Ecovet was kind enough to send us a free sample of their fly spray to be reviewed.

If you haven’t heard of Ecovet Fly Spray, it is a fly spray that utilizes fatty acids to repel bugs from horses. It is also endorsed by veterinarians and tested by them. According to the Ecovet website, the fly spray provides an “alternative” to toxic pesticides.

What do fatty acids have to do with repelling bugs? Here is the explanation from the Ecovet “How It Works” page:

Research has shown that certain fatty acids act as insect attractants, while others are repellents. Ecovet uses a proprietary mixture of naturally occurring fatty acids that confuses and overwhelms the insect’s normal directional ability, so the insect is unable to locate your horse as its next victim. It’s like having a GPS system that is shouting confusing and conflicting directions at you … until you finally give up.

I first tried the fly spray on my horse Monte. During application, I would highly recommend doing it in an open area. The smell is a bit overtaking and irritates the throat and eyes. However, once you get outside and it settles onto the horse, this effect disappears. In fact, my barn owner commented that it smelled like baby powder.

I found the spray to be very effective. Monte was not bothered by the flies or bugs at all while my trainer was riding him. I used it two days in a row, just to be sure.

But now for the big test. We have a mare at my barn that is super sensitive to bugs, so much so that it affects her ability to concentrate while being ridden (she’s also four). My trainer asked if she could use the Ecovet on the mare to see if it would help at all. The mare eventually settled in, and my trainer stated after the ride was finished that the mare was much more pleasant and focused with the fly spray on.

So, it’s been used on several horses on my barn and found to be super effective.

There are a few drawbacks that I will outline quickly:

• First, application. It definitely stinks when being sprayed on initially, and like I said, it’s best to do so in an open area because it has a suffocating affect on your lungs.
• Second, I left my unopened bottle in my car for the first couple days until I could get down to the barn. Unfortunately, the heat unsealed the aluminum covering on the bottle, and half the bottle leaked all over my car.
• Third, there is a suggestion on the fly spray for it to only be used on the lower half of the horses body. You cannot use it around the neck or face area. Additionally, it also says that if the horse is super sweaty, not to use the fly spray either.

You can purchase the product in a 4 oz., 8 oz., or 1 gallon bottle here. It can also be found at other local and online tack stores like Dover and SmartPak. In fact, it was voted the best natural fly spray by SmartPak users. You can also buy it on Amazon.

Overall, I really liked the fly spray and will continue using it on my horses. I do have to get a new bottle already because half of mine leaked, but it is not a fly spray that you have to keep reapplying so I foresee the bottle lasting a long time. The Ecovet website states that it lasts up to 3 days, and I believe this claim from what I’ve seen. It is definitely more effective than those other, more toxic fly sprays that claim to be effective for up to 17 days (and in case you were wondering, 17 days is a huge stretch).

Stay tuned to our next post for a contest brought to you by The Legal Equestrian and Ecovet! It’s great for those who want to try the product as well as users of the product that would like to try a win a much-needed refill or some other prizes being offered!