Can You Wear Perfume Around Horses?
Horses are one of the most beautiful and intelligent animals out there. Whether you’re a professional jockey or an amateur rider, you know how sensitive horses are to smells. However, does their sense of smell make it a bad idea to wear perfume around them?
In general, you can wear perfume around horses. They aren’t sensitive to most ingredients that are toxic to smaller animals. However, every horse is different and you should test how a horse reacts to your perfume in small quantities before applying it fully.
If you’re interested to learn more about wearing perfume around horses, this article is just for you. We’ll recommend some of the best scents to wear and explain what scents and essential oils can be beneficial to your horse.
In this article..
Best Scents To Wear Around Horses
While there isn’t anything that would make perfume dangerous to horses, there are still several things you should consider before wearing it. Horses have a better sense of smell than humans, so you should refrain from wearing strong and sweet scents around your horse.
The best options would be light scents with low projection, so your horse doesn’t get sick of the perfume you’re wearing. Additionally, we recommend wearing perfume or fragrance with floral notes, especially those containing lavender or chamomile essential oils.
Many horse owners have found that these essential oils have a calming effect on their horses. Here’s a table for which essential oils your perfume should contain and which essential oils are better to be avoided around horses:
| Recommended Essential Oils | Essential Oils Better To Be Avoided |
|---|---|
| Bergamot | Anise |
| Cedarwood | Birch |
| Chamomile | Blue Tansy |
| Frankincense | Camphor |
| Lavender | Clove Bud |
| Mandarin | Garlic |
| Palmarosa | Oregano |
| Sweet Orange | Tea Tree |
| Sandalwood | Wintergreen |
| Vetiver | Yarrow |
However, each horse is unique and you should test how it’s going to react by wearing as little as possible. If you see your horse reacting well to the scent or not reacting at all, you can apply more and more until you reach the amount you’d usually wear.
If your horse doesn’t show strange behavior, like turning its head away when you enter the stable, you can wear your perfume around the horse.
Essential Oils for Horses
You can even use essential oils to benefit your horse. There are many different essential oils, and each of them serves a specific purpose. Some of the most widely used essential oils are:
- Frankincense – Calming
- Geranium – Uplifting
- Lavender – Calming
- Juniper – Anti-Inflammatory
- Lemongrass – Uplifting
- Chamomile – Calming
It’s important to know that you should only use essential oil topically, that is applying it onto the skin of your horse, instead of allowing the horse to ingest it. Additionally, it’s recommended to dilute essential oils with water with a ratio of 1:20.
Perfume Recommendations for Horse Lovers
If you’re a horse lover who’s looking to buy perfume, we can recommend you several perfumes and fragrances that most likely you’re going to love:
This floral woody musk fragrance should be smelled at least once by every woman that loves horses. Strong leathery notes combined with infatuating rose scent are something you cannot miss out on.
Kelly Caleche was first launched in 2007. The fragrance was created by a master perfumer Jean-Claude Ellena, while the bottle was designed by Philippe Mouquet. Such a duo made Hermès invest a lot of money into advertising this product.
It culminated with Kelly Caleche winning the FiFi Award for “Best National Advertising Campaign” in 2022. The fragrance itself has base notes of leather and iris, middle notes of rose, mimosa, and tuberose, and top notes of grapefruit, narcissus, and lily-of-the-valley.
You can buy a 50ml (1.6 Fl. Oz) bottle for about $80, or a 100ml (3.4 Fl. Oz) bottle for about $130.
This fragrance by trailblazer perfume house D.S. & Durga is basically the essence of the Wild West. Perfumer David Seth Moltz carefully crafted this woody aromatic fragrance in 2008.
D.S. & Durga itself describes Cowboy Grass as “Perfect for robbing banks on horseback”. This fragrance has base notes of vetiver, grass, ambergris, middle notes of sagebrush, basil, rose otto, and finally top notes of rosewood, wild thyme, and bergamot.
Such a scent profile makes it perfectly clear that it’s a product that most jockeys would love to wear.
You can buy a 100ml (3.4 Fl. Oz.) bottle for about $189.
If you want to splurge some money, we recommend Gucci No 3. This chypre floral fragrance was first launched in 1985 and continues to be one of the best products for women to this day.
It was created by Firmenich, the biggest privately-owned fragrance company in the world, which was founded in Switzerland over 100 years ago.
Gucci No 3 has base notes of oakmoss, leather, vetiver, musk, patchouli, and amber, that are first supported by middle notes of narcissus, orris, root, tuberose, rose, jasmine, and lily-of-the-valley. However, before enjoying those, the first impression will be made by top notes of aldehydes, coriander, green leaves, and bergamot.
You can buy a 60ml (2 Fl. Oz.) bottle for about $386.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
(Q): What Things To Consider Before Wearing Perfume Around Horses?
(A): You should never apply perfume around your horse. Even if it’s fine with you wearing perfume around it, a horse can be harmed by directly inhaling perfume that’s sprayed nearby. It’s also recommended that you apply perfume several hours before getting in contact with the horse.
(Q): Is Tea Tree Oil Safe For Horses?
(A): Essential tea tree oil is not only safe but might be even beneficial to your horse if it’s applied topically. However, it’s toxic to ingest, and you should be very careful and avoid your horse licking it.
Final Words
Perfume is not only safe to wear around horses, but can even be beneficial. We hope this article was informative and helped you understand what scents work best around horses and maybe you even found your new favorite perfume!
