Horse treats

[Carly Rae]

Hi!

So I make my horses their own treats but I haven't made any in a while, but the last few batches I made have all been the same recipe. So I wanted to try something a bit different for them, we are starting our training and I would like a nice reward for them. So does anyone have any good recipes that your minis like?

Willow, Snickas and Toby will eat any treat really but Kevin wouldn't eat them, I am not sure if he just didn't like it or he was still shy, like I have said in a few topics I got him give away and he had never been touched before (nor was his mother or any horse he was around, they were all un handled) so he never got treats, he was about 8 months old when I got him (nearly 1 now) and he loves carrots but his teeth are still little and he cant bite through the carrot. But I am just thinking that he just wasn't used to having food handed to him, and I haven't made treats since they ran out (a few weeks after Kevin and the 3 other minis got here) So he may eat them now.

So that wasn't really relevant but does any one have a good recipe, I have a range of ingredients and I Can oven cook, stove, microwave, fridge, freezer. So please if you have any recipes that would be great, also is there anything you should never put in them?

Thanks

 

[AngC]

...he had never been touched before... loves carrots but his teeth are still little and he cant bite through the carrot.

In a prior thread you were concerned with weight. If you have weight concerns, I wouldn't be cooking up treat recipes. ...just my opinion.

On the other hand, I've been working with a horse had no desire to be handled by humans. She didn't even like to be touched so what else are you going to do except motivate her with a pleasure item? That said; I used to use carrots (high in sugar, by the way.) I cut them in pieces about 1-inch (2.5 cm long) by about 1/2 inch (1.25 cm) in diameter. For a half hour (or so) training session I would give her one or two of those small pieces. Then I had a trainer in here for a summer; the trainer took one look at Coco's fat butt, took out one of my carrot pieces, threw the rest over the fence, and broke that piece into miniscule pieces and made it last an hour. It was kind of an eye opener for me.

By the way, I think most horses (other than a newborn) should be able to bite a carrot? Baby was eating pretty much everything her dam ate within the first few weeks. Unless you're feeding really big hunking stock carrots I would wonder at a horse whose teeth can't bite a carrot???

 

[Carly Rae]

I like to have treats as a reward, I cant see how a few tiny treats can hurt them.

I don't NEED treats, but I like to have rewards for my horses when they do the right thing but I don't reward every second of training. (My training is mainly based on my 2 colts that aren't overweight like my mare)

Yes. They can bite through small carrots but not the large ones we buy (all the others can but kevin takes longer) So I cut them up for him.

 

[AngC]

I like to have treats as a reward, I cant see how a few tiny treats can hurt them.

I don't NEED treats, but I like to have rewards for my horses when they do the right thing but I don't reward every second of training. (My training is mainly based on my 2 colts that aren't overweight like my mare)

Yes. They can bite through small carrots but not the large ones we buy (all the others can but kevin takes longer) So I cut them up for him.

I wasn't trying to be negative regarding feeding treats. As I mentioned, our mare has no reason to interact with humans so in limited quantities I give her feed/pleasure. Within limits, I've used that to get her to do what I want. I simply did not find any other training aid/method that worked.

However, in other topics here, you seemed concerned at the potential cost of vet bills. An overweight horse has the potential to earn you vet bills. Treats can make fat horses fatter. I don't mean to be "preachy" but I didn't realize the problems until I made them for myself with our foal; it's heart-breaking, can screw up the horse's feet/legs permanently, and takes a while to cure the problem. In my case, luckily, I did not damage Baby's legs (according to a couple sets of x-rays, which speaking of vet bills, weren't cheap.)

Ours will stand at the fence all day and "tell" us that a "few tiny treats" won't hurt them. Most of the time, I don't give in. Sometimes my husband does; hopefully we don't have any more vet bills. That's why I don't bake up treats for our little goobs. Sorry no offense was intended. Good luck.

 

[Carly Rae]

My grandmother feeds my minis a lot of 'Treats' which are just things like carrot, apple things that are scraps and that are safe for horses. Is that bad?

