A boarder at my barn swears by her homemade fly repellent: a 50/50 mix of Pine-sol and apple cider vinegar. Isn’t Pine-sol a fairly harsh cleaner? Has anyone used this mixture?
I tried this a few years ago. Flies ignored it.
We use it around the barn, around their feeding areas, in the trailer, etc. but not on the horses. We would never use it directly on the horses.
I can’t imagine Apple Cider Vinegar would deter flies? We use in the house in little cups in the fall to attract and catch those pesky fruit flies that show up
I used to use a similar concoction. Third pine sol, third white vinegar, third water. It worked okay. I never had any issues using it on the horse itself. You do have to get the pine sol with actual pine oil in it.
Since then I’ve switched to using half vinegar half water, lemon eucalyptus oil, and skin so soft.
I use the 1/3 Pine Sol, 1/3 vinegar and 1/3 water with a touch of Dawn in there for their run in. I use a sprayer and spray the walls down every other day or so. Now, they have dry, clean shavings and a fan in their run in, so that helps alot too! But there are very few flies in there. And it smells good and clean 
[QUOTE=Canterwell;8274399]
Isn’t Pine-sol a fairly harsh cleaner? [/QUOTE]
Yup, it is. If you google Pine Sol MSDS (stands for material safety data sheet, all products have one) you can read the ingredients & safety warnings. At the very least, the glycolic acid in Pine Sol is a skin and mucous membrane irritant. Not worth the risk for the horse or you, who’ll surely inhale some, IMHO.
