Horse Treats: Homemade, Good For Your Horse, and Easy To Make

My grandson saw a tray of treats on our countertop and reached for one; I quickly let him know they were for the horses. He said, “They can’t be horse treats because they come in a bag.” I told him these were homemade and much better than anything he’ll find in a store.

Horse lovers are always on the lookout for homemade horse treat recipes that are good for their horse and easy to make. But often these types of recipes are difficult to find too complicated or require ingredients that many people don’t have access to.

That’s why I am so excited to share my favorite homemade horse treat recipes. They are quick and easy to make, cost less than buying ones from a store, and horses love them.

Horse treats

If you own horses, you know just how important it is to keep them healthy with a balanced diet. As much as we adore our horses, we can’t simply feed them any snacks that we eat.

Now, that doesn’t mean they can have yummy snacks just like us; there are some foods we know horses love to eat and are healthy – such as carrots and apples. So we take safe ingredients and combine them to make some delicious horse-friendly treats!

Horse treats are not crucial for your horse’s health, but they’re a nice way to show your love and appreciation. And there is nothing like knowing that you’ve made them from scratch.

Take some time out of your day this week to try one or two of these recipes and see which ones work best with what you have on hand in the kitchen! These will surely be quick-fix favorites.

The great thing about making these treats at home is that since you’re the one cooking the snacks, you’ll be sure not to include anything that’s not supposed to be a part of their diet.

Making sure not to add any additives such as chemicals, preservatives, or too much sugar can help prevent your horse from getting laminitis.

Healthy Horse Treat Recipes

1. Easy Horse Cookies

If you are looking for a healthy cookie your horse will love full, then these cookies made with apples, carrots, and honey is the perfect recipe. Carrots provide vitamins A and C as well as beta-carotene. Honey provides natural sweetness, while oats are a good source of protein.

Ingredients:

• One apple
• One carrot
• two cups of oats
• 1/2 cup of honey
• One tablespoon of water ( this is optional)
• One tablespoon of vegetable or coconut oil
• 1/2-3/4 cups of flour

Directions for making the cookies:

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees, grate the carrot and chop the apple finely. (You may need to modify some ingredients depending on what type of oats and honey you use and the size of the carrot you get for the cookies).

Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl and then add the liquids. Roll into balls, put on a greased baking sheet, and pop it in the oven for about 30 minutes.

Once they’re done cooking, let them cool and put them in the fridge inside a sealed container. They will stay fresh for up to one week.

2. Homemade Oatmeal Treats

Ingredients:

• One apple
• One carrot
• One cup of molasses
• 2 1/2 cups of oats
• two tablespoons of oil

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Shred both the carrot and the apple and place in a large bowl. Next, add the molasses, oats, and oil and combine them well to ensure that the molasses cover all the oats.

Spread the mixture in a 9×13 baking dish, and pat it down to flatten. Once your oven is ready, place the dish in the oven and cook until they get crispy! It should take around 40 minutes or so (depending on how big you want them). Once done cooking, set them aside for a while to cool, then cut them into bite-sized pieces.

3. Carrot and Apple Treats

Ingredients:

• One cup of grated carrots
• One cup of grated apples
• Two tablespoons of applesauce
• 1/4 cup of molasses
• One cup of oats
• One cup of flour
• One teaspoon of cinnamon

Directions:

Mix the molasses, carrots, apples, and apple sauce. Next, add to this the oats, flour, and cinnamon. Using your hands, mold the mixture into 1-inch-sized balls.

Place these on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and put them in an oven heated to 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 20-25 minutes or until they turn golden brown.

4. Kit’s “Popgrain” Balls

Ingredients:

• One cup of sugar or dry molasses (typically, molasses is preferred)
• 1/3 cup of Karo syrup
• One cup of water
• 1/4 teaspoon of salt
• One teaspoon of vanilla
• three quarts of sweet feed
• A handful of kettle corn

Add the molasses, Karo syrup, and water to a saucepot and heat until the temperature reaches 280 degrees. Next, add the salt and vanilla, and then stir in the sweet feed and corn.

Remove from the heat and let cool enough for you to mold the mixture into ball shapes, and place them on wax paper to set.

Sugar-free Horse Treat Recipes

Sugar-free snacks are an excellent alternative for horses on the verge of being overweight, insulin resistant, or having metabolic disorders. If your horse is insulin-resistant, these snacks are perfect for them!

