More than 1,700 readers of TheHorse.com responded to a poll asking, “Do you have problems with ticks on your horse(s)?”

• No: 40.73% (710)
  
• Yes, every year: 33.91% (591)
  
• Occasionally: 25.36% (442)

Readers shared their tips on keeping their horses free from ticks in the comments below.

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• We use garlic on their food morning and night never a problem!
  
• In the east we treat for Lyme
  
• We will sometimes find the occasional tick on one of the horses or me!
  
• We have had major issues after we moved into our new farm this past year.
  
• Feel open handed all the under spots
  
• Listerine mouthwash
  
• I use a “spot on” treatment and since have never picked a tick off my horse
  
• Removing from horse and placing them in a jar with dawn dishwashing liquid, which kills ticks
  
• Avon lotion
  
• Use Avon’s skin so soft to keep flies, ticks and mosquitoes away.
  
• Seven dust
  
• Global herbs
  
• The only horse I have had a problem with is my darker colored horse. None with my gray
  
• Our dogs get ticks at certain times of the year. No problems on the horses.
  
• Putting bug spray on it every year, for the rest of it’s life.
  
• Spray the with the yellow bug spray (the one that is toxic to people) and starts with a P
  
• I normally cover the tick in nappy rash cream. By doing this tick can’t breathe so falls off.
  
• Checking them every day at feeding time by an all-over scratch/rub. They love it!
  
• Seven dust. I put a trail down there back from the top of their tail to their poll.
  
• Guinea hens-they has eliminated any ticks on our property!
  
• Spot on treatment, inspection, spray
  
• Spot on treatments
  
• I’m currently trying nematodes in the pasture and a new fly spray formula
  
• Stop them before they get on – use a spray and topical like Frontline on legs, don’t ride I tall grass
  
• With lots of deer on the farm – there’s not much that can be done – I won’t use more chemicals
  
• We keep our horses sprayed with appropriate spray during tick season.
  
• I feed a garlic powder supplement: I really think it helps. He does get “garlic breath”!
  
• I have never seen one on any of my horses
  
• I spray with Endure. But the really repellant stuff is skin so soft mixed with white vinegar and H20
  
• Cut all tall grass and brush, apply fly spray frequently
  
• well I burn them because that is what kills them
  
• Freedom Spot-on works well
  
• Use Swat in ears
  
• use equispot routinely and when going out on trails use Seven dust
  
• hose them off after being ridden. Especially the legs.
  
• spray daily before turnout
  
• I use Absorbine fly spray that repels ticks, I also check everyday when grooming for them.
  
• fly leggings and applying fly spray to legs help! but I always I to remove ticks on daily basis
  
• Dog tick collars around horses neck
  
• have not found a real solution, more and more cases of lymnes
  
• Put organic apple cider vinegar in the feed. The horses love it & the bugs don’t.
  
• I use Equinatures BugGone Spray a natural spray that definately dters ticks on horses+ dogs by 90%
  
• Adams flea and tick shampoo works great!
  
• I use Repel x, seems to help keep them off.
  
• so far have not had that problem in south florida
  
• no ticks in our area
  
• Here in Western Colorado, I’ve never, ever had a tick on any of my horses.
  
• only a couple times in horses bought from a certain area, they were in their ears, vet doused them w
  
• but have in the past
  
• keep guineas..they eat thousands of ticks a day!
  
• We’re out on the prairie, only trees are for wind breaks and they’re outside the fence.
  
• Mainly on the 30 yr old horse
  
• send me tips, I have none
  
• With gloves on, spray horse with tick-remover, then pick off and put in bucket of tick-killer.
  
• mix a small amount of neem oil, along with a few drops of rose geranium essential oil into any base
  
• Wild and Crazy Guineas
  
• I keep my pasture cut and use fly spray during tick season.
  
• bayticol mixed with baby oil, every six weeks.
  
• Check horses after every ride trail & ring; & in paddock.
  
