Horse friends (or camping or fishing friends). . . any ideas? I’ve worked for a variety of horse places, but I’ve never experienced bugs like this. In England, we had “midges;” in Michigan, we had deer flies; but at my place. . . the mosquitoes swarm the horses! My sensitive OTTB mare would (and has) run around her paddock all night if she’s without a fly sheet, so she is wearing one. (BTW, whoever designs those bellybands must have fat and sassy warmbloods, because the bellybands hang around a healthy TB like an old broken hammock, lol.) Even with the fly sheet, the TB eats about 25% less than usual when the mosquitoes are bad. And I need to keep her eating! The hearty Morgan just seems annoyed (no problems eating, lol), but there’s always a cloud of mosquitoes around her/on her. When I go out to do chores or ride, I put on a long-sleeved collared shirt sprayed with 25% DEET. My breeches are also sprayed. After multiple “frantic” workouts last year during mosquito season, I now use Cashel “bug armor” (a riding fly sheet) on the horses, and it makes our workouts more tolerable/realistic. However, for ANY walking exercises, I still need to spray the TB’s belly and legs with 15 - 25% DEET. Otherwise, we need to spend our whole hour trotting or cantering. . . walking is pretty unproductive. . . which obviously isn’t very realistic when it gets hot and humid. I keep my paddocks clean. . . we’ve been mowing a lot. . . I’ve even put those “Mosquito Dunks” (natural mosquito-eating bacteria) in all the standing water on our property. . . I don’t want to use chemicals on the grass, since I have dogs. I have tried essential oils on the horses in the past (homemade sprays from online recipes) with disappointing results. As far as I’m concerned, equine “fly-sprays” are pretty useless against mosquitoes, in my experience. So. . . I don’t want to be dousing myself and my horses with DEET every day, but. . . have any of you found anything else that works against mosquitoes and isn’t quite as dangerous as daily DEET? Thanks so much!
I hate to say it, but DEET is about the only thing I have heard of that is recommended for mosquitoes. Wal Mart sells and even stronger one than Deep Woods Off. I’ve had no success with ‘natural’ ingredients…chemicals, even though we hate the thought. I just go hoping that by now DEET has been studied enough to remain safe. Spraying your clothing top layer is helpful.
Horses, just give it to 'em, especially the underbelly.
I’ve seen pictures of hats with flyveils over them.
And the commercial flysprays don’t seem to work well either…but I still buy the stuff - maintaining faint hope.
Deet, fans when possible, and you can try a Thermacell. I’ve never used one, but they have good reviews. I could’ve used one the other evening on my ride back to the trailer. Google Thermacell, my stupid Kindle won’t let me paste the link for some reason.
I hate to say it, but DEET is about the only thing I have heard of that is recommended for mosquitoes. Wal Mart sells and even stronger one than Deep Woods Off. I’ve had no success with ‘natural’ ingredients…chemicals, even though we hate the thought. I just go hoping that by now DEET has been studied enough to remain safe. Spraying your clothing top layer is helpful.
Horses, just give it to 'em, especially the underbelly.
I’ve seen pictures of hats with flyveils over them.
And the commercial flysprays don’t seem to work well either…but I still buy the stuff - maintaining faint hope.
Ooops…
It’s kind of pricey, but those Mosquito Magnets machines are amazing. A friend had about two acres of land, up against a swamp, had a swimming pool, etc. Mosquitos were horrible. They bought two, set them away from the house, and there was a huge difference in about two weeks. It got better as the summer went on, too.
