FLY OFF an alternative to fly spray - sponsored blog post

Over the summer do you get bored of having to use lots of different sprays and gels to keep the flies off your horse? I find it amazing how much spray I can get through in a few weeks and still there are tons of flies aggravating the horses. A few months ago I was contacted by a wonderful company called Fly-Off who have designed a new way of combating flies, and since then I've been testing out their product! 

Fly-Off have created a product which are leg straps that have little holding pouches for inserts. There are four different types of insets: Deet Extra, Citro Extra, Neem Extra and a standard insert. You can mix and match these inserts to effectively keep flies away 24/7, without you having to worry about the chemicals in fly sprays. Fly-Off uses repellents that have natural oils and aromas that to keep the flies away, and these specially infused inserts can be worn on the horses’ legs, fly rug, saddle or head collar. The inserts last for up to two weeks and have been proven to deter flies from anything up to 1m radius. What I really like about these straps and inserts is the they release repellent over 14 days, so for two weeks you don't have to do anything 👏🏻 They're also waterproof, and can be worn all the time so provide 24 hour protection for the horses. They've made a massive difference to Vallu who wore them inside in his stable too as he is very sensitive and easily agitated by the flies.
 
With the uncharacteristic summer gale force winds and rainy weather it meant that the flies were hiding away last month, but despite the bad weather the leg straps stayed perfectly in place, the velcro is strong and secure and I'm pleased to say that they have caused absolutely no irritation to the skin. All of my horses have sensitive skin on their legs so I do worry about having straps on them on constantly, but Vallu had them on 18 hours a day with no reaction. The netting is also reinforced this year in comparison to last year's batch, with a thicker fabric to keep the tabs in place. So far they’ve been a fantastic product for my horses 🎉 In all honesty I have still been putting on fly masks (and on very hot days I've also used our fly rugs) but for the horse that has been wearing these straps I've not put on any fly spray and they've still had the least amount of flies on them.

I was sent the Horse & Rider Starter Kit to review, which comes with 2 x horse leg bands, 1 x MultiClip, 3 x Neem extra tablets, 3 x Citro extra tablets, 3x DEET extra inserts and 2 x Standard tablets as well as a Fly Catcher set, which at the moment comes with the set for free, worth £12. Apart from the leg straps for the horses, my favourite part for the rider is the MultiClip which I've had on Melisse's saddle which has made a massive difference to the amount of flies that have been bothering me when hacking out. There's a noticeable contrast when I ride out around our fields with Melisse and then when I ride the boys around the fields on the same day, I've found myself a lot less bothered by the flies when I've had the tag in the MultiClip on the saddle.

 I do 100% agree that this is worth thinking about for those warm late summer and autumn days whilst the flies are still with us, or then thinking in advance to next year's spring! Give them a try and let me know what you think.