Healthier Horse & Rider: Dodging Bloodsucker Bites

‘Tis the Season for Bloodsuckers

I’m talking about the tiny, sneeky, lurky, deadly kind.

These little buggers:

I hate them with the passion of a thousand suns.

While I’m sure there’s probably at least one dude out there who’s like, “yeah, bro, I just love it when I get mosquito bites! Dude, I can’t get enough.”

That ain’t me.

Does that dude know that it’s not just about the incredibly itchy bites? Does he know how many viruses and bacteria are carried by the nasty little vermin?

Remember the Black Plague? The one that killed millions upon millions hundreds of years ago? They think it was probably a particularly pathogenic bacteria which spread to humans from rodents by the bite of infected fleas—but my money is on mosquitoes. After all, they’re still killing millions of people every year⁽¹⁾ .

Needless to say, this is how I see mosquitoes:

Mosquitoes are VERY serious business at our house

It makes sense: where we live mosquitoes are literally the town mascot. We’ve got trucks spraying DDT fog which drive around at night.

I frequently daydream of, as yet, uninvented ways of eradicating mosquitoes; Of protecting myself and my loved ones from their scourge. One particularly vivid daydream was of a electrified net surrounding our property (yes, even in the sky), crackling with the deaths of hundreds of thousands (millions?) of mosquitoes every second.

Perhaps some day we’ll be rich enough to fund research exploring new and improved ways of annhilating mosquitoes from the face of the planet.

But, Abe, I hear you say, aren’t you worried about what might happen to the ecosystem? What if eliminating mosquitoes was just the first domino which led to the end of the human race?

Worth it, I say. Absolutely, friggin’ worth it!

Mosquitoes bad, capeesh?

I can see you now. You’re like, DUH, dude. Preaching to the choir.

Good. I just had to vent.

But it was more than that. Because, now that you are reminded how bad mosquitoes are, and now that you know how much I hate them, you’re a heck of a lot more likely to listen to my recommendations on the following products. Heck, if you buy either (or both) of them from Amazon, we’ll make a couple cents—but it’s not about the money.

For me it’s about knowing that there are mosquitoes who will go hungry because my recommendations kept you safe when you were:

• Riding

• Trail riding

• Walking

• Sunbathing

• Grilling

• Lunging your horses

• Mucking out stalls

• Drinking beer on the patio

• Playing golf with a buddy

…all the wonderful things we are entitled (dammit!) to enjoy in summer.

Our recommendations for humans

Up until last year, my single, unequivocal recommendation for sending mosquitoes packing was Sawyer picaridin sprays and lotions.

But then disaster struck. Apparently, for the vast majority of people, picaridin insect sprays are pretty much the safest, and best tolerated insect sprays.

For some unlucky few, though, picaridin can result in VERY itchy skin. Like intolerably itchy.

I was one of those unlucky few last year (and still this year—of course I tried it again). After years of wearing it without issue. Weird, huh!?

The rest of the family is still loving the outstanding protection provided by this particular insect repellent, and I just wish I could use it. It receives our highest recommendation.

If you don’t want to get bit by mosquitoes, for up to 12 hours…

…and you also don’t want to 1) stink, or 2) feel slimy.

Get:

If, by some cruel twist of fate, you’re like me and:

A) Hate DEET products because they stink and feel slimy

B) Can’t use picaridin products because they make you itchy

Then Nicole (co-founder of Stud Muffin Equine and my wonderful wife) introduced me to a fabulous alternative.

The good news? You might already be using it for your horse!

It’s:

I find the odor a bit strong, and the protection doesn’t last nearly as long as the picaridin spray from Sawyer (only 1-2 hours), but it does work.

I just have to remember to reapply roughly each time I head outdoors. Which isn’t too bad, because I just spray it in my hand, wipe over one arm. Spray in the other hand, wipe down the other arm. Spray in hand, wipe leg; Spray in hand, wipe leg. Not too shabby. I also figured out I can spray my clothing with the picaridin from Sawyer, and that works fine without making me itchy. It also has the added benefit of lasting all day.

What’s that, you say? But it’s for horses? Well, that is true, but looking at the ingredients reveals that it’s just a proprietary blend of various aromatherapy oils which are non-toxic to humans. Hence the “natural green” labeling.

I’ll admit, when my wife presented it to me, I was like “uhhhh, but hello, with all those oils in it, won’t it make me oily?” At her urging I gave it a shot and discovered neigh (!), it doesn’t. In fact, it doesn’t seem to change the feel of my skin at all—which is fantastic, because I can be a bit of a diva about little things like that.

But haaaay, what about the horses?

While the Ultra Shield Natural Green is a product actually marketed for livestock, you’ll probably want something a bit longer lasting.

What’re you gonna do? Visit your horse every 1-2 hours to reapply? Hah. Even if you were dedicated enough, the cost of reapplying to the entirety of a horse every two hours would bankrupt you in short order.

Therefore, we recommend something which lasts substantially longer and works exceptionally well. Toxicity to humans hasn’t been studied, and personally I wouldn’t sign up to the guinea pig.

We’ve used:

…to great effect. In fact, that’s our go-to for protecting our horses once the mosquitoes come out. It’s incredibly long-lasting. They claim up to 17 DAYS. Crazy, right?

But I definitely wouldn’t put that stuff on myself. All magic comes with a price, is all I’m saying.

Bon Voyage!

So there you go. Three excellent products which will keep you, your loved ones, and your horses safe from mosquitoes all summer long.

Have you used any of these products? Are there any others you prefer more?

Drop us a line or a comment! We’d love to hear your experience and learn from it.

Thanks for reading!

Until next time…

Warm regards,

Abe

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