Horse is insect magnet - best additive?

[fooler]

Like the title said, my gelding is a bug magnet especially gnats. Think Pigpen from the Charlie Brown cartoons/shows.

He wears a full face/ear fly mask plus full fly sheet + neck cover. I have been able to manage his time outside for the past 5+ years to avoid the worst of the bug time. Last year I was laid off, :no:, and finally have a new position :winkgrin:, but my hours are such that he will be out during the heavy evening bug time.

Over 6 years ago and before using a fly sheet I tried both the Hilton Herbs and the Cheval “inside-out” products with limited success.
Now there are so many top dress bug “repellant” products available it is hard to determine which is best or even which to avoid. We are not showing so I am not worried about “testing” issues. He ate the Cheval product at first, then started to turn his nose up. I don’t know if that was because he really didn’t like it or if it was starting to go bad. He is not picky at all.

So your experiences and suggestions both good and bad are greatly appreciated.

[horsepoor]

I had a horse that was really sensitive to bugs and seemed to attract them more than any others on the place. I used the Buggzo product from Horsetech and felt that it helped him. It smells like pizza (strong garlic flavor, enough to make me nauseous) and I thought it would be refused as he is pretty picky, but all mine that I tried it on ate it right up. Horsetech might even send a sample to taste test; can’t remember if they do that.

[Manni01]

you can try to feed straight garlic granules… Sometimes it helps pretty good

[merrygoround]

Flyspray, flyspray. Flyspray such as Ultrashield are primarily permethrins, which is from chrysanthemums.

[rcloisonne]

Is anyone available to spray him with a GOOD quality fly spray before the heaviest time of being bug activity? You might also consider fly boots or Summer Whinnys.

IME, garlic doesn’t deter flies or mosquitoes (just makes them reek) and could potentially cause Heinz body anemia in horses if fed in significant amounts.

[fooler]

Thanks for the responses.
Again he has a full fly sheet + neck cover + full fly mask including the ears. He is sprayed before going out, but I will not return until 6:30-7:00pm during training and after 9:00 pm after training.
No one at consistently at home to bring him up before 3-4pm, which is what I have had the opportunity to do for the past 5 years.

The bugs just love the taste or smell of him. There is almost always a cloud of gnats around him that were not around my late, old TB mare or even us humans.

My question is - has anyone had any luck with any of the available additives making their horse less tasty or yummy smelling.

[Guilherme]

Over the years we’ve had excellent luck with Freedom 45. Google it for more information.

We don’t have much of a gnat problem so I don’t know just how effective this would be for them.

G.

[LadyBug]

SmartPak has their own branded option - Smart Bug Off or something like that. They also sell Bug Check, which I use. It helps my “tasty” mare a bit, but doesn’t totally eliminate the problem for her. I have found that it helps with ticks, though. I don’t worry much about the garlic as I’ve never had any trouble and stop feeding it in the fall.

[titan]

The picky ones do better with the pelleted form vs the powders IME. Have used Smart bug Off, Bugzzo and Bug Check but still use fly spray and Freedom or Spot on.

[fooler]

Thanks for the feedback regarding spot-on products. Tried generic Freedom and the effect is amazing. Plus, so far, no reaction from a very sensitive skin horse.

[piaffeprincess]

Fooler, what generic freedom did you try if you don’t mind me asking? …I have a similar problem to yours, so following! Thanks

[fooler]

[QUOTE=piaffeprincess;8168273]
Fooler, what generic freedom did you try if you don’t mind me asking? …I have a similar problem to yours, so following! Thanks :-)[/QUOTE]

At TSC Celebration, 3 tubes. About 1/2 price of 6 tube box of Freedom product. Both with same formulation and from same company/distributor. I tried the smaller package because gelding has had skin reactions to different fly sprays. Will monitor him after each application. But am excited that maybe he will be comfortable in August & September when the bugs are really horrible here.