They stand in areas where certain herbs act as a natural fly repellent.

So, other than covering our horses in mud!! and lets say we don’t wish to cover them with harsh chemicals as these cause numerous problems ranging from skin allergies, dull coats, respiratory problems, What choices do we have available to us. On the face of it, using essential oil-based products seems to be a good health strategy. Lavender for example is well-known for its calming, sedative properties and also has insect repelling qualities. So a stressed horse sprayed with lavender fly repellent should benefit all round.

Some owners say that oil-based fly sprays keep flies away but only for a short period of time and others say that they have bought products which don’t work at all! When buying these products consider these things:

Quality - There are few laws governing the quality of the production of fly sprays, so buy sprays which have been tried and tested by friends and colleagues, buy sprays and oils from reputable plant producers. A spray which has "contains Lavender" on the label may only have the oils highly diluted, so bring little relief to the horse. Some sprays or oils may be cheap, but are in fact ineffective.

Flies and the sweat glands of the horse – According to statistics there are around 6,900 species of flies in Britain if anyone knows how may species there are here in Spain please let me know. Assuming that lavender will repel all species is rather simplistic. Some flies will plague a horse because his sweat glands produce chemicals attractive to flies. These play a role in courtship and reproduction in the horse, and it is an unhappy coincidence that some species of fly respond to them too!

The idea behind fly repellents is that they disguise some of the attractive chemicals produced naturally by the horse and instead use similar chemicals that a fly would be repelled by. In their own lives flies secrete various chemicals that also act as sexual attractants to each other or as repellents to competitor flies. So many essential oils have both attracting and repelling properties. Because there are so many species of fly, not all sprays work and some bizarrely have the opposite effect actually attracting the flies.

Feeding garlic to horses can be effective as it causes the horse’s body to secrete oils that will repel flies. Also adding a little cider vinegar to the drinking water acts as an internal fly repellent because it raises the ph (acidity) level of the horses blood enough to put flies off from biting. I have found this works well with dogs and humans too. If you find that flies are drawn to a certain area on your animals body i.e. the head, ears, mouth, then get it checked out, in my experience flies are drawn to negative energies and areas of infection, even very deep infections which have not yet surfaced enough for us to notice.

Home-made fly repellent recipes:

Common recipes often involve a combination of essential oils these are available from certain Pharmacias and herboristarias. Such recipes include citronella, (I believe that the use of citronella in fly sprays in the future could be band due to new EEC regulations, I have no idea why!), eucalyptus, tea tree, lavender, sandal wood and cedar wood are all effective against repelling and biting insects. Peppermint is extremely good for repelling mossy’s but must be heavily diluted if it is to be used on the skin because it can cause skin problems if used neat.

When making your own fly sprays remember to add water, white wine vinegar and put the essential oils into a little washing-up liquid. Shake well before each use. Strong tea can be added instead of water and crushed garlic (although I have found that the garlic can clog the spray mechanism of the bottle) and is better fed in cloves so the horse can decide if it wants to eat the garlic or not.

Fly masks also give great relief and some help protect the eyes from the uv rays. If you have a problem buying one a good robust one in Spain don’t despair we have them for sale.

Here at the Natural Horse Centre we use an organic fly repellent which works on all the horses here without causing any problems and is very effective at its job, including preventing the dreaded switch itch. I rate it so much that I import it so that we now sell it here.. It contains natural active ingredients which are chemical and pesticide free.

If you would like to know more about a natural lifestyle for your horse or would like to purchase some fly spray/fly masks contact Tracy James at the Natural Horse Centre 952 720 271