Grass Mites

[Michelle **]

Hello, I'm wondering if anyone can help me at all with a problem I'm having. Its actually a field not a lawn but the info available for horse owners is virtually nil regarding grass mites and a bit of research shows me gardeners are likely to be a better source of info!

Every summer from maybe mid July- late September my fields seem to become infested with grass mites. This causes huge issues for the horses but especially a little elderly pony with a weak immune system.
I can treat them but every day the just re-infect unless they never go out which is unfair. It's also a very time consuming process every day which they don't really enjoy!

So, I have read that i could spray the fields with a soap and water solution. Please can anyone give me any more information on this?
Amounts of soap to water, kind of soap, how much to spray- A light misting or does it need to soak into the ground?
Also when and how often ?
I'm not sure if spraying now, before the appear may help with prevention or just be a waste of time, do they need to be present before spraying?

I'm kind of at my wits end with this and would really appreciate any help or advice anyone is able to give.

Thank you!

 

[Anniekay]

We don't have grass mites where I live (US), but I trained horses for over 50 years and spraying soap onto their forage is not a good idea at all.

I would get in touch with other horsemen in the area and see what they do for them. Good luck getting shed of those.

 

[Mystic Moon Tree]

Hello, I'm wondering if anyone can help me at all with a problem I'm having. Its actually a field not a lawn but the info available for horse owners is virtually nil regarding grass mites and a bit of research shows me gardeners are likely to be a better source of info!

Every summer from maybe mid July- late September my fields seem to become infested with grass mites. This causes huge issues for the horses but especially a little elderly pony with a weak immune system.
I can treat them but every day the just re-infect unless they never go out which is unfair. It's also a very time consuming process every day which they don't really enjoy!

So, I have read that i could spray the fields with a soap and water solution. Please can anyone give me any more information on this?
Amounts of soap to water, kind of soap, how much to spray- A light misting or does it need to soak into the ground?
Also when and how often ?
I'm not sure if spraying now, before the appear may help with prevention or just be a waste of time, do they need to be present before spraying?

I'm kind of at my wits end with this and would really appreciate any help or advice anyone is able to give.

Thank you!

Be careful asking gardeners too, because they won't necessarily think of the fact that your horses eat that grass as fodder & can get sick or die from what you might spray on it. Since it is a pasture that limits what you can apply. Mites are like fleas, ticks, and lice in that they are hard shelled & chitinous instead if soft bodies, so no soap will not work. They are likely hatching from the soil itself seasonally, migrating in from outside the pasture, or being carried in by wildlife. The only thing that kills resistent chitinous pests are pretty strong chemicals that the horses can't ingest. There are, however some natural repellant measures you can take. You can fence the perimiter in a way to deter wildlife from bringing them in. You can spray outside the pastures edge with pyrethrum, or another chemical, but this can get into water supplies & can't be sprayed on food plants. You can have the pasture treated when they are active with pyrethrum 2 to 3 times 3 months appart to break the hatch cycle, but then you have to rest the pasture for a while until the chemicals break down & scrap the batch of hey that was present. Like mow it & plow it under. You can plant deterrents around the perrimeter of the pasture & beyond where the horses can reach to eat. Some good plants to repell these types of pests are anything lemon smelling like lemon balm, lemon grass, citronella. Other deterrents that work well are marrigold, callendula, chrysanthemum, lavender, peppermint, rosemarry, sage, thyme, neem, & cedar. So, you can also make a bare earth ring path around the pasture that is hard for them to cross yearly before general infestation season with cedar bark chips, charcoal, diotomacious earth, chrysanthemum petal powder, & sand, decomposed granite or pea gravel. Treate your horses with a topical pyrethrum spray & a long acting topical ( i am not sure what the equivalent for horses is but in dogs & cats it is frontline plus or revolution. I am not sure if those are safe for horses) or injestible like ivormectin monthly, until the season has passed. The eggs are possibly also living on your horses & in their bedding so you need to treat the bedding and them simultaneously with the pasture. For your poor horse that is allergic give them a bath & an antihystamine along with a natural herbal healing lotion to sooth the skin where they are irritated. That should work.