Using Bentonite clay for fly barrier - external

[anon34661286]

Hey! So this was mentioned in a thread from 2012, but I wanted to refresh it to see what people do.

The product Ice Tight used for poultices is fabulous just used as a barrier on legs to keep flies off. It’s thick, and sticks and doesn’t let flies land to bite. I’ve been using it on my guys every summer this time of year when the biting flies are so bad. I put it on their bellies too for the nasty little gnats that bite there too.

The primary ingredients are kaolin and bentonite clay, with aloe etc.

Has anyone just used bulk bentonite clay, made their own mud and used it instead of buying the small buckets of Ice Tight?

[Scribbler]

Or you could just have a big mud puddle to roll in and get filthy. I see no reason why any clay product wouldn’t work.

[freshman]

Very interesting idea. Surprised no one here has already has tried it and chimed in on why it did or didn’t work. I’ve never used bentonite clay at all, even as poultice, so maybe I missing some obvious fail factor. Does it stay on the leg/ventral abdomen even in hot summer grass turnout situations? Just wondering how quickly it wears or sweats off.

I’d have tried anything to decrease the summer fly stomping with a few mine in the past that were very sensitive to insect pressure and absolutely trashed their feet and/or aggravated lameness issues over it. This was before fly legging things were common, though, which also might have helped.

[Feathered_Feet]

@freshman

Does it stay on the leg/ventral abdomen even in hot summer grass turnout situations? Just wondering how quickly it wears or sweats off.

In my experience, I would expect it would be mostly crumbled off by morning (assuming night turnout), but I suppose you could play around with different thicknesses, and it surely would depend on how active your horse is, how long your grass is, how much dew you get, etc.

For what it’s worth, Ice Tight specifically wouldn’t last on my horse’s front legs at all, as she likes to eat it if not wrapped YMMV, but perhaps a homemade version with some unpalatable essential oil would prevent that (i.e., tea tree oil).

[gallop_jump]

I haven’t tried straight bentonite clay, but poultice is my favorite hind leg fly prevention since mine forgets how to walk with hind fly boots. Bonus, it makes me feel better since I usually ride him right before night turnout!

[anon34661286]

I live where it’s like 10% humidity. My guys are turned out 24/7 and in some decently tall grass. So far, the IceTight lasts about 48 hours before it really flakes off and I need to put more on. The joints flake off the fastest and areas like cannon bones stay pretty thick until you brush it off. I checked bellies last night where I smeared it and it’s still pretty thick right around the belly buttons, so I’d call that a win! It has lasted longer than fly spray that’s for sure. I can get a good 20 minutes with fly spray (even the expensive stuff) before it doesn’t work anymore.

I’m game to try a homemade mix of bentonite clay. I’d rather put that on every 2 days than sheet and un-sheet. With it being so hot, even the coolest sheets make them sweaty. I’ve not tried the fly leggings, but they’re pretty pricey too.