Oh, hay there! Are you looking for something tasty to satisfy your sweet tooth? Well, giddy up, because your horse could use a treat too!
Horses may not indulge in a pint of Ben and Jerry’s or polish off a King Size Kit Kat bar, but there are many horse treats on the market that your equine friend would argue satisfy the same way.
Horse treats are not only a special addition to a typical horse diet, but they can also be used as rewards as part of your horse training. If you’re looking for inspiration on some mouthwatering horse treat recipes, read on to learn about a horse’s favourite ingredients and their nutritional benefits, too.
We do our best to keep our horse friends happy and healthy. Following a structured diet and feeding plan is an essential component of horse care. While our horse may show us a little more love with a little more treats, 1-2 treats per day is the recommended guideline.
Horse treats recipes are often simple and lots of fun to make. They typically include only a few key ingredients, and there are numerous baked and no-bake horse treat recipes to choose from.
Popular horse treats recipes include:
If you want to learn how to make horse treats, start with one key pantry ingredient: oats! Oats are a staple ingredient in many homemade horse treats recipes, as they are high in starch, providing a rich source of digestible energy. This key ingredient is also high in fibre, promoting digestive health, and phosphorus, for healthy bones, joints, and hooves.
For horse treats that maximize equine joint health, consider adding joint supplements to the recipe. TRI-ACTA for Equine is a joint supplement for horses that prevents joint discomfort and inflammation, cartilage breakdown, and lost mobility. It contains a potent blend of active ingredients, including two types of glucosamine for maximum effectiveness, chondroitin, and MSM—key ingredients for joint health.
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Horses are far from picky eaters, and if offered, will eat some pretty strange treats. Some equine owners report feeding sweets like ice cream and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
Throughout history, some countries have fed their horses meat, including blood and offal. While horses will occasionally eat meat if it’s convenient (watch out, wandering little critters), technically, horses are herbivores, meaning their digestive systems are adapted to consuming grass, forage, and other soft plant materials.
The foundation of every horse’s diet should be fibre-rich forage, such as hay and pasture. A well-balanced horse diet includes carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, and minerals. Homemade and commercial horse treats typically contain some of the additional nutrients required to keep your horse healthy.
Essential ingredients for safe and healthy horse treats include:
Refer to the chart below for an overview of the essential ingredients for healthy horse treats.
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Ingredient |
Examples |
Reasons |
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Vegetables |
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Fruits |
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Whole Grains |
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Natural Sweeteners |
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Flour is also a common ingredient in many homemade horse treats recipes. It is used to help bind the ingredients in horse treats together, such as oats, apples, and carrots. Wheat flour is safe for consumption by horses in small amounts. It is not recommended for horses to consume large amounts of flour; so don’t go feeding your day-old donuts or ends of bread to your equine pal every single day! It is, however, safe to include in treat recipes as long as overall your horse is consuming a small amount.
When using flour in horse treat recipes, consider the following four tips:
There are a few particular human treats and ingredients you want to avoid when considering the best horse treats. These ingredients are particularly hard on a horse’s body and should be avoided in their diet. While some may be obvious, others might surprise you.
Refer to the chart below for a list of horse treats to avoid and the reasons.
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Ingredient |
Reason |
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Acorns |
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Avocados |
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Brocoli |
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Chocolate |
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Onions |
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Dairy |
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Think beyond the stick and carrot! Horses enjoy a variety of tastes and flavours. Knowing what suits your horse’s pallet will help you make or choose the best horse treats they will love.
According to a study published in Applied Animal Behaviour Science, horses have specific flavour preferences. These include:
Want to make your own delicious horse treats? These 5-ingredient oatmeal horse treat cookies are easy to make, tasty, and nutritious.
Ingredients:
Instructions:
On special occasions, you can reward your horse with an extra special human treat. Because of their high sugar content, the following occasional horse treats should be given no more than once a week:
Fortunately, a horse’s favourite fruits and vegetables are often the most affordable, making budget-friendly horse treats easy to make.
Horses love the following affordable fruits and vegetables:
In addition to fruits and vegetables, you’ll want to keep a few affordable pantry items on hand for horse treat recipes: oats, flour, applesauce, and molasses.
Follow these top three tips to make horse treats on a budget:
Here is one of our favourite recipes if you’re looking to make horse treats on a budget.
Ingredients:
Instructions:
You don’t need to be a star chef to offer your horse a delicious snack. There are many options for horse treats available at horse supply stores or simply at your local grocery store. Horses can safely consume a variety of horse treats from staple apples and carrots to occasional treats like cookies and sugar cubes.
There are five primary types of horse treats to consider:
The chart below provides an overview of the best horse treats.
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Type of Horse Treat |
Examples |
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Fruits |
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Vegetables |
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Commercial Treats |
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Homemade Treats |
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Other |
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Now that you know about the different types of horse treats to consider, you can start browsing ideas for homemade horse treat recipes or shop for commercially made products. Below is a list of the top 12 types of horse treats recommended by horse owners.
Low sugar horse treats are not only beneficial for horses with specific health issues, but they’re a great option to complement any horse's diet.
Low sugar horse treats are good for horses with the following health concerns:
Horses with metabolic conditions, such as insulin-resistance, Cushing’s Disease, or Equine Metabolic Syndrome (EMS), are unable to process high sugar content. Feeding high sugar treats with ingredients such as molasses and honey, or human treats like cookies, can cause insulin spikes. Laminitis-prone horses (common with horses suffering from EMS) are also susceptible to insulin spikes. High sugar and starch can also cause vasoconstriction, disrupting the blood flow to the hooves and elsewhere in the body.
Low sugar horse treat recipes contain natural sweeteners, such as fruits, apples, and bananas, to provide a healthy sweet taste.
