Horse Answers

hiya - in a bottle i usually put in garlic, vinegar, oil, tea tree, citronella and witch hazel. in all honesty, the stronger smelling it is, the better!!!

I have a very good one using white vinegar, some citronella oil and cold tea, works wonders on my horse. I put it all in one of those hand held garden sprays using 1 bottle of white vinegar (costs about 50p from Asda) a small measure of citronella oil (use as much or little as you like) and make up the rest of the spray bottle with warm tea. It smells fine and me and my horse never had a problem with flies, even when hacking out in company, if flies are around the other horse they don't tend to come near us. I even spray a little onto my riding hat to keep them off me. It certainly costs a lot less than the products on the market as once you have the citronella oil which costs me about 10.00 from my vet and lasts a while, the tea is free and the vinegar is cheap. Happy horse and rider all round.

I googled homemade fly repellent for horses & got several recipes.I have been making my own spray now for 2 yrs & it works as well if not better than the expensive well known brands.most of the recipes include avon skinsosoft woodland fresh bath oil which is now i believe called skinsosoft fresh.It is well known for repelling flies & midges & i have used the s s soft dry oil body spray myself when i have cut path ways through woods in june/july & would otherwise have been eaten alive.anyway having rambled on back to recipe... 1/3 avon sssoft bath oil or dry oil body spray in fresh, 1/3cider vinegar, 1/3 water 1 small drop washup liquid(to mix in oil) i also add few drops essential lavender oil or tea tree which ever i can find for good measure! I shake these up well in an old spray bottle so you can pat youself on the back for recycling.I have also added a few drops of citronella when & if i have it. I have been complemented on my "body spray" when in fact its the drift from my horse Hope this helps & have fun