I do get what you mean, but trust me, I don't give them many treats my last batch of treats consisted of carrot, apple, rolled oats and molasses and they were very small treats. With my mare, she is starting to thin down a bit, no MAJOR changes but she is looking better and when working with her she gets tiny pieces of carrot (sometimes just a small carrot when we are finished)

The main reason I am concerned about vet bills because I am only 15 looking for a job (to pay for those things) and my parents have been spending a lot on them so that's why I needed advice about Snickas weight (if she needed veterinary attention)

Should I just stick with small bits of carrot rather than baking treats? Or should I bake treats but have them really small, or just not have treats?

 

[candycar]

I used to make treats for mine sometimes. Only in the winter, they mold unless refrigerated. Animal crackers are a favorite. They can be broken up in at least 2 pieces, last well in a pocket and are only 100 calories for 10 pieces.

Since my one has foundered I stopped giving so many real treats. They each get 1 cookie a day now.

Now I use timothy pellets as a basic/training treat. Just a few peices at a time. They still think they are getting something special and it's the same as hay!

Carrots can be cut thinner, halved and in slivers if you still want to give them. 1 inch of carrot will go along way! The NSC of carrots is about 9, so not overly sugary as far as treats go.

 

[Minimor]

In 50 years of horses I have NEVER had a horse gain weight from treats. Never.

I do not give treats by the handful (unless the "treat" o an giving happens to be oats)--but nor do I limit each horse to 2 tiny pieces.

As for a trainer keeping 2 pieces of treat and tossing the rest into the trash--I know people, trainers or not, who do not approve of treats at all. They do not think a horse should have treats--ever--that is their opinion. Doesn't mean they are right and others are wrong; it means they have a different opinion.

 

[Marsha Cassada]

Someone posted this recipe years ago and I have made it several times. You can make the treats any size you want. I have substituted some oat bran flour and some mesquite flour before.

[SIZE=9pt]Oaties

4 cups quick rolled oats
1 cup water
8Tbsp flour
1/2 cup molasses

Mix all, make small balls, and flatten onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake 45 minutes at 300. [/SIZE]

 

[Marsha Cassada]

In 50 years of horses I have NEVER had a horse gain weight from treats. Never.

I do not give treats by the handful (unless the "treat" o an giving happens to be oats)--but nor do I limit each horse to 2 tiny pieces.

As for a trainer keeping 2 pieces of treat and tossing the rest into the trash--I know people, trainers or not, who do not approve of treats at all. They do not think a horse should have treats--ever--that is their opinion. Doesn't mean they are right and others are wrong; it means they have a different opinion.

I think horses like a nice scratch on the withers about as well as a treat. But "food is love". So a little love won't hurt anybody.

 

[Rocklone Miniature Horses]

I use part of their daily meal ration as treats.

 

[Ryan Johnson]

I like to give all my horses treats but tend to avoid the higher sugar content ones throughout spring here. We get enough sugar in the grass here at that time of the year.

As I have a Laminitis risk mini, I try to avoid Carrots and apples and stick to something lower in sugar.

She really likes pumpkin and I also find that its really good for the coat. She also likes Iceberg lettuce.

I agree with you AngC , its absolutely heartbreaking seeing a horse trying to move around with laminitis , but it has certainly helped to change my feeding program. I now realise that the conditions, weather and how my paddocks replenish them selves once the sun is out play a massive part in how I feed my minis.

As we move into spring here , ill be limiting my grazing periods , the grass has already started to grow and with it the sugar content.

 

[AngC]

In 50 years of horses I have NEVER had a horse gain weight from treats. Never.

I do not give treats by the handful (unless the "treat" o an giving happens to be oats)--but nor do I limit each horse to 2 tiny pieces.

As for a trainer keeping 2 pieces of treat and tossing the rest into the trash--I know people, trainers or not, who do not approve of treats at all. They do not think a horse should have treats--ever--that is their opinion. Doesn't mean they are right and others are wrong; it means they have a different opinion.

