Every summer, I squirm when it comes to choosing a fly spray. The thought of coating my horse, and by proximity, myself, in a cloud of chemicals is not something I would regularly opt into. But Jack is the biggest princess when it comes to flies, and so riding with fly spray is an absolute must.

With this in mind, I try to choose more “natural” type fly sprays (though let’s be serious, there’s probably always some degree of chemical nature) as much as possible. So when my local Dover peeps told me about the updated Ecovet fly spray, I decided to give it a shot.

First of all, it’s worth mentioning that Ecovet is meant to act differently than your typical fly spray. Here’s the description straight from their website:

Insects choose a “victim” via a complex interaction between visual and chemical cues. Some animals (and people) are more attractive to pests than others. In our equine friends, coat color, level of activity, carbon dioxide output and odors secreted by the horse all play a role. The normal output of chemical smells acts like a signal to the insect’s guidance system to help it find and attack its potential food source.

Research has shown that certain fatty acids act as insect attractants, while others are repellents. Ecovet uses a proprietary mixture of naturally occurring fatty acids that confuses and overwhelms the insect’s normal directional ability, so the insect is unable to locate your horse as its next victim. It’s like having a GPS system that is shouting confusing and conflicting directions at you … until you finally give up.

So what’s the verdict?

The Good
Overall, this product does seem to work. Inside the barn and indoor, where flies are less but still exist, we have nary a bother after applying the Ecovet. I do tend to only apply this fly spray to Jack’s legs and under belly, and typically we are able to get through an entire ride indoors without being bugged (har, har) at all.

Less of this, thank goodness.

Outside in the fields on our conditioning days, where the flies are quite bad, I would also say the Ecovet is compelling enough to keep most flies as bay. However, the caveat is that I cannot get away with just spraying his legs and belly- outdoor days for us mean a whole body application. And though I still find myself swatting away the occasional fly, overall I would compare this with other effective fly sprays.

The Bad
Holy shit, the smell. I was told in the store that apparently this stuff used to smell like old man’s cologne in the worst possible way, and now they have come up with a new scent. (PS the bottle even says, rather proudly, ‘New Scent!’). So I can’t speak for the old smell, but I sure as hell can comment on the new. It’s as if Dove soap had the potency of fresh Wasabi, and formed a lingering cloud that you willingly walked into every time you sprayed it. Like Ecovet not only confuses bugs, but it also has a nose-identifying ingredient, where it immediately makes a beeline to and takes up residence, causing a sneezing frenzy in any creature unfortunate enough to be in the vicinity. The sneezing fits are quite violent, actually, and I’ve learned the hard way not to be holding a beverage in my other hand while spraying.

Actual video of Jack during application

The instructions say to apply Ecovet in a well ventilated area, and we learned within one application to take this very, very seriously. Our routine has been to walk outside to a grazing area, quickly spray Ecovet with much haste, and scurry away to an upwind location as fast as possible. Looking into this further, I did find one “helpful” tidbit on the Ecovet site:

Why did Ecovet make me and my horse sneeze?
The fatty acids in Ecovet, when delivered in spray form, do react with a small number of horses and people. Most describe it as a “sticking” sensation that does go away.

Uh, yeah- sticking. Does go away? sure- after you have expelled the entire contents of your nose. Unfortunately once, our barn manager was walking through the aisle as I sprayed outside, and a cross breeze carried the cloud directly into her. Let’s just say after many four letter words being expelled, it’s certain that the “small number of horses and people” is not limited to a sample size of Jack and I.

Overall
In general, I’d say Ecovet is probably worth the extra bucks if a more “green” insect repellent is your thing, and especially if you don’t have the sneezing reaction that some people experience. For our sanity and our sinuses, I’m going to give a few other fly sprays a try before considering coming back to Ecovet, but I can’t say the stuff doesn’t work!