Choosing the Best Treats for Horses

by | Dec 17, 2019 | Equine Care, Feeding, Nutrition | 0 comments

Who doesn’t love offering their horse a tasty treat as a reward or during a moment of bonding and affection? Just like humans, horses love a treat and they’re perfectly fine as long as you go about sharing them the right way. Be frugal with the frequency of treating your horse only feed them small amounts. Be mindful of the size and texture of the treats. Horses may become more aggressive when consuming pleasant-smelling treats, causing them to chew less and increase the risk of choking.

Here are a few treats we know your horses will enjoy:

Sugar cubes: Perhaps the oldest treat of the horse world, sugar cubes are a great treat when fed sparingly. One sugar cube has about 4 grams or 1 teaspoon of sugar. Keep in mind that all feeds (except oil & water) have sugars and starches.

Apples: Cut your apple into slices instead of feeding your horse the whole apple. An apple corer/cutter is quick and will give you perfectly sized wedges. Keep in mind that one medium size apple contains about 19 grams of sugar which is equivalent to almost 5 sugar cubes.

Orange peel: Feeding leftover orange peel can be very popular with your horses. Orange peel is mostly fiber and a few other nutrients and should be fed in very small amounts.

Peppermint candy: Believe it or not, peppermint candy is okay for your horse to eat. In fact, a single round peppermint candy has only 3.7 grams of sugar.

Cookies: Store-bought cookies are perhaps the most expensive choice and have more sugar and other additives than a single sugar cube. For example, a sugar cookie has 9g of sugar, an Oreo has 14g, a ginger snap has 7g and a sugar cube only 4g. Keep the sugar content in mind when giving cookie treats to your horse.

Horse treats: There are a wide variety of horse treats available on the market today. As with any feed, make sure to take a look at the ingredient list along with the sugar & starch content before purchasing.

Integrity feed: Of course Integrity horse feed can be used as a treat! A small handful of the Integrity product that you are currently feeding will accomplish the same benefits as any other treat: reward and bonding. Plus, your horse is receiving balanced horse food disguised as a treat!