Gifts for a horse?! It's true, horses like to get gifts, but gifts for a horse are a little different than gifts for a human.

Yummy gifts

Horses love to get gifts that they can eat. Horses have voracious appetites and though they love their hay and grain, they also like treats. Food gifts for a horse include apples, carrots, dates and sugar cubes. All of these foods are safe for horses to eat and most of them act as nutritional supplements for the horse. Keep in mind that if you're giving the horse apples or carrots, they need to be cut up. Giving a horse large chunks of either could cause the horse to choke and that would not be a good gift.

Gifts for a horse that include food, should be OK'd by horse owner first. Horses have different dietary needs and health issues. So, to be on the safe side, ask the horse owner if the horse can have a certain food. The advantage to this (other than making sure the horse is safe) is that the owner can probably suggest the horse's favorite food. So, you may have been planning to give the horse an apple, but the owner may tell you that the horse actually loves peppermints.

When do I give a horse a gift?

Gifts for a horse can really be given at any time as long as you ask the horse's owner first. People tend to give horses treats when they want to build a relationship with the horse. Bribing a horse with food is also a good way to reward a horse that is doing what you want it to do.

Bad gifts

There is such a thing as bad gifts for horses. For example, you probably don't want to get a horse a car or a watch or a nightlight. But, besides the obvious, there are some gifts for a horse that could actually harm the horse. If you're going to use food as gifts for a horse, you need stay away from a couple of items.

Horses should not be fed lawn clippings or other unknown foliage. Clippings are frequently treated with chemicals and you do not want the horse ingesting them. Also, giving a horse unknown foliage could cause bad reaction in the horse. To protect yourself from falling into the category of a bad horse gift giver, asks the horse's owner about proper gifts for a horse.