Ugh- the tiniest scourge of the earth- ticks!

[HuntJumpSC]

I went out to spend some time with my new filly yesterday at my friend's barn. She's being kept there temporarily until I can get my fencing back up and the barn ready. I brought her in to groom her and found that she has quite a few small ticks up in her udder area. I've never had a problem with ticks at my place, and suspect my friend does as her place tends to be a bit overgrown (it's alot for her to keep up with). I will be working on the barn tomorrow, and hopefully the fencing will be done in the next week or so.
In the meantime, as I am new to dealing with ticks, how do I keep them off of her? I pulled several off, but there were quite a few left up in there, and considering we're still getting acquainted, I hate to sit there and irritate her by pulling at her sensitive parts. :o I thought about maybe some Swat (all I have is pink, and the poor thing is grey, so I'd have to go buy some clear). Is there a fly spray that will keep them from traveling up her legs? I usually make my own, but I think I may need something stronger until she's moved to my place.
Anyone have suggestions? Ticks seriously creep me out....I love to deer hunt and that's the only part about it I don't like. I can't stand the thought of my sweet girl having them stuck on her. Looks like I'll be picking ticks again this afternoon, so any help would be appreciated! :no:

[redsky]

Frontline spray on the legs maybe? I've not used it but I was speaking with someone the other day who said she and her vet swear by it.

I wouldn't not spray it directly on her udders though. Its strong stuff!

[Sakura]

Ticks are creepy, disgusting and germy little critters. Seems like last year was pretty bad and this year is shaping up to be just as bad... I have a grey mare that has awful reactions to tick bites... poor thing. I keep mine covered in Ultra Shield, which seems to help until they sweat it off or it rains (so much for being a water proof 10 day formula)... some folks swear by the spot on repelant... Swat should work on the udder area as well as that spot right behind the girth area where the flies like to bite and the horses just can't seem to reach (also know some folks who use plain old Vasaline). Good luck... and if you find something that works as well or better than the suggestions you get... please... SHARE! :yes:

[fivehorses]

frontline spray, or any spray containing permethrin kills ticks. However, epa just put out a bulletin stating it is carcinogenic to humans.
Another option is the topicals, like equi spot.

[jen-s]

My gelding's sheath has been covered with them lately and he's the bashful sort, so it makes keeping them off a daunting challenge. However, Swat is fabulous as I can quickly glob it on, it protects the sore spots and any ticks that he won't let me pick off are either gone or dead and hanging by a thread (or tooth or whatever!) the next day. I've also been using Dermadine shampoo to scrub his sheath a couple of times a week and he really seems to appreciate that.

Ironically, I was told that this horse needed drugs and a twitch to get near his "special boy parts" and thanks to the regularity of our Swat treatments, I cleaned his sheath last week while he snoozed away. But he still gets a bit antsy over the tweezers.

[poltroon]

Since she's got some now, give her a dose of ivermectin. It won't prevent future ticks, but it will kill the ones on her.

[chai]

I live in an area that is tickville. It is a constant battle trying to keep them off the horses, and trying to avoid huge vet bills for Ehrlycchia and Lyme.

This is what has worked for me:

Equispot: it's great, but if you don't want to go that route, spray your horse daily with a repellent that contains Permethrins which will work on ticks.

Also:

Spray lower legs, tail and chin groove with Show Sheen or apply Cowboy Magic to keep the fur slippery so ticks will have a difficult time hitching a ride.

Put a strip of Swat on horse's lower jaw to keep ticks from crawling on during grazing.

Be careful of using Swat on your horse until you have tested a small area. I have a QH who had a bad reaction to it when I used it on his lower legs.

[sierra trails]

Not only are ticks disgusting, but my gelding is violently allergic to them. Each bite swells, ulcerates and weeps for a week, then the scab remaining stays for at least two weeks. If you pull on it, it takes all the hair with it, so I leave them alone and just cover them with udder balm. I ride in areas that have Lyme disease, as well, so conquering these evil creatures was an imperative. I tried everything until I landed on APF to his diet to boost his immune system (used by our Olympic team), and spray him per instructions every seven days with Bite Free. Think how nasty this stuff must be that you can only use it once a week.
So, mostly this works. Now instead of over 50 ticks and bites, I am now down to four or five a season, and they just scab a bit.
-JD

[tpup]

Frontline spray is working well for me. I use it every few days on legs, neck/mane area, tail dock and then I use my hands and rub it up into the creases of his back legs (inner thighs, near sheath but certainly not within several inches of it). We have been finding ticks on the hairless area up under the back legs (creases - way up) so make sure you check there. They are pretty easy to feel up there. I also spray the bottom half of horse's legs anytime we venture outside of the ring, in fields or trails.

Last year I tried Equispot and I don't think it worked as well.

[roki143]

I find that the Freedom 45 stuff works well for my guys... I can definitely tell when their 2 weeks is just about up as they'll have 1 or 2 ticks. I use that and a fly sheet and haven't had to fly spray them at all this season and they live out 24/7 in the Carolina sun!

[Iride]

Not only are ticks disgusting, but my gelding is violently allergic to them. Each bite swells, ulcerates and weeps for a week, then the scab remaining stays for at least two weeks. If you pull on it, it takes all the hair with it, so I leave them alone and just cover them with udder balm.
-JD

Omg, my horse must have an allergy to them too. His mane and tail bone are covered with these crusty, serum-y dark yellow scabs. I've been bad... I have not been able to resist picking the scabs off, assuming that in doing so I will discover a tick underneath (or in) them, that needs to be removed. In the process, I have pulled off a ton of tail hairs from my guy's beautiful tail.:mad::mad::mad::mad: Should I not clean these off anymore? Just leave the oozing scabs there? So far it *seems* as if they don't bother him (which is incredibly surprising to me, as they look unbelievably irritating - like they should be either painful, or really itchy). :(

I'm in a heavy Lyme area too.

[Iride]

Frontline spray is working well for me. I use my hands and rub it up into the creases of his back legs.

OMG... I hope you wear gloves on your hands? Frontline is supposed to be incredibly toxic!

[HuntJumpSC]

Shew! Thankfully, the Swat seems to have worked. I slathered her little girlie parts really well with it, carefully, of course, and a little over a week later, she's still tick-free and happy. Looks like I caught it early enough before she could start any tail-rubbing. I'm so lucky to have a 2 year-old with common sense. I've only had her a little over two weeks, and she just turned 2, she's never been fly-sprayed, and she already just stands there and lets me spray her all over. Even when she had those ticks all over her udder, she just stood there and let me check it out, not even a flinch. :)