If you’re anything like me, you’d love a fly spray that’ll quickly and effectively kill all horse flies (the Diptera: Tabanidae).
Well, the best fly spray for horses are proven to be highly effective and safe for both the horses and you the user.
So, maybe you’ve tried the pour-on, wipe-on, or concentrated formula to kill the horse flies with low success rates? Relax!
I conducted some research and put together reviews of the sprays I would use on my horse any day. So, let’s get started!
Reviews: Best Fly Spray for Horses in 2019
1. PYRANHA Wipe N Spray Fly Protection ALL SIZES – Our Top Pick
To repel and kill horse flies, mosquitoes, and gnats, I recommend PYRANHA Wipe N Spray as the Best Fly Spray for Horses. Keep horses healthy, comfortable & smelling nice. The ingredients in this Pyranha Wipe N Spray are 15.00% Butoxypolypropylene Glycol, 1.00% Piperonyl Butoxide, and 0.10% Pyrethrins.
It is water-resistant and offers triple-action – it is a coat conditioner (thanks to the lanolin ingredient), in addition to repelling and killing horse flies. Further, it’ll control insects such as horse flies, mosquitoes, gnats, houseflies, deer flies, and stable flies.
It’s loved by both horse owners and riders. If you brush the horse, this Pyranha Wipe N Spray provides some high sheen to the coat of your horse. This Best Fly Spray for Horses, an oil-based formula contains 0.10% pyrethrins that you can use directly on your horse to control fly sprays. Further, the spray will leave the animal’s skin shining with its characteristic lanolin formula.
The PYRANHA spray is ready to use and has citronella scent that will leave your horse both fresh and healthy. Notably, the PYRANHA Wipe N Spray (full review) as it is oil-based, it will not easily wash away from the horses’ fur when it rains. The formula will repel and kill face flies, horse flies, deer flies, and stable flies. Check Video.
Here’s A Short Story
I had promised that I would not narrate the bad escapade I had last summer with a fake horse fly spray. But since we are here; last summer I was truly disappointed by a fly spray that seemed like I was spraying water on my horse. Definitely, even after applying the product, the flies seemed to care less and continue attacking the horse. I even tried using the horse fly spray on horse boots, saddle pads, and blankets but all this left my horse kicking and rolling from the attack by flies. Also, check the best fogger for fleas.
2. Absorbine UltraShield EX Brand Horse Fly Spray – Runner-Up
Do you know why the Absorbine UltraShield EX Always Wears Black? Well, this product will also control flies, gants, ticks, and mosquitos. The spray contains Pyrethrins. (0.10%), Piperonyl Butoxide (1%) and Permethrin (0.50%). Interestingly, you can also use this spray to control fleas and ticks that could be attacking your dogs.
You’ll also love its citronella scent that is pleasant for both the horse and its rider. Since it has the lanolin and aloe ingredients, Absorbine UltraShield EX will offer excellent coat conditioning and act as a sunscreen for the horse. An added advantage is that this formula also controls ticks on the horse in addition to leaving the animals with a shiny skin, which is great for horse shows.
It’s a defensive fly control product that is both weatherproof (sunshine or rainfall) and sweat-resistant to allow about 17 days fly protection for your horse. Therefore, since it’ll last a number of day you won’t have to reapply very often. Absorbine UltraShield EX spray (full review) is a ready-to-use and weather-proof solution for the flies and ticks that have been disturbing your Equine creatures.
Further, the bottle nozzle design is great and hence allowed an even distribution of the fly control formula over the horse’s coat. Therefore, we didn’t get to miss some critical body parts of the result to having large wet spots. As a premise spray, UltraShield EX will kill all the biting and crawling flies in your house or business premises.
3. EcoSMART Organic Horse Fly Repellent
EcoSMART Horse Fly spray is an effective and safe natural formula to repel and kill horse flies, and mealy bugs.
The spray is based on all natural plant oils that will be safe to use on your horses and dogs without leaving a severe chemical smell on their skins.
As an organic product, you should not worry about safety while using it, particularly the safety of your kids, and other pets.
Further, the formula is safe or fish and birds as it does not contaminate water bodies or groundwater.
Therefore, use the EcoSMART Horse Fly (full review) to hit the flies that keep biting and disturbing your horse.
4. Farnam Endure Repellents – Sweat-Resistant
Farnam Endure Fly Repellents contain both 0.20% pyrethrins (natural) and 0.15% cypermethrin (synthetic) that will guard your horse against the terrible flies.
Also, the repellent has RepeLock®, which combines with the horses’ hair to make the product sweat and water resistance, preventing washing off, and hence more effective.
It has an additional sunscreen ingredient that will shield your horse against dangerous rays (ultraviolet).