• sevin dust helps, ivermectin wormer helps. picking them off works.
  
• I hate those nasty little blood sucker!
  
• We make a use a special soap to wash them with at least weekly.
  
• no problem at all
  
• I’ve used Equi-spot for 3 years and not 1 tick bite 🙂
  
• getting chickens has helped a lot
  
• have not seen any ticks in maybe 15 years
  
• I use Springtime’s bugoff garlic year round.
  
• I spray front line under each leg/ flank area and under the tail. This controls the ticks very well.
  
• We do not have ticks in our area. Probably to dry and not many trees and under brush around.
  
• Never have had an issue with ticks, thank goodness!
  
• We have problems in the fall, winter if it’s not cold enough, and spring in the mountains
  
• get some chickens or New Guinea Hens
  
• Few or no ticks in Northern Michigan
  
• One tick found in over 20 years; that one was found after trail riding in a swampy area – not home.
  
• I would like some tips for getting rid of ticks!!!!!!! Please……….!
  
• The Texas fire ants do a great job of keeping ticks away but I still
  
• our property is sprayed for ticks and find none on the horses
  
• I atart putting garlic porder in her grain in April, that usually works through the hard frost
  
• pick new ones daily from mane & tip of tail, apply Tri-Tec repellent
  
• we live N CA as far as you can go & still be in ca & on land seen 1 tick in 8yr on horse from inland
  
• Really bad this year! What helps?
  
• I found that SSS Bug gaurd works best for everthing.
  
• Search entire horse and pull them off, squish them
  
• I’m very very fearful and concerned about lyme diease
  
• Spot – on treatments!
  
• Spraying diluted lysol on manes and tales seems to repel the ticks.
  
• Frontline
  
• we keep our grass short and there are no trees in the pasture
  
• in tail head, and under jaw mostly, some times just crawling their way to those spots
  
• INSECT REPELLANT, THOROUGH INSPECTION OF HORSE DAILY
  
• after keeping keeping free range chickens in the yard, have noticed a dramatic decrease in ticks!
  
• My horse gets tick fever.. I give her garlic tablets all year round..keeps ticks off!
  
• in texas, they seem to be the worst in sandy areas
  
• we live in a wet area
  
• Fly spray daily on lower legs helps alot; check daily; they raise an itchy bump so are easy to find
  
• Fly Rid, once every two weeks
  
• Nope, never have ticks on our horses at home & use deep woods off trail riding
  
• My 7 are groomed every day–no ticks ever!
  
• When I lived in Kentucky I had ticks in my horses tail but now, in Northern, so far, noproblems
  
• spot on treatment for horses
  
• especially bad this year
  
• No ticks in the southwestern desert!
  
• I use tweesers anti clockwise all the way round and again then pull them out
  
• get a tough flyspray to prevent them from ever getting on your horse.
  
• Avon Skin So Soft original oil keeps off ticks & flies & mosquitoes & keeps them shiny & dust free
  
• this year has already been bad with them in the ears. Cant seem to keep them tick free.
  
• Get someone else to remove them…..
  
• lyme is on the rise in NY, symptoms are very different w/ each horse
  
• Have found a big tick on my cat, but not on the horses
  
• I use Equi Spot with great results to keep ticks offf my horses.
  
• S.E. PA 3of 5 of herd has Lyme, use spot on drops every 2 wks, mow, put down chemical barriers.
  
• I use a good bug spray and “equi spot” in manes and tails
  
• I just check the horses daily and pull off the ticks. Spray doesn’t seem to impress my ticks.
  
• I have found that zonk it works really well.
  
• SHAVE THEM OFF
  
• using bronco and regular grooming
  
• I use spray-on Frontline on my horse’s legs and tail but they still crawl up his face.
  
• I wipe on a vet-recommended repellent.
  
• vaseline on tick and it falls off
  
• Trecking it’s easy to get them..
  
• My vet said to use the Frontline spray and it does help.
  
