Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

We have been using a new natural product called Buzz Off.  They have both a
people and horse version.  10% various Natural essential oils in a soybean
oil base, I went to a lecture at CU in Boulder this spring about how to
protect against the West Nile virus, of which our state, Colorado, was hit
very hard last year.  Off course people wanted to know about alternatives to
DEET.  The person giving the talk mentioned different essential oils that
seem to have some proven effectiveness.   When I went to the web site for
Buzz Off, she indeed had what was needed.  The important thing that I
learned, is that whether it is DEET or natural, it it not the scent, but the
act of the insect landing on an area that any product has been applied to
that repels them.  They have to make contact with the product.  When I apply
this insect repellant, I use an old wash cloth and squirt onto that and then
systematically rub the horse all over with it.  I store this cloth in a
plastic bag to keep it clean, and before long it is very saturated, and gets
easier and easier to apply.  It has been working well.  As with any oil
based product, it will attack more dirt, but it seems a small price to pay.
One of the things that came up in the lecture that is sooooo important is to
not let any standing water sit around.  The mosquitoes will hatch faster as
the weather gets hotter.  When it is 70 degrees out, the cycle for hatching
may take 7-10 days, when it hits 90's, that time drops to about 3 days.  I
also thought this was interesting, that if you could keep a coke bottle
screw cap filled with water for the summer, that amount of water has the
ability to produce 10,000 mosquitoes.  Yikes.  The other two interesting
things were these.  In Florida they spray for the mosquitoes, which did
knock them down temporarily, but when they returned, it was EVEN worse,
because in the process of killing the mosquitoes, they also killed the
beneficial insects that feed on them.  In that same vein, the bug zappers,
kill the beneficial insects also.  Food for thought.
Hope this helps
Enclosed is the web site for Buzz Off.... check it out.  Not cheap, but
seems to work.       http://www.buzzoff.us/home.asp

Cheryl Winter

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Just because someone tells you that your horse isn't "fit" for
endurance...doesn't mean it isn't, it just means your horse isn't fit to be
"their" endurance horse! Go for it, you never know what you'll accomplish
with that "saddle horse" or "trail horse" of YOURS! 
~  Darlene Anderson - DPD Endurance

ridecamp.net information: http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/

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