A horse is like any other animal or human. It exhales a flume of carbon dioxide when it breathes. All biting insects are attracted first by carbon dioxide and nothing else. Secondarily, once detected, other factors such as heat, color, smell play a much smaller part in the attraction process. However, these are up close and personal attractants. If they cannot find you, they cannot bite you!
Science has proven that certain fragrances interfere with an insect's receptors to recognize the carbon dioxide flume that we exhale when we breathe! Something that we knew over 100 years ago!
Most horse owners place a few drops of Ole Time Woodsman Fly Dope on sheeps skin on the headstall. You do not need to protect the entire animal if you able to anoint several areas around the head. A few drops will do ya!
The first batch of Ole Time Woodsman Fly Dope was sold to the foreman of a Maine logging camp in 1910. Since then, it has been a staple in tackle boxes, logging camps, hiking packs, hunter's possible bags, and back yard gardeners pockets. Yet, even after 120 years of protecting outdoor enthusiasts from mosquitoes, black flies, no see ums, chiggers, minges, deer flies, and ticks that no study that I have found ever mentions Ole Time Woodsman Fly Dope!
And I am not sure why? We do not sell Ole Time Woodsman Fly Dope in stores, yet our product is readily available all over the Internet. Plus, I am happy to donate a bottle to any reputable company for testing. Yet, people who are the so-called experts continue to ignore this product? Go figure!