I first heard of Fly Free Equine fly repellent when founder Sebastian Tarrant reached out to the Your Horse editorial team. Impressively he founded the company when he was just 12 years old and was fed up of being dragged to Pony Club rallies to watch his sister ride. He wanted a venture to keep him entertained and started selling fly spray from trailer-to-trailer at local events and his business grew from there.
Now he has more than 135 stockists, with over 150 retail outlets across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Top riders have also given glowing testimonials of the product and it went down very well at Badminton Horse Trials, so it seemed a great one to also feature in our reviews section as well as news.
Sebastian was keen to let us sample the product and the fly spray arrived promptly at my door ready to use on my horse. The bottle features a simple design with eye-catching fly cartoon logo, so won’t be easily muddled with other similar sized spray bottles, like mane and tail conditioner etc. Fly Free Equine also supplies 5L refill bottles, offering an eco-friendly way to top up and reuse your initial spray bottle, which is handy.
The product claims to be effective against horse flies, midges, house flies, bot flies, black flies and crab flies, and contains an antiseptic which could help with existing fly bites.
Performance
‘No flies on me!’: The repellent does the trick nicely
I first sampled a small amount of the product on my horse’s shoulder to check he wasn’t irritated by it. He may be a hairy cob, but can have sensitive skin, so I always do a patch test with all new products to ensure he won’t experience a flare up. Thankfully he had no such issues and a few days later I sprayed the fly spray across his body, and used my hands to apply it to his face (I clean sponge or cloth is probably a wiser method, but I’ve experienced no adverse affects to date!)
Since then I’ve been applying the spray to him in the mornings when the weather is due to be warm and it seems to be very effective. This summer didn’t start as the hottest, but I’ve noticed a visible reduction in the number of flies on him and as a result haven’t been using his fly mask very often. It seems to have good staying power too so I don’t feel the need to re apply. This is ideal as I am always short on time, so a quick spray when he has his morning feed is all that is needed.
I’ve never needed to use fly rugs and this spray allows me to continue leaving my horse rugless in the warmer months. He seems very content without being plagued by flies and doesn’t rub his face shake his head as he has on previous years when there are lots of bugs landing on him. I’ve also not been feeding any fly-deterring supplements as in previous seasons, so I can’t help thinking the spray has played a big part in this.
I’m not riding much this summer, due to having a baby on board, but will definitely make extra use of this fly repellent when I’m back in the saddle. There’s nothing worse than a nice hack being ruined by pesky flies, or even worse a horsefly taking a liking to your horse as you ride up the centre line!
My gelding seems perfectly content to have the spray applied and the scent reminds me of tea tree (possibly coming from the pine oil?), which is a pleasant change to previous fly sprays I’ve used which can carry quite heavy citrus aromas. My previous mare hated the smell of lemons, so much so she’d even refuse a carrot if I’d applied any such lotion to her earlier that day, and so this fly spray would have been perfect for her too!
My well used bottle! I will be ordering a refill soon.
Value for money
A bottle of the spray costs £12.95. It’s 750ml which seems the standard size for a fly repellent so I think this represents good value for money. The cheaper popular brands are around the same price point, with many more expensive products on the market, so I think you would struggle to find a more affordable repellent.
The five litre refill bottles cost £54.95, so a bigger investment, but they obviously would last for a long time and allow you to use your initial fly spray bottle again and again.
Important information
Fly Free fly repellent ingredients: Lemongrass, garlic, eucalyptus citrodora, pine oil, chloroxylenol, isopropyl alcohol, and trace amounts of caster oil soap.
RRP £12.95 for 750ml