I guess it depends what you consider treats. I don't have 50 years under my belt so perhaps that's why I made our horses fat. I'd like to think that I'm learning. I don't know if you were referring to the trainer I mentioned (who throttled back my carrot-feeding habits?) One reason I've read on the internet about not feeding treats is that the horse will become "nippy." I don't know what that means. I've only been "nipped" once--and it was rather more of a bite that required a couple stitches. ...not a nip. Coco didn't even get disciplined because she was protecting her foal, and I was dumb.

Anyway, I treat a lot.

Our horses have no reason whatsoever to treasure my presence, except that I bring food and water. So (especially with Coco, since she had little training) I want every experience, every day, with us humans to be either positive or at a minimum neutral. What I have done (after the fatty, laminitis issue) is to amend the treats. For example, sometimes I'll pick a little bit of dandelion leaf or a bit of clover; they don't seem to care; I think they like to have attention and then as long as they get something, anything they feel "treated."

 

[Minimor]

AngC--I thought you said elsewhere that your horse (s) got fat from having free choice alfalfa (mix? ) hay? I have had fat horses from too much rich hay or too much lush grass and lack of exercise. Whatever excess weight they carried could not in any way be attributed to treats--I could have cut all treats and it would have made no difference to their weight.

Was thinking yesterday they 2ould need a lot of treats to gain weight on them--and that much treats would no longer be "treats" but a food source. Feed a couple pounds of treats to a horse then it could become a problem. It does not sound like Carly Rae is feeding treats in excess.

 

[Carly Rae]

I have found that my colt Toby gets nippy with me when I give him treats in training, which just means (in my opinion) when you are training and you reward him with a treat and start going again he will keep trying to 'nip' my hand pretty much biting me looking for treats.

So Toby only gets a few treats EVER because he will do it even if you are just giving him one because he is there in the night pen with no grass he will randomly nip your hand after you give him the treat and he will keep nipping you. I have also had that when you give another mini a treat he will try get the treat by biting your hand.

But we are trying to stop his greediness by giving him less treats (He is a very spoiled mini that's probably why he nips) He doesn't do it so much any more, I don't give them random treats any more and If he does something REALLY good during training he will get a treat, but I have learned that Toby was WAY too spoiled so I cut down his treats, but he still gets his scratches, brushes and cuddles like the rest of them

 

[AngC]

AngC--I thought you said elsewhere that your horse (s) got fat from having free choice alfalfa (mix? ) hay? I have had fat horses from too much rich hay or too much lush grass and lack of exercise. Whatever excess weight they carried could not in any way be attributed to treats--I could have cut all treats and it would have made no difference to their weight.

Was thinking yesterday they 2ould need a lot of treats to gain weight on them--and that much treats would no longer be "treats" but a food source. Feed a couple pounds of treats to a horse then it could become a problem. It does not sound like Carly Rae is feeding treats in excess.

I believe our 3 got fat from alfalfa. I could be wrong; all indications point to too much alfalfa (not free choice) in addition to my attempt at free choice orchard grass. I don't believe lush pasture was a factor, because it was end of winter. I'm just going by what was said by the two "experts" I had on-hand--the first being the farrier and the second being the vet. I still feed alfalfa. But it is no longer straight bales of alfalfa. The best grass hay we can get here is eastern WA orchard grass; typically it comes with 10-25% alfalfa mixed in; alfalfa content varies with each bale. I adjust their feeding based on what I visually see; for example, if there's a large percentage of alfalfa, I feed less or pick through and try to get more grass hay in their ration. For awhile there, I was throwing a lot of the leafy alfalfa stuff in the compost pit; then I found somebody that has rabbits and now I throw most of the alfalfa in a tub that I set aside for their rabbits.

I wandered off-topic there.... The most impactful "take-away" I had from Baby's laminitis issue is knock off the "sweets." I have no idea how many treats Carly Rae plans on feeding; I don't believe she said. My opinion (which is just that an opinion; the internet's full of opinions; take it for what it's worth) is that if a person is concerned about their horse's weight then they ought not feed treats. Poor Baby went without treats for a good 6 months. It didn't seem to hurt her one bit. Everyone has differing approaches to risk management. I realize that I probably get a little over-analytical when it comes to our horses, but it's only because I love them so much. And in my opinion if weight could potentially be an issue then why risk it?

