my horse gets loads of tics in the summer, any help?

Question

we give my horse loads of garlic but he still gets tics on his legs. He's 15 years old and prone to laminitus. can anyone give me any advice?

Answer 1

The fact that he's 15 and prone to laminitis doesn't really have any bearing on tics. Have you tried the roll-on, wipe-on, or spot-on treatments? Spot-ons generally have locations all over the body and protect against flies, tics, mosquitos, etc. Also, they make little "armbands" that snap on around the pastern that contain repellent. If you go to your local tack store (the one that sells medications, dewormers, and things like that) and ask about tic prevention, they should be able to help you out.

Answer 2

Try some fly spray. Spray it on him where the ticks are once a day. But, be sure to get fly spray that says it repels AND kills ticks. Normally that helps. Try some stuff called Endure by Farnam or this other stuff called UltraShield by Absorbine. That should help. If it doesn't let me know, and I could give you some more hints. Oh, and use stuff that's actually safe for horses and not like Frontline. You don't put horse stuff on dogs and cats, so don't put dog and cat stuff on horses.

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Answer 3

I received a horse that was badly neglected and malnourished a couple of years ago. She ended up having ticks just dripping off of her! Too many to do the Vaseline thing. My vet recommended a fly spray with pyrethrins in it as well as Ivermectrin de-wormer. I applied the fly spray daily, and used the wormer twice three weeks apart. She was tick free in four weeks, and her body and coat looked 100 times better!

I know you want an instant fix, but I never seen one that wouldn't miss any of those disease infested critters.

Good Luck!

Answer 4

Just pull them off.
It has been a really bad year for ticks.
AS for pasture managment you do not want to be mowing your pasture for ticks as they are abumdant even in short grass and mowing at the wrong time can kill you grass pasture and leave you short on graze for you horses.
I would not recomend smearing their leggs with any type of oily or greasey substance. Think of the mess that would be to clean ff and the dirt would stick to it. Yuck.
I have used the leg bands things and they really did not help much for the flys or ticks.
Some of the fly sprays has something in them for ticks. Check the labels of your spray and see if it does if not look for one that does and be sure when you spray his legs that you coat them well and get them wet. As the spray dries it still has the chemical in it to repel the ticks.
My guy seem to be getting them on his face so they are easy to pull. When I feed him in the evenings I just go over him and pull them off.
Good luck

Answer 5

Does he share the field with sheep? How come there are so many ticks in the field in the first place?
I think you need to get some advice on grass management; it may need something simple like mowing short at certain times of the year.
Ticks aren't difficult to deal with on livestock if you are in England; we don't get Lymes or any of the other nasties. If your horse gets laminitis he must see the vet regularly, just ask them for advice. There are plenty of products suitable for horses.

Answer 6

Fot a really cheap solution, apply vaseline to the tics and they'll fall off after an hour or so, tics breath thru their backs so the vaseline suffocates them making them let go on fall off.

Sarah, international elite Groom

Answer 7

my dad is a pest control guy and he said that if you use like an 8 ounce bottle of dog (ridding ticks and flea) shampoo and you do that every four days then you should be okay. but if that doesn't work then i think that you should ether take your hourse to the vet to get help on seeing what you can do to help you animal friend or you probibly should move him into a place that has a less pobulation of ticks and or fleas. hay it might work! haha! i said hay! because hay is for horses and you know.... yeah, well, try that it will work!

Answer 8

Try smearing vaseline on his legs or any other oil based cream, Ticks breath through their body when attached so if they try to feed off your horse they should get covered in the vaseline which will mean that they wont be able to breath whilst eating. Hope this is helpful.

Answer 9

GET SOME SKIN SO SOFT FROM AVON/ MIX WITH A FLY REPELLENT AND SPONGE ON ALL OVER THE HORSE WORKED GREAT ON TRAIL RIDES

Answer 10

hi there, i know of a woman who lives in spain and has a lot of dogs. she puts spots of tea tree oil on them, it keeps ALL parasites off of them. she also washes them with t/tree shampoo. i ALWAYS put it on in the midge season or take it abroad to ward off mosquitos, i haven't been bitten once since i started to use it 2 years ago.t/tree is antibacterial,antiviral and antiseptic and is used in hospitals in australia. it doesn't sting when put on cuts etc. you can buy it from reputable health shops or the best shopping channels on t.v. i really hope this helps your lovely horse, as with anything, please try a little test patch first. please give him a hug from me, good luck.
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