Another use for Apple Cider Vingar

Horse Care – A Natural Fly spray

Another benefit of feeding your horse apple cider vinegar is to make the horse less attractive to flies and insects. Some specialists believe that horses sweat the vinegar out so that it becomes a natural horse fly spray.

Insect bites not only cause your horse itchy discomfort, they can be areas where skin bacterial and fungal infections can occur. As well, some types of hives are commonly caused by insect stings or bites.
They can cause other health risks by spreading such diseases as West Nile virus, encephalomyelitis viruses and equine infectious anemia.

Never use a commercial fly repellant containing DEET on horses (or other animals) since it can be absorbed or ingested by them and cause unwanted toxic side effects.

For those who prefer not to use insecticides for horse care, especially on foals less than 12 weeks old, try feeding your horse ACV and make up your own vinegar based natural horse fly spray that you can rub or spray onto your horse's coat as needed:

·         2 cups (500 ml) Apple Cider Vinegar

·         1 cup (250 ml) Water

·         1 cup (250 ml) Avon Skin so Soft (bath oil)

·         2 tsp. ( 10 ml) Eucalyptus oil (or citronella oil)

Mix all ingredients well and store in a handy spray bottle.

While you're at it, you can take care of all those pesky flies that hang around enclosed areas like barns or transportation trailers, by using you own homemade vinegar fly trap:

·         3 cups (750 ml) Water

·         1/4 cup (60 ml) Apple Cider Vinegar

·         1/4 cup (60 grams) Sugar

Dissolve the sugar in the vinegar solution then place in a large jar and punch holes in the lid. The flies will get in but won't be able to fly out.

For even more protection against insects and flies, try to identify the type of insect or fly bothering your horse because they all have their own preferred breeding spots and feeding times as shown in the table below, then use the appropriate horse care tips for natural fly protection listed below the table.

Fly Type Breeding Spots Feeding Time Black flies Running water Morning & late afternoon Deer flies Water & Vegetation Daytime Stable flies Manure Daytime Horn flies Cattle Daytime Mosquitoes Water Dusk to early evening NoSeeUms (Culicoides) Standing water Manure Decaying vegetation Twilight to dawn Best Horse Care Tips for Natural Fly Protection ·         Eliminate insect breeding sites as much as possible. ·         Cover manure piles and dispose of them often. ·         Remove daily from stalls and pens all manure, wet straw, and waste hay then spread thinly or compost in a covered pile. ·         Eliminate standing water that can collect in such places as cans, old tires, discarded bedding and wet organic material. ·         Stable horses at sunrise and sunset which are peak feeding times for black flies, no-see-ums and mosquitoes. ·         Install overhead stall fans to interfere with the insects flight. ·         Place fine mesh screens in all windows. (60 Squares/in2) ·         Use fly masks, bonnets, body sheets and other clothing that does not allow the flies to reach the skin. ·         Let your horse's mane and tail grow so that he will have extra swishing power. ·         Keep horses away from standing water. ·         If you don't mind having Muscovy ducks around the barn, they will remove adult house flies more than 30 times faster than the most efficient commercial devices. ***I got this information from www.apple-cider-vinegar-benefits.com I hope I got it right, at any case it had apple cider vinegar benefits in it.