Fly Repellant Recipe

This is an excellent recipe that I have been using for over 15 years, and also worked well at helping to keep a pony with sweet-itch comfortable.

Ingredients:

20ml citronella oil (available from most chemists, costs about £3.30 for 100ml)

20ml Tea Tree Oil (available from most chemists, costs about £4.50 per 100ml, so about 90p for 20ml)

500ml malt vinegar (costs vary depending on supermarket, but 50p in ASDA!)

500ml cold strong tea (costs…..well a few pence for the tea bags!)

Method:

Pour all the above ingredients into an empty 2 litre fizzy drinks bottle. Add a squirt of washing up liquid (helps to mix the oils and water). Top up to 2 litres with water, and shake well before use.

This recipe costs just £2.20 for 2 litres. This is comparable as 55p for 500ml a fraction of most shop-bought fly repellants.

EXTRA HELP: For sweet-itch sufferers I strongly recommend Benzyl Benzoate to sooth the itchy parts. It is also a fly repellent, and can be bought in large amounts from most chemists – and is cheap too!

Hoof Oil Recipe

Most hoof oils act as a waterproof barrier and do not let moisture in or out. This is an unnatural condition for the horses hoof and can cause the hoof to stay abnormally dry or abnormally wet for the conditions it lives/works in.

My Natural Hoof Oil allows the hoof to ‘breathe’ and absorb moisture as needed, so that the hoof can work in a natural way.

All the ingredients are natural and support the hoof function.

It also works out a lot cheaper than shop-bought hoof oils, and can be made up as needed. I recommend applying the oil to a clean and dry hoof at least once a week, 2 or 3 times in very dry conditions.

Apply the hoof oil all around the frog, sole, walls and up to the coronet band.

Ingredients:

250ml Olive Oil (cheaper oils can be used, e.g. vegetable oil, but olive oil gives the best results)

25ml Tea Tree Oil (is well known for its antiseptic and antifungal properties and helps keep the hoof and especially the frog infection-free)

5ml Grapefruit Seed Extract (this is an optional extra ingredient, but is particularly useful if there is a thrush or yeast infection of the frog).