• I just pull them off with my fingers and then pop them with a hoof pick on a hard surface.
  
• I use 7 dust
  
• Keeping a flock of Guineas
  
• I add garlic to the horse’s feed all year round and spray them daily with Permoxin.
  
• ivermectina o doramectina parenteral subcutaneo
  
• short pasture, lots of birds
  
• no woods around, plenty of fly spray
  
• equine metabolic syndrome
  
• In CA we had problems with the dogs but not the horses. No ticks in Aussie land.
  
• Dont turn horses out in long seedy grass. Safest way to get rid is to dab with white spirit
  
• I spread diamataceous earth in my pasture. I regularly remove any ticks I find.
  
• bug repelant in the tubes
  
• keep grass short, spray tails
  
• feed them brewer’s yeast, keeps fleas, mites and ticks off, AND mosquitoes too!
  
• Ticks are especially attracted to white horses. We use a product called Killticks that works well
  
• Baby oil or Cowboy magic in the lower part of the tail will not let them crawl up the tail
  
• If there’s an infestation, soak the area with tick killing flyspray.
  
• Ultrashield towelettes work the best!!!!!
  
• Use Original Formula Wipe for a product that will kill ticks for several days
  
• Adams Flea and Tick Mist (yep, the one you use on cats/dogs – doesn’t hurt my horse at all
  
• they drive me insane trying to keep up with them! esp in manes & tails
  
• Not here in Southeast Michigan, but yes when we travel to other areas
  
• keep the pasture short
  
• Chickens in the pasture eat many of them before they attach to my horses.
  
• hair spray will cause them to drop off.
  
• We put SWAT in our horses ears and on their necks, it helps keep them off of the face and ears
  
• not at all but our woods is far from pasture
  
• My horse has a fly sheet, fly leg wraps, and fly mask over his ears & eyes! They still get him!!
  
• I am trying ACV in drinking water and sulphur salt licks with iffy results.
  
• The spot-on fly control products are the only thing that works for tick prevention.
  
• permethrin only thing that works
  
• burn them off with hot nail
  
• first thing each Spring then they thin out
  
• I go over my horses every time I see them. Especially their heads.
  
• try a fly spot on protection to keep ticks at bay
  
• Ticks are terrible where I live, but getting them off the horses gives us time to bond.
  
• I use a horse spray that repels ticks and wipe them down with a rag, everywhere.
  
• Keeping pasture grass 3 inches or less helps. Most ticks quest on taller vegatation.
  
• I did years ago in Montana, but here in Ariz I dont.
  
• Under the forelock, tip of the tailbone, crest of neck, sheath/udder areas
  
• Since my horse has been diagnosed with Lyme’s I use Frontline spray 1 a week
  
• zonk it spray
  
• check my mare every day,only use fly spray that also repels ticks,and I kill the little buggers
  
• frontline spray
  
• I look for them and pick them off.
  
• I spray him with Frontline the 1st of each month.
  
• 5% sevin dust
  
• dunno if its the same with horses but on bobtails we light a match & put it on the tick…drops off.
  
• Never, thank goodness!!
  
• spot on fly repellent
  
• Permethrin works the best.
  
• Not in 9 years
  
• just pick them off when I see them. I wonder if they can transmit pigion fever?
  
• I feed a high quality garlic powder starting in February
  
• One did get Lyme Disease but no ticks ever seen or found.
  
• Didnt think ticks were a problem but had to put our horse down because of it.
  
• confined to horses that are taken on trails
  
• clove and peppermint oil
  
• I found 4 wood ticks after trail riding yesterday
  
• No – no ticks in alaska, at least not on my horses
  
• carefully pull them off & squish them with a rock or burn with magnifying glass.Nasty creatures.
  
• only when I at at school (Ohio University), at home I have never seen a tick on my horse or me!
  
• Frontline spray for dogs used, hopefully, no more than twice a week.
  
• Daily check and removal, anti-tick topical, keeping them out of trees and any tall grass.
  
