I also put the Diotamaceous earth in their drinking water. It cuts down the algea growth in the summer. I have been using WD40 for the large horse flies that nothing else seems to work on. And since it is made from mostly fish oil it is safe and it lasts for a long time.

Luvs, I have fed diatamaceous earth for about 3yrs now. It comes from the ocean. When the diatoms creatures die, their shells sink to the ocean floor. These shells are calcium carbonate. They are cleaned & under a microscope look like tiny slivers of glass. It has many uses, & for flies seems to work best in the poop, by lacerating the fly larva. I have not used horse wormer in 2+ yrs, as it kills worms that migrate into the horse's stomach. The horse gets a boost of natural calcium, too. It can be used on the ground to kill all types of insects, but is messy since it looks & feels like flour. My dogs won't eat it unless I feed them canned dog food. There is lots of info online. I know that if you use it and still think your horses are wormy, you are not using enough. I feed ~3Tbsp 2x's daily, up to 1/2cup, and my fly population has decreased every year. I hope this helps. Vicky

Shannon...hope you don't get 'tagged' as a frequent drug user..LOL!! Apparently, some of the ingredients in antihistamines are used in making meth (or something like that)!! What do you all DO with the diatamaceous earth for bug prevention? Feed it? Dust it on them? Have a gelding that's developed some kind of allergy - he has rubbed the hair off the top of his tail, and mane, destroyed a gate, my barn door, and the board on the top of the run-in with his itching!!

I also have a mare that is very sensitive to the bites. They mostly get her neck and canon bones. "Bite Free" is the only repellent that works for her. I believe it is a Farnam product. Kind of expensive but, worth it.

You ladies are so nice and such a good resource! Makes me proud to be part of ES. Susie Oops! How did I miss page 3? I mean "ladies & gents." Re: diotamaceous earth (food quality), it has many uses :) I sprinkle it on my dogs' food as well.

My gelding has developed skin allergies. I started giving him benedryl capsules 200mg x 4 days and treating the spots with cortisone gel. You might try this for the itching. It has worked wonders for him. Shannon

@ Ranger,Its good to see that someone else out there has heard of the diatamacious earth. I have been feeding my horses the diotamaceous earth food grade and apple cider vinegar in their feed. now grant it, my one horse has less flies but I still have a problem. I am gonna try the skin so soft as well. I had also made a mixture of apple cider vinegar and listerine ( generic of course) and that didn work for us either. so I am going to try the skin so soft route as well.

I've not had problems from gnats.. but I've made a spray from soaking dried lavender flowers in hot apple cider vinegar... once its cool.. I fill the other half of the bottle with water and a few drops of Dawn liquid detergent, just enough for the bottle and mix it each time by shaking it. It's not sticky, and does seem to make flies stay off your horse. It really doesn't smell bad either. But, apparently, flies don't like the stuff. You could try it and see if gnats don't like it as well.

I have been using diotomaceuos earth for about a month now. I know there is another discussion thread on this going out there, but all I can say it I wish I had found this stuff 30 years ago. My horses are shinyer than they have ever been and I have so many less flys and bugs in general aroung them. They have been covered with flys when the neighbors move their cattle herds to the pastures near the house and nothing works to keep the flys off till I started using this. Just be sure to get the food grade.

If there is something "all natural" that works and doesn't cost more than the horse feed or the horse, then that is the preferable solution . . . Nevertheless, in using the manufactured chemicals to fight flies, I haven't found that my horses have suffered illness or shorter lives . . . They still live 30 years or more which is lots longer than they used to live . . . and they can be free of the irritation of biting insects at least part of the day (I've still never found that ANY of the chemicals last more than an hour or so). I trim horses, and I still have to spray each horse's legs and sides and chest 3-4 times with chemical during the trim time . . .