Interestingly, Farnam Endure Fly Repellents will protect your horse against lies or about4 days from the day of application.
The Roll-On application technique used by Farnam Endure Fly Repellents will make it easy to apply the formula on your horse.
For use on the sensitive parts of your horse, the Farnam Endure Fly Repellents has an amazing bottle with an applicator ball that will ease the application process.
5. Espree Aloe Herbal Fly Repellent Horse Spray
Espree Aloe Herbal can prevent the irritation and bite trigged by flying insects such as gnats and flies. Created from Peppermint Oil, Cedarwood Oil and Citronella Oil this product will be gentle on the skin but harsh on the flies.
It works great if you use it when your horse is clean and when applies on areas such as stall and barn. However, you’ll need to apply again after about 3 hours and avoid spraying onto the horses’ face.
You’ll love that the product has sunscreen and coat conditioners that enable to be gentle on the horse’s coat and product against the harsh sun rays.
To use, you’ll require diluting one part of the Espree Aloe Herbal (comprehensive review) to five parts of water. Use a clean cloth or hold the bottle about 10 to 12 inches from the animal’s fur. Check video
Buyer’s Guide – Considerations for buying a horse spray
1. Active ingredients:
The helpfulness of your horse spray will depend largely on the type of active ingredients that it contains.
Further, it will be critical to choose your ingredients wisely as such actors will determine how the Equine spray reacts with the horse, its reaction to the environment and the period of effectiveness.
For example, if you would love to give your horse and effective yet non-toxic treat, depending on your horses’ skin, you can consider the natural repellents.
2. Days of action:
You’ll need to consider the number of days that the repellent or fly killer will be effective on your horse. For example, if you want a repellent that will work for over weeks, you could choose the UltraShield EX Equine Spray as it works or 7 days.
The length of effectiveness will also be affected by how much you are willing to spend over a period of time to eliminate the flies from your horses.
3. Number of Horses:
Depending on the number of horses you’ll be treated, you must consider the type of formula to use or maximum effectiveness.
For example, when you need to treat any numbers of horses, you’ll need to utilize an aerosol fly spray since it will be easier to use.
Ingredients in the Horse Fly Repellents
If you’re considering the ingredients in horse fly repellents, I’ll dig deep into this topic to determine the correct aspects to consider.
Pyrethrins: – These are derivatives of the pyrethrum (the popular chrysanthemum) plant. However, these pyrethrins are highly poisonous, which means that it’ll readily penetrate the skin or shell of the fly and other comparable insects. Further, the pyrethrin insecticides will immediately move to the fly’s nervous system with the aim of immobilizing them.
However, this will not kill the insect as they have some enzymatic action that’ll detoxify the pyrethrins and enable the flies to recover. Therefore, the spray formulas contain “synergists” that work to slow the enzymatic functioning of a horse fly. Thus, the pyrethrin would have adequate time to paralyze the horse fly. But with moisture, Oxygen, and sunlight, the pyrethrin ingredient will erode easily and hence won’t harm plants and animals – but you’ll need to take top precautions with fish.
Diethyltoluamide (DEET) – DEET is highly effective ingredients in insect repellents. Notably, it was first created by the United States Army in World War II. The ingredient can kill ticks, fleas, and mosquitoes. Further, DEET has a yellow die that could stain your clothes. At high concentration levels (or with highly sensitive skins), DEET could be toxic to animals and people.
Icaridin is an odorless and colorless chemical formula. This ingredient is a great DEET-alternative since its less toxic. However, it’s great in controlling horse flies in addition to other insects such as gnats and mosquitos.
Permethrin – The synthetically created permethrin is comparable to the natural pyrethrin. It stimulates the nervous system of the horse fly and has neurotoxin, in addition to the synergists that takes down the insects. However, despite being more dangerous to the surroundings, the permethrin is highly stable and will protect your horse longer against horse flies.
Natural fly repellents are made from naturally grown plants or animals. Further, the processing the repellents undergo must not downgrade the “natural” form of its ingredients. In addition, the natural horse fly repellent needs to be safe to both plant & animals (at least the non-targeted ones) and human beings.
The natural repellents include ingredients such as natural grape seed oil, rosemary essential oil, natural lemon eucalyptus, tea tree oil, peppermint oil, avocado oil, and Aloe Vera juice. Finally, the natural products need to be both environmental-friendly and bio-degradable, which is thus sustainable to the environment and human beings.
Wrap Up
The above Best Fly Spray for Horses are effective in treating horse lies once and for all.
Such steps will enable you to not only keep your horses comfortable but will reduce the probability of spreading diseases.
Resources
1. Which Fly Spray is the Best? – https://www.utm.edu/departments/msanr/_pdfs/1379695145-Johnson_research_project_final.pdf