 

[AngC]

I have found that my colt Toby gets nippy with me when I give him treats in training, which just means (in my opinion) when you are training and you reward him with a treat and start going again he will keep trying to 'nip' my hand pretty much biting me looking for treats.

So Toby only gets a few treats EVER because he will do it even if you are just giving him one because he is there in the night pen with no grass he will randomly nip your hand after you give him the treat and he will keep nipping you. I have also had that when you give another mini a treat he will try get the treat by biting your hand.

But we are trying to stop his greediness by giving him less treats (He is a very spoiled mini that's probably why he nips) He doesn't do it so much any more, I don't give them random treats any more and If he does something REALLY good during training he will get a treat, but I have learned that Toby was WAY too spoiled so I cut down his treats, but he still gets his scratches, brushes and cuddles like the rest of them

That's funny. I've tapered back on giving treats when we're doing things (i.e. training) ....pretty much for the same reason I stopped using that stupid really, long lunge whip. Treats (and the whip) are too inconvenient to carry. (Somebody could make a mint if they made a lunge whip that's a shorter length for mini's.)

This idea will probably generate criticism, but I think "nippiness" is proportional to the control you exert. I can count our nips on the fingers of one hand. Once Nicky bit my finger; he overshoots when he's trying to get a miniscule sliver of carrot. Coco's nip was when I was squatting by the fence feeding her the grain ration in a bowl (advised by the vet) the morning after Baby was born--unbeknownst to me, Nicky came up behind me on the other side of the fence and Coco dived at him (I was in the way) and she ripped a chunk out of my cheek---dumb human mistake. I warned my husband, who didn't listen, so the next day he was trying to cuddle (with a protective mare) and she tore a chunk out of his bottom lip. At that time we talked, and I told him if any of them "nipped" to smack the heck out of them---the only rule being not in the head/face area. ...body smacks only. I've watched horses discipline each other. Anything we do with our hands doesn't come near what they do to each other. We actually didn't and haven't had to smack anyone. This is just speculation, but as our confidence in ourselves increases, the horses behave better?

 

[Carly Rae]

I have always been told that if a horse bites or nips you you have to give it discipline, I was at a miniature horse trainers place (purchasing a mini) and they told me, if a horse goes to bite you smack them on the muzzle, but like many people, I don't like to hit my horse on the face. So if my horse ever goes to bite me ill give them a smack on the neck, shoulder or chest.

Many people have told me, 'If a horse makes physical contact with you, you make physical contact back' My first horse was a Shetland stallion (when we bought our house they gave him to me as my first horse) His name was Dusty and I nicknamed him 'Nipper'. I was actually scared of him because he would randomly bite me aggressively and I was only 8 with NO experience in a non-horsey family.

When ever he bit me or tried to bite me I would run away or cry and not do anything with him. So he found my weakness and oh did he use that against me. If I had food I was eating (a piece of fruit or something) he would chase me until I dropped the food. Since he knew he had 'control' of me he would chase me, bite me, If i went to pat him he would kick out at me ect. But If my brother, mum, dad or anyone were with him he wouldn't try bite or anything because they didn't let Dusty stand over them like I did.

So my parents got him gelded, he would break through our fences to get to the mares down the street, he must have been doing it for years because when we went to get him the man who lived down the street had him haltered and tied up until we came to get him, at the time we didnt actually know his name for like 2 months and his name was just 'Nipper'. But when we went to get him from down the street the man, whos name was Bill, said 'Looks like you are the new lucky owner of Dusty.' So thats how we found his name, He had also broken his halter and Bill fixed it for us.

Then I got another Shetland called Goldie she was amazing, my first riding pony

But yeah, I really regret letting Dusty stand over me like that, and just thinking about it now I want to have him back, because now I have had 8 years of experience with horses (I know thats not very long) but I believe that I could quiet him down. But he went to a young boy (in a horsey family) and he was going to be broken in as his riding pony as far as I know.

I also had a so called friend that really mistreated Goldie, I'll never forgive her for what she did.

Sorry for the long story, but thats my 'naughty pony' experience