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I have wanted to make my own fly spray for my horses for more than a year now. The one fly spray I found that actually works for an extended period of time, was loaded with stuff I didn’t want around my kids. I had to make sure my 3 year old didn’t get a hold of the bottle to “help” and had to make sure I sprayed the horses down after my special needs riders were done brushing and picking the horses feet. Mostly I just wasn’t using it unless absolutely necessary (like the horse would not stand still due to the flies biting). Read all the way to the bottom for the recipe I found to work.
Looking this spring, I found a “greener” spray that had peppermint, rosemary, citronella, lemongrass, and geranium. I had talked with my sister, in Oklahoma, and she was using lavender, peppermint, eucalyptus, and citronella in a spray, while feeding lavender and citronella, with good success. I also found a recipe calling for peppermint, citronella, purification, eucalyptus globulus, tea-tree, cedarwood, and thyme.
So I mixed my own to test it out. The first batch I made had peppermint, citronella, purification, eucalyptus, tea-tree, cedarwood, and thyme (it had most of the other recipes plus). I then tested it against the old spray, left legs with the mix, right leg with the old stuff. Day one, by the end of the day the old stuff was still working.
So I added a little rosemary, lemongrass, and geranium (may as well right). This combination seems to last almost as long as the old stuff. WIN! Now I just have to keep it out of my daughters reach.
Fly Spray of Horses (16 oz bottle)
1 capful Thieves Household Cleaner
15 drops Citronella
10 drops Purification
7 drops Eucalyptus Globulus
5 drops Tea Tree
7 drops Cedarwood
6 drops Thyme
6 drops Rosemary
6 drops Lemongrass
6 drops Geranium
Fill with water and gently shake before use.
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