Yellow flies & Tick repellent on nursing mare/foal

[Born_to_Fly]

I’ve recently moved to an area that has ticks and yellow flies (similar to big horse fly), which I’ve never had to deal with before. My mare wears a special fly sheet that protects her body from the yellow flies but that are still persistent on her legs and the foal’s legs, as well. We were using a store bought fly repellent and have switched to a homemade one of Apple Cider Vinegar/Skin So Soft. I’ve used that mixture for years and it repels gnats/regular flies very well but the yellow flies don’t even notice it is there. They both get sprayed 3 times a day.
Yesterday, I pulled multiple ticks off of both of them ???

Does anyone have any advice to repel these critters? I am going to start using Rose essential oils on them for the ticks to see if that helps.

Has anyone fed garlic to a nursing mare before? I am nervous to feed her anything because I don’t want her milk to be affected. I’m willing to try anything at this point. They are both constantly stomping and uncomfortable.

Thank you!

[Ambitious_Kate]

Deep woods off for the ticks. I can’t say about the yellow flies. In my area, horse flies dissapear at dusk and are bad in the sun and I keep horses in during horse fly time because they won’t go into the barn.

Frankly, if I were seeing that many ticks I would have my property sprayed. To me, its lesser of the two evils, that or my horse getting terminally sick. But the deet is the only thing which repels ticks. You can try the spot treatments, not sure if they work. ’

[Ambitious_Kate]

Also, the horse flies I have encountered always seem to be around some body of water, so you may want to eliminated water or treat the water if you have say a pond.