Natural Fly Spray for Horses Showdown, Summer 2024

This has been the summer of natural fly spray for my horse Knight and me. Here’s how it started:

In January, someone dear to me received a lymphoma diagnosis. While I processed this alarming news, I hunkered down and researched potential causes, and while doing that I got caught up in learning about pesticides, EMFs, risks of 5G, etc (please don’t carry your cell phone in your bra or pocket, and turn off your wifi when you go to bed).

The more I leaned, the more I realized products I use every day might have negative long-term health consequences. I added the app Yuka to my phone, switched the brands of shampoo, mascara and toothpaste I use along with a host of other changes. I then thought about the chemicals in most fly sprays I use on my horse Knight. Over the years, I have tried several brands of fly spray for horses and written a few blogs posts. At the beginning of the summer, I bought as many natural fly sprays as I could, and I’ve been testing them out. Here are my observations so far.

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Summary of My Natural Fly Spray for Horses Experiment

Before I begin, you need to know that the beginning of this fly season in Illinois, we had rain and rain and more rain. The mosquitoes were out of control. There were many afternoons when I opted to ride in the indoor arena (much to my chagrin, because I love riding outdoors) to stay away from the pesky little varmints. My observations are not truly scientific, but more anecdotal.

Synopsis: most of the natural fly sprays were “okay.” By that I mean they might have helped a bit, but they were not as effective as I would have hoped. When I knew I would ride indoors, I usually sprayed a heavy once all over. I spray Knight’s legs—up and down—and on the inside. So if I’m standing on his left side, I lean down and spray the inside of his right legs. I spray his shoulders, sides and rump generously. I spray his neck from about poll down to shoulder. I wasn’t super diligent about spraying his face because he wears a Back on Track fly bonnet, and it seems the flies and mosquitoes prefer the previously mentioned areas the most.

If I knew I would be riding outside, I sprayed twice, sometimes three times.

1. Equiderma Neem & Aloe Herbal Horse Spray

A barn friend recommended the Equiderma Neem & Aloe Herbal Horse Spray to me so I gave it a shot (pun intended). The fragrance was pleasant, and the sprayer worked well. According to the product description: Equiderma Neem & Aloe Herbal Horse Spray contains 100% active ingredients. No inert ingredients at all in this powerhouse. We start the water base with a strong tea of steeped neem leaves and aloe gel. To this base we add the essential oils of neem, citronella, eucalyptus, tea tree, lemongrass, lemon peel, and lavender.

Out of 847 reviews of this product, it receives a 4.4 rating out of 5 according to Google. That’s pretty impressive.

This one was an early favorite this summer. It wasn’t foolproof for outdoor riding, but like I mentioned before, we had an unusual level of mosquitoes early on.

Recommendation: Try Equiderma Neem & Aloe Herbal Horse Spray and let me know what you think.

Shop Equiderma here

2. Ecovet Fly Spray

In 2015, I reviewed Ecovet Fly Spray a newcomer to the market at that time. I loved everything about it—except the smell. The fragrance had notes of a thrift shop merged with mothballs, but man the stuff worked!

CLICK HERE to read my 2015 Ecovet review.

To be fair, the fragrance has been modified since 2015. However, I have a newer formulation and whenever I spray it on Knight (which is why I’ve had the same bottle for a few years at least), he coughs. Before or after he coughs, he will strike a Flehmen response. I just can’t get overly enthusiastic about a spray that gags my horse, no matter how effective it might be.

Recommendation: Ecovet is the real deal, but spray with caution. Warn fellow barn mates if they are nearby, as the smell will be overwhelming if you’re not used to it.

***September 9, 2024 Update: A reader sent me an email with the following information about her experience using Ecovet. She asked me to please share and so I’m copying and pasting her message here:

Shop Ecovet Here

3. Equicare Flysect Citronella Spray

Next I tried Farnam’s Equicare Flysect Citronella Spray. This product worked pretty well. I would give it a B if there was a fly spray report card. However, I am not a scientist and am not confident this is truly a natural fly spray. I think I saw the word “citronella” and made the mental leap to “natural.” Well, when you read the ingredients list, 83.9% of the ingredients are categorized as “other.” What does that even mean? There’s a note on the bottle that it contains “petroleum distillates.” Again, I do not have a science background (if you do, please share in the comments section of this post).

On the CDC’s website, there’s a section called The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Pocket Guide to Chemical Hazards and petroleum distillates is listed. <yikes>

Also, when I read the fine print on the label, there are precautionary statements and a chart of what to do if the spray is swallowed, inhaled, gets in your eyes, etc. There’s a note to not pour remaining spray in an indoor or outdoor drain (why would you not use every last drop of fly spray?).

Recommendation: Read the fine print and talk to a scientist if you know one. This spray works adequately, but perhaps should not have been part of my natural fly spray experiment.

4. Mary’s Botanicals Fly Spray

Disclosure: I met Mary during one of my first book signing’s for Horses Adored and Men Endured back in about 2018. She is one of the kindest, most warmhearted people I know. I LOVE the smell of Mary’s fly spray. It’s hard to describe, but it smells fresh and somewhat floral—not like a traditional fly spray from one of the big equine brands. Slight problem: there are two people at my barn who find the fragrance to be too strong. So on occasion, I had to spray Knight in secret. lol

Here’s a quick description of Mary’s Botanicals Fly Spray from their website:

Made from proven, effective, natural and food grade ingredients to repel flies, gnats, and mosquitoes. This specially formulated blend of pure essential oils listed by the EPA as effective, minimal risk pesticides as well as USEF & FEI compliant, is mixed with skin loving, food grade botanical oils, white vinegar, and vegetable glycerin, all safe for your horse, your dog, and you to use. Helps ease itchy bug bites, too! Unlike many natural fly sprays, ours contains NO pyrethrins (chrysanthemum), or geraniol (geranium) which are known to be common allergens, and often the main active ingredient found in “natural” fly sprays.

