Hope you all had a great holiday!
Don't use heat!!! Don't want to do anything to cause them to inject
anything in their bodies or mouthparts back into the horse! Best way
for the non-squeemish to remove them is to gently pull them out.
I buy Zodiac dog dip for fleas and ticks and sponge it on my horses
legs to remove ticks when we are in the height of the tick season.
If there are only a few ticks, applying it locally around the tick
will "encourage" them to release and drop off, dead or dying. I mix
it up dog-dip strength.
I also douse manes, tails and occasionally bodies with it if I know
theres a tick somewhere in all of that hair, but I can't find it!
This stuff works well before rides for repelling ticks. A surface
coat of it below the knees and on the surface hairs that ticks would
tend to drop on to does a good job of keeping them away. I dip a
sponge in the solution, squeeze out the extra and wipe.
I prefer to use it before riding as a preventitive; it isn't necessary
to use so much that the skin gets wet. I really hate using stuff on
them regularly that cautions me to use rubber gloves when applying!
Linda
Gilroy, Ca