My fly spray of choice is the water-based Pyranha. It's extremely effective, and it also helps repel ticks, which I love. I've not found a tick on Connor since switching to it.
The spray bottle is 1 qt, while the big jug is 1 gallon or 4 qts. I go through around 4 qts of Pyranha per fly season, with Connor getting sprayed every time he goes outside and before and after every ride.
(For the sake of comparison, I'm going to leave out shipping costs since there's a lot of ways to get free shipping these days.)
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| Using an old funnel to re-fill my bottle |
Here's a list of the ways I can obtain a season's worth of fly spray for Connor from the stores I buy from most, in order from most expensive to least expensive (regular prices shown):
Smartpak: $18.95/spray bottle
Cost per quart: $18.95
Total cost per year: $75.80
Rural King (local store): $17.95/spray bottle
Cost per quart: $17.95
Total cost per year: $71.80
Riding Warehouse: $15.95/spray bottle
Cost per quart: $15.95
Total cost per year: $63.80
Smartpak: $54.95/1 gallon bottle (4 qts)
Cost per quart: $13.74
Total cost per year: $54.95
Riding Warehouse: $43.95/1 gallon bottle (4 qts)
Cost per quart: $10.99
Total cost per year: $43.95
Between what I used to do and what I do now, I'm saving almost $28/year on the exact same fly spray. I'm saving $11/year just by buying the same thing in the same bottle from Riding Warehouse vs ordering it from Smartpak.
(Uh, Smartpak, can we talk about that markup? Wow!)
We're not talking about life-changing amounts of money here, but horses are expensive enough as it is, and I'm sure I'm not the only one always looking for ways to reduce my horse spend. Be a smart shopper: shop around, do the math, and buy in bulk!
It's a small thing, but I bet this isn't the only thing you save money on by shopping around and/or buying bulk! I bet if you added ALL of that stuff up, you save a decent amount per year!
ReplyDeleteAnd for me, $28 is a group lesson -- so I'd get to take an additional lesson per year JUST for buying fly spray in bulk. Sounds like a great deal to me!
Yeah! That's how I choose to look at it too. The small stuff adds up over time especially if you're disciplined - that whole Starbucks vs at home thing.
DeleteI also buy in bulk. Piranha isn't available here but I quite like the Bronco flyspray.
ReplyDeleteThat's a bummer! I don't know what it is about this part of the country but Bronco doesn't work here, I know other people in other parts of the country that like it though.
DeleteThe little changes add up - in satisfaction and can really make a difference when you make several little changes. Thanks for introducing me to this spray! It works pretty well (our bugs are outrageous, so nothing seems to work 100%) and - most importantly - doesn't melt the skin off my thoroughbreds like the yellow bottle/oil based sprays seem to do.
ReplyDeleteAwesome, glad you like it! Connor didn't have any skin problems with yellow pyranha, but it doesn't say it does ticks, and it also left him gross all the time what with the oil attracting dust. Water based - much better!
DeleteI started buying the stuff in bulk too, so much money saved!
ReplyDeleteYes! I feel less guilty spending money on the big things when I'm saving money on the little things, even though that's some REAL fuzzy math, haha.
DeleteOh man thank you for doing this, I just discovered that TC isn't allergic to this stuff and so ordered just a bottle from RW (well, Peony ordered it for me since she let me borrow some and was placing an order anyway). It's good to know that RW is the best place to get it from!
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you found something that worked for him! I haven't found it any cheaper than RW, which is probably why you can't use any additional discounts on it - it's already as cheap as they can go. They do have a fly spray sale once a year in the spring, and I think it's slightly cheaper then.
DeleteI do the exact same thing with the exact same fly spray, except I have to buy a lot more than you do! Our fly season is like March-October/November plus I'm spraying two horses, so I go through a gallon every 6 weeks or so for about 8 months of the year. RW is my go-to also, they're almost always the cheapest, and it's easy to throw a salt block or two in the cart to hit the free shipping minimum.
ReplyDeleteWow! Yeah you go through a lot more than I do, ours is only from around May until the beginning of October. I just love RW, writing this post totally cemented it. I do the same thing, normally I time my fly spray order with my pre-show season order and get free shipping that way.
DeleteAwesome. I have found RW to have excellent customer service as well.
ReplyDeleteI usually get things from our local horse expo and combined some coupons on top of it to try and stock up for the year or purchase whatever online during one of their sales. :) Add up all the small change and it's no longer insignificant.