With summer in full swing, and fly season entering its third month here in Iowa, I thought I'd share some of the tricks that have been working for my horses thus far. The Morgans suffer from fly bites so horrifically they rub themselves raw. All but one of them refuse to leave on fly masks and fly sheets are shredded within hours. So, I have to treat the symptoms. I have tried garlic, vinegar in the water, feed through fly control, fly predators, composting manure, timed fly spray misters in the stalls, Cortizone injections and a bevy of fly spray recipes ranging from costly essential oil mixtures to my own mad scientist versions [see How Does Turquoise Smell? http://hossbiz.blogspot.com/2010/04/how-does-turquoise-smell.html ] as my horses break out in enormous hives if I use fly spray with petroleum distillates: which is the only fly spray that actually works for any length of time.
This year, I had a gallon of Bronco fly spray on hand, so I decided to add some vinegar, and Dawn dish washing liquid. The vinegar cuts the petroleum distillates to manageable levels and the Dawn helps it stick. Or so I believe. This worked fairly well, until it got hot and the bites were all over all the horses, not just in the usual spots. The horses were crazy with itching, so I got out a bottle of Betadine Surgical Scrub added it to some water and gave them all sponge baths. Which, of course, they all complained about vociferously.
But...aha..itching subsided, as did the incidence of new bite sites. I have continued the sponge baths a couple of times a week and now my mare comes up and whinnies at me when I am bathing one of the boys, lest I forget her. She stands stoically for her sudsing, as she has never stood for one second in her lifetime of baths.
"If this is so good as a sponge bath," I reckoned, "Maybe I should put some In The Fly Spray." I will say with confidence, this is the first time in 14 years of treating this problem that I have felt I was at least keeping up with it, rather than continually losing the battle until October. I put about a 2-3 table spoons of the Betadine Surgical Scrub in the fly mix of Bronco/ Vinegar/Dawn to make a half gallon of potion.
The Morgans can come and go as they please, inside or out, so they manage their own grazing. I spray them twice a day [more if it's beastly hot & humid] with my homemade hooch fly spray. This system is working quite well, but when I leave for five days for a show, I return to find them insect bitten mad horses. After a couple of days of sponge baths, we are back to a manageable bug tolerance level. Sponge bathing 4 horses isn't as time consuming as it sounds, you really only have to scrub the suds into their coats, not dowse them with it.
This is not a cure, don't get me wrong, but it is a vast improvement for my herd. It is cheap enough, with results in a short period of time. Let me know if it works for you.
Kind Regards,
Michelle Blackler
Serendipity
www.hossbiz.com
Serendipity is an Accidental Sagacity Corporation Company.
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I may have to give that a try. Bronco only works in the early spring here in Oklahoma, before the bugs get to bad. This time of year it seems the only thing that works is Pyranha. But at $50.00 gallon..not very inexpensive. I have noticed when I rinse the horses down with Absorbine Refreshmint, they seem cool, comfortable and less bothered by insects for awhile!
ReplyDeleteI would love to have the exact proportions of your homemade fly spray. My Morgans have the same issues as your here in NH. I will try anything. Thanks very much.
ReplyDeleteI'd be interested in the amounts as well. Also, why do you prefer to use the Betadine Surgical Scrub, vs. a Betadine Solution?
ReplyDeleteThanks for the great tips!
Gals, I don't even bake with exact measurements, but here is my best guess at the recipe:
ReplyDelete1/2 gallon of Commercial Fly spray [I used the Bronco because that is what I had left from last year]
1/2 gallon Vinegar
6T Dawn Original Formula Dish Washing Liquid [I have had no luck with any other brand/formula]
4T Betadine Surgical Scrub [Because I also had this on hand. Betadine Solution might also work, but, clearly, I'm no chemist!]
I have long held that a fungus forms at the insect bite site causing the itching. The Microbicidal Cleanser seems to alleviate this and help protect against further fungal growth at the original site. It also seems to help reduce the incidence of fungus at new bite sites. Although, you do have to keep up with the regimen.
Hope this helps!
Michelle
PS:
ReplyDeleteThe homemade fly hooch changes color after a day or so from sludgy swamp water color to a nice pale blue. It's effectiveness does not seem to diminish, though.
Kind Regards,
Michelle
I arrived at your blog by way of "accidental sagacity," following a link on the CDL re- your "On the fly" tips for summer fly bite itch. I shall definitely be trying out the addition of Betadine surical scrub to my flyspray to try to alleviate some of the fly bite itching. Then I scrolled down to read your article on Reinsmanship. I just loved your photo critique of the cones reinsmanship class! Having just starting out with my 5 year old Morgan at CDE Training level I have lots to learn and your blog posting presented a lovely tutorial. Thank you for posting this!
ReplyDeleteElizabeth Measures (Ontario, Canada).