• Only during the winter months in Southern CA.
  
• Equispot every two weeks=tick free
  
• I apply Frontline before turning my horse out.
  
• Keep the grass mowed and keep the horses out of the woods, dogs too!
  
• Ivermectin
  
• Put a swab full of alcohol over the top of the tick and it will come off without leaving the head
  
• I use alot of fly spray before I go out during spring monthes when they’re at their worst.
  
• picking off by hand
  
• Moved to NV, so only have to worry about them when I take a horse to CA where I use tick spray.
  
• I use fly spray that also keeps ticks off.
  
• deworming with ivermectin
  
• two different types of V-shaped “tick pickers”
  
• Use lots of Avon Skin So Soft Oil on his legs and put on the leg protectors.
  
• We groom our horses everyday thoroughly and spray them before and after turnout
  
• May see a couple per year
  
• feed garlic or bug check, that helps lessen the amount that stay on them
  
• Thoroughly check your horse all over after any trail ride, or several times a week for any ticks.
  
• keep worming up todate and we have no ticks
  
• Add garlic to their feed starting end of March & continue thru October. It’s worth the cost!
  
• Put garlic in their grain.
  
• I think boosting the horse’s immune system is the best defense against tick borne illnesses
  
• Fly spray as preventative, facilities/weed maint. as preventative
  
• I use fly spray that also works for ticks & cut brush 3’+ from fence
  
• very rarely do we ever see ticks
  
• various natural oils/permethrin/flyspray/vinegar mix
  
• Warm water and soap baths. Then keep sparying with
  
• Some years are worse then others and I have tried so many diffrent things — What will really work??
  
• use fly wipe that also repels ticks
  
• In So. California, never seen on any of my horses
  
• When out riding I use ‘Flicks’ bug product. It is oil based and works!
  
• Spray and I have mixed Spot for dogs in cream and dotted it under the bellies
  
• constant vigilence, death in rubbing alcohol
  
• brush coats and comb tails I have a tick remover too–plastic item from pet catalogs that works
  
• Fly spray helps if you are sure to get the spray under the mane, tail and under tail.
  
• I remove the ticks and drop them into a jar containing rubbing alcohol.
  
• I thing feeding garlic has helped some
  
• I spray my horses morning & night with fly spray & keep the grass cut fairly short so no ticks & liv
  
• Strongid 2C Daily wormer
  
• I hate ticks. They give me the willies. 🙂
  
• Equi-spot and any water based fly/tick spray. Spread insecticide granules out around too.
  
• People spray such as “Off”
  
• I use dog & cat flee and tick shampoo especially on their legs during the tick season.
  
• Sulpha salt licks have kept ticks etc. off my horses. I’ve actually seen them drop off the horse.
  
• we live in central Indiana and have never had a problem with ticks on the horses
  
• metal curry and then tap tick into small cup of fly spray after a trail ride
  
• I have not found anything to keep ticks off. I just check them everyday.
  
• 28 yo mare with Lyme’s and Ehrlichia in MA on Doxy. Fly sprays/drop-ons don’t seem to work…
  
• I’m in South Florida and have never had a tick on any horse.
  
• We don’t really have that problem in the Pacific Northwest.
  
• Grooming and careful checking after riding in areas known to be infested.
  
• clip legs up to knees & hocks. Trim tails to just below hocks.
  
• I use Celebration Spot On
  
• Please come up with a vaccine!
  
• The deer tick, which carries Lyme Disease, and can infect a horse, is virtually too small to see
  
• not that I have seen but we get them bad on the dogs
  
• pliers do wonders when pulling them off.
  
• I spray the crest of their mane and actual tail root with Frontline and then have NO problems
  
• one horse reacts strongly to tick bites, swelling, abscessing, etc.
  