Similar to low sugar horse treats, sugar-free horse treats are healthier if your horse has existing health conditions. The distinction between low sugar horse treats and sugar-free horse treats is that low sugar treats limit the sugar and carbs by replacing sugary ingredients with natural sweeteners, whereas sugar-free horse treats tend to avoid natural sweeteners like fruits and vegetables. However, it’s always important to check the ingredients on any horse treats first if you’re concerned about your horse’s sugar intake.
Peppermint teas, peppermint cocoa, peppermint ice cream, and chocolate—many of us like to incorporate peppermint into our favourite treats and beverages. Peppermint is a herb, a hybrid crossbred combination of wintergreen and spearmint. It is loved not only for its refreshing, minty flavour but also for its therapeutic benefits.,
Peppermint horse treats have the following four benefits for horses:
Natural peppermint sources such as fresh mint leaves and peppermint extract contain no sugar or carbohydrates, making them an ideal ingredient for low-calorie horse treats or low-sugar horse treats recipes.
Apples are a classic favourite when it comes to the best horse treats. Known for their taste and nutritional value, apple slices are a convenient and affordable snack for your horse. Applesauce and apples are popular ingredients in commercial and homemade horse treats recipes.
Apple provides the following benefits for horse diets:
Apples are relatively high in sugar compared to a horse’s natural diet of forage and hay, so it’s best to offer apple horse treats in moderation. If your horse has metabolic Issues or obesity concerns, it’s best to limit or avoid giving apple-flavoured horse treats as part of their diet.
You’ve likely heard people rave about the benefits of CBD for humans: stress, sleep, pain, inflammation, and much more. In the last few years, CBD products have increased in popularity for humans and their pets.
Cannabidiol (CBD) is the non-psychoactive compound derived from the cannabis plant. CBD interacts with the endocannabinoid system (ECS) in both humans and horses as well as other animals to regulate mood, pain perception and immune responses. However, CBD and cannabis in any sort of horse treat or prescription given by a vet need to be approved by Health Canada first.
Currently, there are no authorized veterinary products containing cannabis, and vets can’t prescribe it, but there is some research out there that supports cannabis as beneficial in providing relief for a variety of conditions in horses:
It’s important to note that if your horse is in competition, CBD is banned by most organizations.
TRI-ACTA treats the underlying joint issue over time, resulting in less pain for your horse from joint conditions. You can also use TRI-ACTA alongside cannabis to provide additional pain relief.
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If you’re looking for something tasty and sweet, molasses horse treats are sure to please your equine pal. Molasses is a popular ingredient in many horse treat recipes as it offers palatability and acts as a binding ingredient to hold the other ingredients together.
Keep in mind that molasses is approximately 50% sugar, composed of both sucrose and glucose. While molasses can provide a quick release of energy through natural sugars, it’s not recommended in large quantities.
Did you know, horses go bananas for bananas? Horses naturally prefer sweet flavours, and ripe bananas offer the perfect amount of natural sweetness to horse treats. You can offer your horse a ripe banana—including the peel—or add them to a banana horse treats recipe.
Horses love bananas for these reasons:
You’ll also love making banana horse treats, as bananas are one of the cheapest fruits to purchase year-round.
Similar to low-sugar horse treats, low-starch horse treats are a great choice for horses with metabolic concerns, insulin resistance, laminitis, or prone to weight gain. Both sugar and starch affect blood glucose and insulin, but there are key differences between them.
Starch is a complex carbohydrate made of glucose molecules, found in cereal, grains, such as oats and barley. Low-starch horse treats are free of high-starch grains and typically contain less than 10% starch. Some examples of low-starch horse treats ingredients include hay, beet pulp, flaxseed, or alfalfa.
Sugar is a simple carbohydrate found in glucose, sucrose, and fructose. Low-sugar horse treats are made with little to no added sugar or natural sugar. Some examples are treats made with fruit to provide natural sweetness rather than molasses or honey.
It’s Christmas time, and you want to spoil your beloved equine friend. Christmas horse treats are holiday-themed horse treats, usually featuring seasonal ingredients and cut into festive shapes.
Examples of Christmas horse treats include:
Carrots are the quintessential horse treats. Horses love carrots because of their mild sweetness and crunchy texture. Most horses appreciate chomping on a raw carrot, but they will particularly enjoy carrots when made into carrot horse treats.
Popular carrot horse treat recipes include:
Horses love minty flavours. While peppermint is a hybrid of spearmint and watermint, mint refers to any type of mint, including spearmint, peppermint, apple mint, chocolate mint and mojito mint. Minty muffin horse treats are a popular homemade horse treat, and commercially available, loved for their soft and moist texture, flavour, and aroma.
Flaxseed is a nutrient-dense ingredient that makes an excellent addition to horse treat recipes. Flaxseed offers Omega-3 fatty acids for a shiny coat and healthy joints, fibre for digestion, and protein for muscle maintenance. Flax horse treats can be made with whole flaxseed, flaxseed oil or ground flaxseed, and include complementary ingredients like carrots and oats.
Homemade horse treats are often better than store-bought treats due to their natural ingredients and nutritional value. Some commercially-made horse treats include filler ingredients such as wheat bran, oat feed, and soy hull to add bulk and reduce the overall production costs. Making your own horse treats allows you to control what ingredients and what quantities are in every batch. You also have the option to add supplements to the horse treats for additional health benefits.
Horse treats aren’t just a way to spoil or reward your equine friends. Horse treat recipes are packed with nutritious ingredients like vitamins and minerals for horse health.
If you’re looking for horse treats to help strengthen joints, increase mobility and reduce inflammation, consider adding TRI-ACTA for Equine to your favourite recipes. With a potent blend of glucosamine, condition, and MSM, your horse can eat their delicious snack while enjoying healthier, more active lives.
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