fly bites on my Mustang

Question
The last few summers here in Minnesota, my Mustang Annie, has been bitten by flies so bad that they draw blood and continuely go back to the same spots and do not leave this horse alone. We use fly spray on her that we make out of lanoline, fabric softener, and water. This was recommened to us by a person that does not use chemicals. We have also used chemical horse sprays, and they don't work either. We have tried moving her from grass round pens, to soft sand areas. We use shavings in her stall, she is not outside at night. We feed her Progressive horse feed, that does not contain sugars or starch, also a good grass hay. She is an easy keeper and does not require a lot of alpalfa hay.We have 4 domestic horses, and the bugs have never been a problem for them. I am considering a blood screen to be done on Annie before summer comes again. Any other suggestions would be wonderful.

Answer
LeeAnn,

We've had similar problems in this area with little gnats.  Some horses are actually allergic to their bites and the skin reaction to the bite draws them back more and more; a real vicious cycle.  

One thing that does help is feeding the horse garlic.  You can use powders available from a number of different herbal companies.  I have to give it to 8 so I go on-line and buy 5,000 mg. capsules of garlic oil from Puritan's Pride.  I catch it when it's on sale buy 1/get 1 or buy 2/get 3.  Each horse gets 1 gel cap/day; I double this when the flies are really awful.  Yeah, the horses reek of garlic but it does help.  Also, add 6 oz. of apple cider vinegar to her feed.  Both of these make the horses not smell nor taste nearly as good to flies.  I do notice a difference when they aren't used vs. people who do when I go to work on horses at the farms.  

I also found a great natural repellant this year, CLAC Deo Gel.  It's a whipped creamy stuff that you spread over the horse's body wherever needed.  .  There's a little sponge in the container but mine fell apart after a dozen or so uses.  It's very effective.  I tried the lotion that can be diluted to spray and wasn't at all happy with that.  Just go online and search the name.  It's about comparable to spray to use, I buy 2 containers at a time to start and order another one when I open the 2nd container.  You can use this one yourself too.  It's all natural, a blend of essential oils.  After I finished smearing it all  over my horse I wiped the excess off on my legs (I had shorts on).  

A third suggestion is get her one of those fly sheets, fly mask and the fly guards for the legs. I have a number of clients who use these and swear by them. Smear CLAC over any areas they get to and she should be well protected.

I hope these suggestions help.  My one filly was eaten raw by gnats on her cheeks and legs until I found the CLAC stuff.  None of the other horses had the issues she did, and she's never had them before this year.  She was born on the place is turned 5 this year.  Never a problem before this so I can sympathize with your issues.  

Lyn