How to Make Fly Spray With Neem Oil for Horses

Apply fly spray several times a day to keep flies off your horse.

Fly spray for horses can really take the green out of your wallet. However, creating your own fly spray by using Neem oil and other essential oils reduces the cost, allows you to tailor the mix to your horse's needs, and choose the ingredients. The brew can contain all-natural ingredients or utilize commercial mixes. You can find the ingredients for Neem oil fly spray at a health food store or pharmacy.

Things You'll Need

• 2 cups vinegar
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup lotion
• 1/2 oz. Neem oil
• 1/2 oz. essential oil
• Spray bottle
• Funnel

Instructions

1. Remove the nozzle from an old fly spray bottle or a commercially bought spray bottle. Insert a funnel.

2. Pour 2 cups of vinegar into the bottle, using the funnel. You can use either apple-cider or distilled vinegar. Add 1 cup of water and 1 cup of lotion. Lotions with bug-repelling essential oils work better.

3. Add 1/2 ounce each of Neem oil and another essential oil. Insect-repelling oils include geranium, eucalyptus, lemongrass, orange, cedarwood, juniper, rosemary, lavender, thyme, garlic, tea tree, peppermint, lemon, pine, and clove.

4. Replace the nozzle and shake. It makes about 32 ounces of fly spray, which is the typical size of a bottle of commercial fly spray.

Tips & Warnings

• To make the spray thicker and more like a lotion, add less water.

• You can use witch hazel in place of vinegar or reduce the amount of vinegar and replace it with witch hazel.

• Replace 8 ounces of water or lotion with an equal amount of commercial fly spray for increased fly-repelling power.

References

• The National Academies Press: Neem: A Tree For Solving Global Problems
• University of California, San Diego: Strong Odor Flips a Neural Switch Between Attraction and Aversion
• Holistic Horse: Solutions for Bugs on Horses