• just pulled one off her elbow, rubbed antibacterial salve on wound
  
• Large dog frontline plus does the trick off label but works 🙂
  
• Best results – I use Dog Tick & Flea Spray on the tick and the next day the tick is dead – and off
  
• not yet anyway
  
• We got some guineas and they eat ticks and other annoying bugs like crazy
  
• The stuff for Dogs & cats works great. Just a sml drop on the tips of the ears & base of the tail
  
• garlic
  
• Feed garlic,use SWAT on suceptible areas to prevent bites, also let chickens out to eat bugs
  
• I have purchased flea & tick collars for cats and put them loosely around the horses ankles.
  
• patchouli oil mixed with mineral oil
  
• seven dust in a panty hose stocking works great
  
• spray twice per week
  
• I believe the use of ivermectin has decreased the number of ticks on my horses
  
• Household fly spray! Anyone else noticed that the mares suffer more?
  
• I have guinea hens that thrive on eating ticks.
  
• Mid MI , haven’t had any problems.
  
• It may rain all winter in Oregon’s Willamette Valley, but at least we don’t have ticks!
  
• Maybe feed garlic
  
• keeping everything mowed keeps ticks away from pastures
  
• If you have fire ants you usually don’t have ticks. So…the devil you know, or the devil you don’t
  
• We have a few chickens around the barn that helps control them and the fly population
  
• Treated three horses for lyme
  
• the only good thing about last year’s drought was there were so few ticks-this year will be bad!
  
• In SW Louisiana they are bad. We have to check Daily. Nothing keeps them off. We remove them by hand
  
• Use Garlic for Horses
  
• we are blessed with a fairly tick free environment ( western washington)
  
• But I find the odd one on me
  
• It’s a seasonal thing. We know it’s here when the mare who never rubs,starts rubbing on us.
  
• spray, spray and more spray
  
• Dark brown horse with tall white socks gets far more than chestnut mare
  
• I SOAK THE LEGS AND BOTTOM 1/2 OF TAIL VERY GOOD BERFORE HITTING THE TRAILS
  
• GARLIC, short grass
  
• Several sprays have tick protection
  
• Fipronil every month
  
• Check closely EVERY day. Use spot on. Make sure your horse will le you handle his ears.
  
• spray repellent on tail and mane. Search roots of mane and tail and pull out ticks
  
• One of my mules is very sensitive to any tick bite while the others hardly have a reaction.
  
• A friend suggested using garlic powder. Right now we just spray with repellant.
  
• Daily mane and tail exams to find the little blood suckers before they cause even more problems.
  
• Just ick the lille buggers off, nothing really seems to repel them.
  
• My horses have gotten ehrlichia and lymes
  
• Spray with equine insecticide.
  
• dishwash liquid on cotton ball, soak it over tick for a while, usually comes right out in the cotton
  
• I’ve found a tick once, removed it, no further problems.
  
• Only once I had one on my horse.
  
• I use Avon Skin So Soft in combination with citronella.
  
• I live in the mountains of Az. at 6,500ft and have never had a tick on my animals Try Essential oils
  
• My horses are magnets for ticks! They are a huge problem in Maryland
  
• groom and use fly spray
  
• sharp nails
  
• I have found that a product such as Equi Spot works really good at keeping ticks off
  
• I use a paper towel soaked in wintergreen alcohol to pull the tick out.
  
• lots and some horses get large swellings from the bites.
  
• Pick ’em!
  
• Alaska is tick free!
  
• are they a regional problem? And if so, where?
  
• You might try Avon bug guard you can get the SPF 30 also. I put it on my dog.
  
• EquiSpot & fly spray
  
• Some fly sprays and spot-on treatments seem to deter them during their busy season
  
• I have no ticks here in the desert where I live
  
• hand picking is the only way, especially because deer ticks hang on really tightly.
  
• listerine in bathwater
  
• Thorough exam for ticks after trail rides, spot on tick/fly repellant ie. Equispot
  
• spray spray spray
  
• Wormers, Tick Spray
  
• Only the last two years, they have been all over the horses, often after doing some nasty damage

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