Posted by Jennifer Serot, Fri, Jun 8, 2018
Summer has finally arrived, and along with it: insects. As the temperatures heat up, the equine fly spray goes on. There are many options to help horse owners fight off flies, manage mosquitoes, deter deer flies, negate nasty gnats, and keep their equine partners free of predation by the various insects that buzz about during the spring and summer. Did you know that in addition to sprays, you can protect your horse from the inside out with a supplement?
For many horse owners, fly spray alone isn’t enough to keep the flies off their horse—it takes an entire system to protect your horse and barn. While fly spray is a must-have summertime staple, horse owners can add another defensive tool to their anti-fly arsenal by using a feed-through supplement.
You may ask how a supplement helps keep bugs away from your horse.
Have you heard the saying “you are what you eat?” I remember playing outside as a child and swatting feverishly at my legs as I got bit up by bugs. My grandma would tell me that I shouldn’t have eaten so many sweets or salty snacks, because that makes me tasty to mosquitoes! While I didn’t listen at the time, she was onto something. High-sodium foods (like sauerkraut) actually do attract mosquitoes. At the same time, while removing foods can help you avoid becoming a bug magnet, adding certain foods to the diet can help deter bugs.
This applies to horses, too.
Nature’s Force Bug Clear, a natural feed-through supplement, contains ingredients to add another layer of protection against bugs. It works on many different levels, from repelling to promoting a healthier and more resilient skin and coat for your horse. It also deters biting insects with a blend of natural ingredients to help provide the horse with the ability to mount a normal inflammatory response to insect bites.
Let’s break down the ingredients:
Garlic
You may know garlic as a vampire deterrent from sci-fi movies and Halloween horror flicks, but it also has been used for centuries as a natural insect repellent. When the horse sweats, the garlic puts out an aroma that bugs hate. The odor actually stems from the sulfur in garlic cloves. It also has the benefit of being a natural antimicrobial, which may even help reduce internal parasites.
Thiamin (B1)
Thiamin is an important aid in helping your horse metabolize their food to produce energy. It also aids in digestion and helps promote a healthy nervous system. Vitamin B1 plays a crucial role in the nervous system, allowing horses to feel more focused and at ease. We all know how upset horses can get when they are being bombarded by flies; as an added bonus, thiamin, like garlic, has properties that repel them.
Yeast
Brewer’s Dried Yeast and yeast culture help with palatability and digestion.
Niacin (B3)
Niacin is a vitamin that is essential to horses’ well-being and is required to metabolize fats, carbohydrates, and amino acids. It also supports healthy skin, hair and digestion while helping to increase circulation. If your horse’s skin is healthy, it is less likely to get irritated by bugs and will heal faster from bites.
Turmeric
Turmeric’s main active ingredient is curcumin, which has powerful anti-inflammatory effects. When you or a horse gets a bug bite, the itching and irritation can be overpowering. The anti-inflammatory properties in turmeric help ease the irritation and response.
Grapeseed Extract
Grapeseed extract is, unsurprisingly, derived from the seeds of grapes. These seeds pack a punch full of antioxidants including resveratrol, which helps boost the immune system, protect tissue from free radical damage, and increase blood flow to support a healthy skin and coat.
Soybean Oil
Soybean oil is a good source of Omega-6 essential fatty acids, which help improve coat shine and skin condition.
Nature’s Force Bug Clear is a natural feed-through supplement option. Other options on the market are not natural. At the end of the day, it is up to the horse owner to choose what is best for their horse and lifestyle.
But, when choosing a feed-through, do your research on safety and stay informed. For those who want to avoid using conventional pesticides, Nature’s Force Bug Clear is a fantastic option. An alternative to a natural feed-through would be a chemical feed-through, which works in a different way. Chemical feed-throughs actually include chemicals such as diflubenzuron and cyromazine. These products work differently than natural ingredients, as they don’t repel insects or promote healthy skin, but act to interfere with the formation of the insect’s cuticle or shell. These products work to stop the development of larvae in the horse’s manure after the chemical has passed through the horse’s digestive system.
It is a bit scary to think about feeding your horse a chemical that is normally used topically or as a premise spray. A horse’s digestive system is very sensitive to even minor changes in grain or hay, let alone a chemical. Did you know that only stable flies lay their eggs in manure? Thus, these will be the only flies affected by the chemical in the feces. All other insects, including midges, deer flies, mosquitoes and horn flies, won’t be affected by the chemical feed-through since they don’t lay their eggs in manure.
Another concern with chemical feed-throughs is if your horse is at a boarding facility or stable at which other horses are not on taking insecticide feed-through. In this case, it is pointless to put your horse on a chemical feed-through to keep the larvae out of their manure since the other horses’ manure will be breeding grounds for it. Meanwhile, with natural feed-through, your horse will still receive skin, repellency and anti-inflammatory benefits. Remember, adding a feed-through is just one component of an entire fly control program. You will still need to protect your horse with fly sprays, spot-ons and masks. Click here to save on the entire Force fly control line.
