A while ago, @BrielleD shared a recipe for fly spray. I really liked the idea of making it myself - especially since store-bought sprays are expensive and sometimes contain ingredients that I have concerns about. @BrielleD gave the recipe in gallons and ounces, so I started by converting the ingredient quantities to the metric system. And then it turned out that the given amounts yielded almost 19 litres of spray! 😅 Fortunately, I don't have to supply the entire stable, so I calculated the proportions so that there was less spray and the ingredients were easy to buy and measure. For those who want to try it, here is the recipe (the amounts converted from Brielle's recipe have been slightly rounded). You will need: - approx. 1.5 liter container - I used an empty water bottle, - 80 ml of 100% aloe juice, - 40 ml of apple cider vinegar, - 40 ml of neem oil, - 10 ml of eucalyptus oil, - 10 ml of citronella oil, - 10 ml of lemon dish soap, - water to top up, Pour the measured ingredients into a 1.5 liter bottle. Top up with clean water. Mix well. Pour some of it into an empty bottle of used insect repellent et voilà - use it when needed, shaking it each time before use! And save the rest for later 😁 Pros: The mixture smells nice. The 1.5 liter of liquid I made cost much less than 0.5 of the one I usually bought (when producing larger quantities, the costs are even more favourable). It does not contain any controversial ingredients. And it works! Anyway, against flies and mosquitoes - with horseflies it's a bit worse, but on the other hand I don't know of any product that would repel horseflies from a sweaty horse 😒 Plus I had a lot of fun making it and felt a bit like Harry Potter in potions class 😌 Additionally, neem oil has antibacterial and anti-fungal properties. Eucalyptus oil is known for its antiseptic, antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties. Citronella oil is commonly used as an effective insect repellent. It works by blocking odours that attract insects and disorient them. It is also used as a soothing agent for bites. Cons: I didn't notice any 😊 Thanks @BrielleD! Don't you have any other cool recipes? I'd love to try them out!

Horse

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AnnaS

Rising Star

Thank you so much for sharing this! I make my own fly spray because I don't like all the chemicals regular flay spray has in it and I'm always looking for good recipes. I will definitely try this out!

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07/17/24-19:47

NataliaD

Equestrian PRO

@Niamh From what I see, it depends on how much the horse sweats. Mine sweats quite a lot, so I spray it more often, but when I gave the spray to a friend, one application was enough for her for quite a long ride :)

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07/10/24-19:51

Keep exploring the community!