Ticks go dormant in cold weather and become active again once the temperature hits 40 degrees (F). Any time the temperature rises to 40 degrees (F) or above we spray daily with Tri Tech fly spray. We are the only horse owners in a barn of 40+ horses who do this, and people who see us spraying in the warm winter spells think we are nuts for doing so, but our horse has been in good health for years. Several winters ago we let it slide a bit during a warm spell and missed a spot underneath the horse’s jaw, which is where the tick bit the horse and we ended up with an $800 vet bill for Ehrlicia and ensuing complications. Once we are no longer spraying for flies (October or so) we mainly spray from under the horse’s jaw and neck, and then from the midline down to the feet, taking care to spray the underneath, particularly the armpits and groin areas.
We found out about this in the early 2000’s. Before we did this we were treating one horse or another every 18 months or so for Lyme. It got ridiculous. Then I ran my numbers and found out that purchasing a year’s worth of Tri tech was less expensive than paying for the vet and meds for one horse’s single bout of Lyme disease, so we switched to Tri Tech and never looked back. You need to use a good flyspray for this to work, and use it daily at 40 degrees and up…
