I hate ticks! I am okay with most bugs, but I find ticks to be completely abhorrent. I bought a tick repellent spray (I don't remember the name of it, but I'll check tomorrow at the barn) and I think it's working pretty well. I check my horse and myself after EVERY ride or walk and before the spray I was finding two or three on my horse at each check. Now I'll maybe find one every few days, usually somewhere weird where they ordinarily don't like to go but where I probably didn't spray.

So, buy a fly repellent that also says it repels ticks. And just check the horses daily. Get them before they start getting too comfortable... Part of what seems to attract the ticks is when one or two have already made themselves a little home on your horse and have exposed some blood. Also, I have identified areas where we ride that are particularly tick infested and I simply avoid those areas at this time of year. It's hard because of course those are my horse's favorite riding areas, but finding a bunch of ticks on him is too heartbreaking for me.

I too would love to hear any other tips people have!

There are some repellents you can try, but you need to try them on a small spot on your horse first to make sure they don't react.
Switch pour-on from Pharmaxim, is one such preparation, not sure the name is the same all over the world, though. Look for something with permetrin (sp?) in it. It will repel gnats as well.
Mixing a squashed cleft of garlic with a cup or two of olive oil can also be effective, but it is sticky and needs to be re-done every day or so.
As for bot eggs, the best way is to worm the horses and manually remove the eggs as soon as they turn up. A pumice stone or similar can be helpful.

Thanks for all the help and great Ideas I'll certainly have to try them,
Horsecrazy

Is it true, that if you light a match then put it out and put it (carefully) on the ticks body that it will retract his head so it doesnt get stuck and infected, and there fore will drop off or you can remove it safely?

Garlic supplement specifically made for horses and dogs works really well. It takes about 2 weeks of supplement to bulid up in the horse's body to really get the full effect.

A friend of mine who lives in a tick area here in Oz, uses coconut oil all the time. She said she puts some on the tick and it drops off by itself.
She also puts oil on her horses' legs and they don't seem to get as many ticks.

Before I even noticed, I brought my QH Grullo in for grooming and he had several ticks under his chin, in his mane and along the tail bone under the tail hairs. What a mess. I do have him vaccinated for lymes disease yearly as N.E. Pa is tick infested. That is a first for me. And I have a TWH who gets sweet itch in his mane yearly and loses 4-5" of it in the same spot. Can I use a natural spray for dogs that works for them also?

Hi All
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Ticks, lice and flies are a complete pain in the neck!! We live in a place where all three pests are rampant especially due to the amount of rain we have had.
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My husband and I have found that feeding a table spoon of sulphur and a table spoon of garlic granules to our horses each day keeps them completely free from these pests.
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Kind regards,
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Gen

Gen, can I ask where you buy these and also how you get them to eat it? I have tried feeding ground garlic mixed with yummy things to my horse and donkey...and unless I mix it with some sweet feed, they won't eat it!

Hello
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Yep, no worries :-)
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I live in Australia and I purchase my garlic and sulphur from either Horse Supplies Direct or The Animal Health Store - which ever one is cheapest. Horse Supplies Direct has the cheapest freight.
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For feeding, I mix up one part lucern chaff, one part oaten chaff, one part bran and add one cup of copra meal for flavour because I don't feed molasus because it attracts flies.
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I add the one table spoon of sulphur and one table spoon of garlic to that mix.
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We had a mare that would not eat it when we first brought her home. So to start with I reduced the dose to half a table spoon of sulphur and garlic and increased it slowly over a 3 week period till she got used to it.
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We have no trouble with her now and also no flies, lice or ticks bothering our special friends :-)
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Hope this helps.
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Kind regards,
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Gen

Sorry, I forgot to mention that the garlic granuals I use are from Country Park Herbs as this product seems to keep the best and is of a very high quality.
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And the sulphur is the Value Plus yellow sulphur.
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Kind regards,
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Gen

Thanks Gen,
I'm in the states, but I will see if I can find a supplier for those things here. I need a good source of garlic granules for my sheep anyway. I have been using fresh and powdered up 'til now, but would be interested in the granules. I've heard of people using sulphur powder as a dusting powder to keep ticks away, too!
Oh, and I also feed garlic to my dogs to help keep ticks away. And I spray them with a strong herbal "tea", which also seems to help. I want to try it on the horse and donkey to see if it will repel flies as well.

I Live in the States and have always put out a Sulfur Block in the spring for the horses. It helps keep the flies off the horses. Now that I read this the only years I remember having Ticks are the Years I didn't have the Sulfur Block. So I would be lead to believe the Sulfur Block keeps the flies and ticks away. Bonus the horses only eat what they need. So No Worries or Mixes.