Treats for your horse include anything given to your horse outside of her regular meals and forage. Some treats for your horse contain important vitamin or mineral supplements; other treats are simply that: a treat.
The best treats for your horse are usually things that are a healthy part of his diet anyway. Apple and carrot pieces make good treats for your horse, as do pitted dates and raisins. Always make sure to reduce the risk of your horse choking by cutting treats like apples and carrots into manageable pieces.
Some horse owners choose to make their own horse treats. There are literally thousands of recipes on the Internet for everything from apple mash to molasses and honey bars to peanut butter cookies made just for horses. There is no shortage of commercially available treats as well. Before feeding your horse packaged treats, be sure to read the label. Just as you wouldn’t offer him feed if you didn’t know what was in it, you shouldn’t offer treats that may have ingredients you wouldn’t want him to have. Natural sweeteners such as honey and pure maple syrup are better for your horse than refined sugars.
Treats that are not so nutritionally sound, but enjoyable for your horse, can be given occasionally as well. These include things like sugar cubes and hard peppermint candies. It is best to only give your horse a small amount of hard treats like this at any one time, since eating hard foods too fast could result in choking.
Some horses get rather pushy when looking for or anticipating treats. Keep this in mind if you choose to keep treats in your pocket to dole out to your horse. You may find that she quickly develops the habit of attempting to search everyone’s pockets in a hunt for treats.
There are some things that should never be fed as treats for your horse. These can include cruciferous vegetables, such as broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage. Tomatoes and potatoes are not recommended for horses, either.
Treats for your horse can be used as a part of a positive reinforcement program while training your horse. The key to this is to use the treats sparingly but consistently. Instead of giving your horse a very large piece of apple when she sometimes performs a desired behavior, give her a small piece every time. This form of consistent positive reinforcement will be more effective while still ensuring you don’t “train” your horse to be overweight!
