Tick repellants

[Sarah Ralston <ralston@AESOP.RUTGERS.EDU>]

Two years ago my old gelding, Charlie, was really suffering from ticks. In
desperation I put cat tick collars (breakaway type) on his legs. It WORKED!
I went from pulling 15-20 off him per day to maybe one or two off his head
(presumably due to his sticking his head into bushes in the pasture). Words
of Caution: Put them loosely ABOVE the fetlock-(can cause nasty case of
scratches if on pastern), check frequently for irriation and tightness, and
be prepared to replace them fairly frequently (they get pulled off if
there's any under brush). it gets a bit expensive but, to my mind, worth
it. Have thought of but not tried linking several together to put around
his neck... Any entrepreneurs out there that want to develop tick collars
for horses?

Interesting note: While Charlie, 29+years old and pure white got a lot of
ticks, Fling, 10 years old and darker grey, only would occasionally get a
few-maybe she didn't taste as good...sour old @#$% that she is! But I love
her any way...


Sarah Ralston