Mary’s Botanicals was great for my indoor arena riding this summer, but I once did a lap around the farm property and Knight was pretty miserable with mosquitoes. However, like I mentioned before, early summer was so wet, I’m not sure it’s fair to judge Mary’s Botanicals against the mosquito hordes.

The packaging of Mary’s Botanicals is really pretty—I love the dark blue bottle, and it feels good supporting a small business of someone I know is a wonderful human, rather than a big company. However, I had a problem with the particular sprayer. It would spray a nice stream just fine, but it was like I had to wait a few seconds to be able to pull the “trigger” and get my next flush of spray on Knight. It’s possible that could have been a one-off thing (I’ve used Mary’s before when I lived in California and mosquitoes were not much of an issue. I don’t remember the sprayer being weak like that). And I could have certainly bought a generic spray bottle and transferred the spray, but I didn’t think to do that until now. I also could have reached out to Mary and told about my problem with the sprayer. Thank you, hindsight! lol

Recommendation: Try Mary’s Botanicals and see what you think.

Shop Mary’s Botanicals here

5. Animal Legends Flick’s Natural Essential Oil Fly Spray

This spray was another friend recommendation. I was surprised when the package arrived and the fly spray was in a small separate bottle and there was an empty sprayer. You have to add water to the Flick’s to get your spray; it’s one part Flick’s to seven parts water. This was a bit inconvenient, but not the end of the world. The smell is pretty good—there’s a pepperminty quality.

As far as effectiveness, it’s hard to say. For some reason, this sprayer only sprays in little droplets. Not a fine mist, not a narrow stream, this sprayer (and I’ve been playing with it to fine tune the spray) will shoot out white droplets of spray across Knight’s side, shoulders, etc. I don’t feel like he’s getting the optimal application.

Because of the weird droplets I haven’t been using this product as consistently as I should so I still have about half a bottle left. I need to maybe grab a rag and apply it that way and then update this blog post on how effective I think it is.

Recommendation: It’s worth a try but have your own spray bottle handy.

Shop Flick’s Natural Essential Oil Fly Spray here

6. EQyss Barn Barrier Natural Fly Repellent

Well, dear reader, I have yet to try out the EQyss Barn Barrier Fly Repellent. You see, I was that crazy person who had three natural fly sprays for my horse hanging on the blanket bar in front of Knight’s stall. I didn’t want to seem eccentric, and my goal was to really only use one product at a time until it was used up. However, then I thought it could take me a while, so I opted to mix it up. (I disclosed earlier I’m not a scientist.) Long story short, I found the EQyss spray in my tack trunk last week and it’s been unopened.

Once I’ve used this product, I will update the blog. If you have tried it, please leave a comment. But for now, I noticed on SmartPak it has about a 3-star rating (out of 5). Also, across the board when I just searched for EQyss Barn Barrier, it seems to be in the 3.5 star range for effectiveness.

Recommendation: It’s too early for me to make a recommendation.

Shop EQyss Barn Barrier Fly Repellent here

7. Charlee’s Fly Spray

If you’re like me and you are on social media, you have probably seen the Charlee’s Fly Spray ad that’s been circulating with Olympians Beezie Madden and Adrienne Lyle. After seeing Adrienne and Beezie talk about how amazing Charlee’s is (I swear I see this ad at least once a day), I gave in and ordered the product. After all, it’s been the summer of fly sprays.

I have not ridden much outside lately because it’s been pretty hot, but yesterday I went on a brief trail ride and used Charlee’s Fly Spray on Knight. This trail goes alongside a cornfield, then a soybean field and during most of the ride there are tall weedy plants and trees one one side of the pathway. Prime areas for annyoing mosquitoes and flies.

I sprayed Knight with Charlee’s quite liberally and he really didn’t seem to have any flies or mosquitoes on him except for one fly on the very top of his rump (I probably didn’t spray that part super well—he’s 16.3 and that’s quite high up). FINALLY I found a heavy duty sprayer that has a wonderful mist and sprays in a long dose. It really has been the best sprayer of the summer.

One thing I need to add is that it’s been quite dry here in recent weeks. So in a way I feel like this comparison is apples to oranges, not apples to apples. Perhaps the sprays I used earlier in the summer that was so wet and mosquitoey would be more effective with this recent weather.

Recommendation: Give this brand a try. How can Beezie and Adrienne be wrong? lol

Shop Charlee’s Fly Spray here

To Summarize

I really wish I had a clear winner to recommend in the realm of natural fly spray for horses. I think the overly wet start to the summer made the conditions not similar enough for me to compare overall effectiveness of the various brands I tried. In a way, I feel like this experiment did not go as well as I had hoped. But perhaps the real win is just knowing there are so many options for kinder, gentler fly and mosquito sprays for horses. Maybe you’ll be inspired to conduct your own experiment. Each horse is unique and each geographical area poses its own set of bothersome critters. We all perceive fragrance differently. So I’m thrilled there are so many natural products on the market–something for everyone.

Thanks for reading and tally ho!

Seeking Your Thoughts and Recommendations

Please leave your thoughts, questions, anecdotes in the comments (that brown box below—working on lightening the color) I would love to learn from you. Let’s pool our knowledge and fend off flies as best we can. Thank you.

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