I have one poor horse that is a target for these ^%&#! things. I have tried every fly spray, the sulfur salt blocks, even chickens…the foxes got them. I am now thinking about putting tick dog collars around each ankle!!! I sure would if I thought it would help! I even was glad for the extended cold period we had the past few weeks, hoping that will kill some of them… but it did not help, not that I can tell. Have any of you been successful at keeping them off your horse?
Have you tried spray on Frontline (for dogs)? It is the only thing I’ve found to work, and I have three gray horses that seem to be tick magnets. My equine vet recommended it to me, and I spray it on their legs and anywhere a tick would want to be (near their sheath, under their jaw, on their chest). Nothing else worked for me.
I used the front line too. It seemed to work pretty well. I heard that it’s guinea fowl that eat ticks, not chickens.
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I heard chickens work, but you have to be on top of them and keep them safe (same with the guineas though…)
try feeding garlic, apple cider vinegar
Have you tried Sevin’s Dust?
Cattle ear tags will kill ticks.
I know that some people put them on horses halters to kill flies in the summer, but I don’t know if they will kill ticks on horses.
I suspect they will.
Many of the farmer packs put them on their hound collars during the summer and they will definitely kill ticks on hounds.
I would try it.
It is very inexpensive and takes only a few minutes to put them on the halter and only has to be done one time per year.
Get a break away halter so the horse will not get hanged, wrap the ear tag around the halter and staple and you are done.
Pick a place on the halter that is always in contact with the skin.
CSSJR
I think it’s remarkable that in my group, the bay horses sometimes get ticks, but the black/dark brown horses never get ticks.
I use 10% Seven dust. Dust liberally from poll to tail. I’ve also had success for hard to dust areas using Bag Balm. Ticks seem to get stuck in the oinment or are just repelled. Are you actually having tick problems NOW???
The vet gave me something last spring that is a liquid that you pour an ounce or two down their spine and it lasts for 5 days. Worked very well. We had ticks getting in their ears creating a big, gunky, painful mess–not to mention some seriously head shy horses. I’ll check what it was when I go back to the barn…
Does Ivermectin kill them? Or do they just crawl back on after the worming?
thanks guys
I am willing to try anything. The chickens actually helped a little bit last spring but the darn things refused to go back into their protective roost at night consistently, even with bribes. So every few days, we had one less than the day before. We live in S. Ga, on a river so we pretty much have them year round but I had hoped the really cold 2-3 weeks we have had would kill some of them but we were not so lucky.
We burn the pastures each spring but the woods are pretty heavy and we can’t take the chance of the fire getting in there…which would help a bunch. I will harrow this coming week everywhere I can and will try some of the things you guys have suggested. As far as the Frontline, where do you put it, little dabs here and there or down his spine?
Thanks
Re: Frontline
The Frontline is the SPRAY ON, not the pour on. Spray it on your horse’s legs (front and back), on his/her belly, esp. near sheath and where the hind legs connect to the belly; under the jaw, on the chest . . . in other words, wherever ticks tend to congregate.
The dosage for dogs is one spray per pound; given that, I feel I can be pretty liberal on a 900 pound horse. I probably spray about 20 squirts all told. If the ticks aren’t too bad, I just wait till I see another tick on the horse before re-spraying. That can be three weeks or more. At peak tick times I might spray once a week.
You can get it more cheaply online (Valley Vet carries it), but of course many vets and farm stores also have it.
[QUOTE=Foxtrot’s;4637239]
Does Ivermectin kill them? Or do they just crawl back on after the worming?[/QUOTE]
In my experience, ivermectin will kill any ticks that are on that day of the worming, but it won’t prevent fresh ticks from joining up. So it can be a good way to make sure you’ve gotten them all off, but it’s not a preventative.
On the pony that tends to get ticks, I’ve learned I need to run my hands all down her belly, down her jugular groove, under her jaw, and in the base of her mane every time I groom.
Do not use dog flea collars on your horse’s legs. Our dog got a terrible burn around her neck from a flea collar with a well known name. It was horrible.
I live in an area where there are many ticks. I use Equispot on the horses and I dose their manes, tails, lower legs and chin groove liberally with Cowboy Magic or Show Sheen to keep it slippery so tick’s can’t hitch a ride.
My vet also said anything with Permethrin will kill or repel ticks.
I was kidding about the flea collars
I have ordered some of the Frontline, so we will see. I will break out the tractor as soon as this rain passes by and harrow some too around his pasture.
Lot Less Ticks
I feed my horses minced garlic. I give each horse a teaspoon of minced garlic (I buy a glass or plastic jar of it in the grocery store for under $5) every morning starting in March. I keep this up until the weather turns cold and I have NO ticks on my horses. I know it works because if I start it too late in the season, my horses get ticks. It must build up in their system, so March seems to be the key month. Good luck. I’ve also tried the fly & tick strips that you put on a horse similar to a dog’s flee collar…they don’t work nearly as well.
The garlic works butyou have to be careful how the garlic is processed. Every year this comes up the folks advise against garlic because it has been shown to cause anemia. 1) the amount used in those tests is huge (pounds, not tablespoons). If you gave a person that much sugar you could also make the argument that sugar causes diabetes…so tests were not done using every day/normal dosages. 2) they used onion grass, not garlic, in the tests. OG is a cousin of the onion, but not the SAME thing…so they are extrapolating results. 3) Onion grass and garlic DO both contain allicin and allicin in high doses is what causes anemia. This is where the processing comes in. Fresh garlic has a small amount of allicin in it. When the garlic is air dried the exposure to the air breaks it down. When garlic is FREEZE dried the allicin is preserved and concentrated. To be on the safe side I would not give a horse with known anemia issues garlic…but otherwise should be fine. Air dried is best, fresh is second best and you should avoid freeze dried garlic. Getting bulk garlic from say Sams Club/Costco/Walmart (meant for human consumption) is most likely freeze dried so to be avoided. I give about 1TB a day in bug season. It helps somewhat with the face flies (not gone but less severe) and it seemed to help a LOT with the ticks. Last year was a REALLY BAD year here for ticks.
how do you know if its air dried?
as opposed to some other way? I have never noticed.
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It is best if you can prevent the tick from getting your horse in the first place. Ticks will automatically crawl to the highest point they can…up onto the tips of grass or brush and hang out there waiting for a likely victim to brush by. If your horses’ enclosure has lots of tall weeds or brush…bush hog it! This will go a LOOONG way to keeping ticks off your horse. I was a professional pest control technician for many years. I am a little careful about using insecticides in my pasture though. We just keep the tall weeds mowed down as best we can.
Every year this comes up the folks advise against garlic because it has been shown to cause anemia.
it’s dogs, not horses, who get anemia from garlic.
I know people CLAIM garlic repels bugs, but really it doesn’t. Try a blinded test- feed half your horses garlic and not the other half and I guarantee you will not notice any difference in bugginess or ticks.
Equispot works great to get rid of ticks on horses.
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