luck.
Is a fly sheet an option?
My new boarder has always used the fly predators so brought them over to my place when she moved her horse in. These things are awesome! My property (5 acres) has just 2 horses but my neighbours that share a fenceline have 2 horses as well and these fly predators have majorally reduced the flies here. Easy and pesticide free 
We’ve used it for years in East TN with good luck. I recommend it.
G.
sorry, don’t want other suggestions, just asking about this product. Thanks. No, a fly sheet is not an option.
I have used it as well as equispot. I have seen a major reduction in ticks, but not in the horses being annoyed by flies. The grey still has face flies, and they are both (bay OTTB and grey pony) still bothered by horse flies and deer flies.
I use it to prevent tick bites. I use fly spray and/or swat to help with flies.
I use this and like it. Never had a horse have a reaction, there is plenty in the tube to liberally annoint all the places they indicate (think it’s poll, withers, spine tail head, hocks, and fetlocks). I’m in Alabama, where it’s muggy and there are plenty of bugs. I have also been at a boarding barn (25 horses) that used it on all the horses, and none of them had a problem.
It’s not too expensive to try, and hopefully it will work for you.
Works on ticks for me; flies not so much.
I used to use it and similar products from different brands when I boarded. It seemed to help a little with the flies, but both of my horses reacted painfully to application. I never saw any skin irritation, but they would paw, roll, shake, buck, run, etc. when I applied the spot-on. Since my horses truly seemed stressed upon application, I stopped using spot-ons even though it wasn’t leaving visible signs of skin damage.
Same as Texarkana, Roo hated the application. He would stomp, cow kick, and move around. There wasn’t any irritation, but it just was an awful experience for both of us. I have to say it worked well for ticks, but not flies. I now use Frontline Spray with no issues and great results.
i am not worried about ticks, i spray with Ultrashield when i am there. i just wanted daily fly protections. i guess i am going to try it, since nobody is able to fly spray my horse when i can’t be here.
I’ve used it and Equispot, and I think it helps a bit with flies (and definitely ticks).
Two of my 3 horses will sometimes have minor reactions to it right when it is applied - they just get annoyed and itchy, but it passes within a minute or so. I have never seen any visible reactions to it on their skin.
Right now I’ve got five horses; two don’t like the application at all but the other three are completely quiet during application. Go figure!
Two don’t really like flyspray, either, but not the same two as “object” to the Freedom45. Again, go figure.
I’ve come to the conclusion that I’ve got a couple of training issues. 
G.
I have used it on some of mine but always do a test spot first to see if they are going to have an adverse reaction before doing the whole application. I have one horse that is very sensitive to many products and he got a welt and was incredibly itchy at the test spot, so I don’t use it on him. I once made the mistake of using a citronella product on him (before I knew he was reactive to so many things) and had lovely swelling and skin sloughing after just one day, so I’m pretty careful now! But go figure, he’s the only horse in my herd that MTG doesn’t have an adverse effect on. Odd duck.
Same here - some hate it, some don’t care. Nobody has a visible reaction to their skin that concerns me. It helps with flies, reduces the numbers, but it doesn’t eliminate them. It’s certainly better than nothing. You’ll see a better result with continued applications. It definitely takes care of ticks, a huge issue here.
I have had luck with helping to avoid skin sensitivity/itching/kicking/rolling reactions by diluting the Freedom 45 with canola oil (2-3 extra ccs). I open the vial of F45 in a small plastic container, add several ccs of oil and then mix and draw up into a 12cc syringe. I use the syringe to apply the diluted F45 to my sensitive OTTB.
I use the Equispot stuff, which is similar. I find it helps with the flies for a couple days, and then I’m back to spraying daily. I use it for ticks, at the recommendation of people here, and it seems to be doing a fine job there.
I HAVE also noticed, though, that the flies just don’t care about my fly spray anymore. Pyrahnna’s been my go-to for years (and we just moved here last year) and it’s always worked great. Now? Not so much. 
Could be coincidence, but I wonder if the Equispot is selecting for a fly that’s just more tolerant of the chemicals.
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