1. Sugar-free biscuit

Ingredients:

• Three cups of barley flakes
• 1/2 cup of hemp flour
• 1/2 cup of hemp seeds
• One tablespoon of minced cranberries
• Two tablespoons of unsweetened coconut
• Two teaspoons of Saigon cinnamon
• Two teaspoons of pumpkin spice
• 1/4 cup of hemp seed oil
• One teaspoon of blueberry flour
• A handful of Acadian sea kelp
• 1 1/2 cups of apple sauce

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, place all the ingredients in one large bowl and mixes them by hand. Once you finish mixing the products, form them into any shape you want and put them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.

Before placing them in the oven, sprinkle the Acadian sea kelp on top and lower the oven’s temperature down to 250 degrees. It’s best to leave them baking for about 45 minutes or until they reach a golden brown color, making sure not to burn the corners.

Once they finished baking, leave them out for a while to cool before storing them in containers. This recipe allows you to make about five dozen biscuits so your horse will be able to enjoy these snacks for a while.

2. “Hey” snacks

Ingredients:

• One cup of whole chickpea flour
• Three cups of brown rice flakes
• 1/4 cup of hemp seed nut butter
• One teaspoon of ginger
• Two teaspoons of Saigon cinnamon
• One tablespoon of carob
• 1/2 cup of filtered water
• 1/4 cup of blueberry seed oil

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees and combine all of the ingredients by hand or food processor. If you’d like, you can shape the mixture into fun little shapes for your horse to enjoy, which can be done quickly by hand.

Once you’re ready to put them in the oven, grab your cookie sheet, line it up with parchment paper, and bake them for 20 minutes. When the time’s up, you let them cool before storing them in the freezer. The fantastic thing about these treats is that you can also serve them raw.

3. Apple cinnamon low starch treats

Ingredients:

• Two tablespoons of cinnamon
• Two cups of hot water
• One pound of Bob’s Red Mill Organic ground flaxseed
• 1/2 cup of unsweetened applesauce

Directions:

You will start preparing by preheating the oven to 350 degrees and putting the flaxseed in a mixing bowl. You then add cinnamon, mix in the applesauce, and add the hot water to the mix. You can mix it with a rubber spatula; then, once the dough starts thickening, you can mold it until it becomes smooth.

Grab a cookie sheet and line it up with parchment paper, spreading the dough to cover the sheet. If you want your cookies to come out crispier, you lay them out as thin as possible. To allow for easier separation, cut the mixture into squares before baking.

Once you’re ready to bake, place the cookie sheet in the oven for about 60 minutes; if you prefer chewy snacks, keep them in for 75 minutes for crunchier cookies. Once they finish baking, let them cool before placing them in containers.

Natural Horse Treats

If you’re not into baking or are nervous about how the outcome of your homemade recipes will turn out, you can always find natural treats online that will still be nutritious and healthy for your four-legged animal!

Here are the top ten natural snacks you can find online to aid in your horse’s diet:

• Buckeye Nutrition all-natural apple horse treats
• Compressed hay squares
• Equus Magnificus horse muffin snacks
• Stud Muffins variety pack
• Buckeye Nutrition Reasons Joint Support treats
• Probios Equine Probiotic Soft Chews
• Manna Pro Bite-Size nuggets
• Manna Pro Nutrigood Senior Snax treats
• Purina Apple and Oat snacks
• Mrs. Pastures Cookies
• Ginger Ridge Stable Snax

You’ll find a wide variety of goodies for your horse online, from expensive treats to cheaper alternatives. All with various benefits, but all made exclusively for horses. To ensure your horses get the best possible ones, it’s essential to research their ingredients and check with a vet.

What Foods Are Toxic To Horses?

If you’re nervous about feeding your horse human food, you should be because some are harmful. Here are some of the many foods to avoid giving your horse:

• Caffeine
• Fruits containing pits
• Avocado
• Potatoes
• Rhubarb
• Meat Products
• Chocolate
• Garlic
• Cauliflower, Cabbage
• Onions
• Tomatoes

Do you love your horse? Then don’t feed them these foods- they are not only bad for their digestive system but can also be harmful to several other bodily functions.

Some will cause seizures and palpitations, while others’ upset stomachs may result in death. If you’re unsure what is safe to feed your horse and what isn’t, err on the side of caution and don’t feed it to your horse. Always research horse treats before feeding it to them.

Below is a YouTube video that shows you how to make horse treats.

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