homemade fly repellent for horses (aromatherapy)?

[GaWgEsS xx]

hi, any homemade fly repellents out there? my mums an aromatherapist so she has all the citronella, tea tree and stuff like that but just wants ideas on the ratios, recipes and rules of using the oils on horses, horse suffers from rather bad sweet itch, not so bad on the tail and mane but on the body, what base oil is best? thank you,
also the horse is a 14.2hh heavy/middle weight cob mare

 

[lotpot]

2 cloves of garlic in her feed which will also help the sweet itch in general as its a great supplement.

And 20 drops of lavender oil
20 drops of tea tree oil
20 drops of white thyme oil
200ml of water

You dont really need a base oil with these as they arent irritants but as your horse has sweet itch i would suggest maybe sweet almond oil for the base.Or you could soak her body with cold tea ( 500ml of water to 4 teabags) leave for 5 mins and then remove teabags and apply cold tea to problem areas. Hope this helps.

 

[Debi]

We made our own sprays for years - we were forever changing the recipe to try to find one that really worked. The best we got was a simple mixture of Eucalyptus, citronella, tea tree and water. Using double the eucalyptus to the other oils and 10 times the water. Mix it in water in a spray bottle. Because the base is water you have to shake before you spray as it separates when it's left. Using an oil base ( eg grapeseed) works but is very messy.Be careful with citronella - it's photoreactive.
Apple cider vinegar can also help - it can be used in the spray as a part of the water measure, added to the feed and added to the water.
Some people will suggest adding dish soap tioo the mix - this acts as an emulsifier and stops the liquid separation.
The best thing that we found after years of trying was actually Marmite ( mixed in hot water and added to the feed - 1 heaped teaspoonful a day) apparently it's the B vitamins that make the difference. Some horse will eat it out of your hand on bread or whatever - ours wouldn't.
Garlic powder added to the feed will also help but again be careful of the amounts - it has been linked with anaemia in horses and dogs.
The best topical cream we found was Net-tex Itch Stop.

More info than you asked for I know but we had this problem for years.

 

[politically_incorrect]

i have this one:
-2 cups of apple cider vinegar
-1 cup of water
-2 tsp eucalptus oil or citronella
mix all in a spray bottle.
this recipe works very well to keep away flys, and if you add lavender it smells great!

i also have a huge list of natural oils that you can use (in place of the citronella and eucalptus) i can email it to you if you want.

also- if you add two tsp of apple cider vingar to your horses grain every day, it will help cut down flys a lot. apparently it makes their skin distasteful to flys, some people swear by it. no side effects either, coat and skin will stay healthy. =]

 

[T.O.Rider]

First off, sorry to your mum, but citronella does SO little to repel flies, it basically attracts them. It's scientifically proven.

Apple vinegar!!!!! Water it down some, and it keeps flies and such away SUPER well, my barn swears by it.