Horse treats are a great way to reward your equine friend and make their day more enjoyable. They are helpful when you are trying to train your horse or just want to give your horse a tasty treat. You can buy treats at the store, but you have more control over ingredients when you make them yourself. The ideal equine treat contains plenty of healthy and horse-friendly ingredients that your animal will love. In this article, we have selected several of the best horse treat recipes available. Keep reading to discover what treats you can make for your horse!
Top 5 Horse Treat Recipes to Use for Your Equines
Our list contains five great horse treat recipes that have been selected for taste, convenience, and healthy ingredients. The molasses gingersnap cookies are a fun option that looks just like traditional cookies while the minty fruit chews have a strange combination of flavors that only a horse would love. If you do not want to bake, you can quickly make the oat chews in a couple minutes. Other options on our horse treat recipes list include healthy alfalfa scones with a fluffy texture to entertain your horse and an unusual oat and raisin bar flavored with beer and molasses.
1. Molasses Ginger Snap Horse Cookies
These cookies are a fun take on the classic human dessert, and many horses love the spicy kick of ginger and cinnamon. When these cookies are baking, they will smell so yummy that you might be tempted to try one yourself!
Ingredients
- 1 cup shortening;
- 1 cup sugar;
- 1 cup molasses;
- 4 cups flour;
- 1 teaspoon ginger;
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon;
- 2 teaspoons baking soda.
Preparation
- Mix together the shortening and sugar until creamy.
- Stir in the molasses.
- Blend together the flour, ginger, cinnamon, and baking soda.
- Add molasses mixture to flour mixture slowly, and stir until combined.
- Roll flat and cut into circles or other shapes.
- Bake in a 425-degree oven for five to seven minutes.
2. Minty Fruit Chews
Many horses love peppermint, so this recipe combines their favorite flavors with plenty of healthy fruits and veggies. If your horse is not a fan of peppermint, you can make the fruity chews without mints.
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cup oats;
- 2 tbsp honey;
- 1 cup water;
- ½ apple, chopped;
- 1 carrot, chopped;
- 2 tbsp flour;
- 1 tbsp brown sugar;
- 5 crushed peppermints.
Preparation
- Mix oats, honey, and water in a bowl, and microwave for two minutes.
- Combine apple, carrots, flour, brown sugar, and peppermints in a large bowl.
- Pour water and honey mixture over fruit mixture, stir, and microwave for two more minutes.
- Divide mixture into a mini muffin tray.
- Bake in a 350-degree oven for 15 minutes.
3. No-Bake Oat Chews
This recipe made by American Horse Daily does not require any baking, so you can get the treats done in just a few minutes. The flavors and ingredients are also designed to appeal to the human palate, so you can enjoy sharing a snack with your horse while you have one too.
Ingredients
- ½ cup apple chips;
- 1 cup rolled oats;
- ¾ cup puffed wheat;
- ½ cup nut butter;
- ¾ cup powdered sugar;
- ¾ cup milk.
Preparation
- Finely crush apple chips and then combine them with the oats and puffed wheat.
- Mix together the nut butter, powdered sugar, and milk in a large bowl.
- Stir the oat mixture into the milk mixture.
- Drop spoonfuls of the mixture onto wax paper.
- Let stand until firm.
4. Alfalfa Horse Scones
These treats have the fluffy texture of a human scone, but they are loaded with horse friendly ingredients. You can alter this recipe to fit your horse’s flavor preferences.
Ingredients
- 2 cups pancake mix;
- 1 cup water;
- ¼ cup corn syrup, molasses, or honey;
- ¼ cup sugar;
- 2 cups alfalfa pellets.
Preparation
- Stir together all ingredients in a large bowl.
- Put small scoops of a roughly ⅕ cup into a muffin pan.
- Bake in a 350-degree oven for 18 minutes.
- Let the scones cool before giving them to your horse.
5. Dorado’s Raisin Bars
Erica Larson got the idea for these bars after realizing how much her horse Dorado loved raisins. These easy bars will stay good for several days.
Ingredients
- ¾ cup mild beer;
- 2 cups molasses;
- 1 cup flour;
- 1 pound of your horse’s favorite grain;
- ½ cup dried dark raisins.
Preparation
- Stir together the beer, molasses, and flour in a large bowl.
- Slowly add in the grain until ingredients are thoroughly mixed.
- Gently stir in raisins.
- Bake in a 12 by 15-inch pan in a 250-degree oven for 25 minutes.
- Cut into pieces and allow to air dry overnight.
Final Thoughts
As you can see, there are plenty of delicious horse treat recipes out there. Whether your equine loves peppermints, raisins, peanut butter, ginger, or alfalfa, it is easy to find a snack recipe they will love. Have you tried making any horse treat recipes for your horse before? Let us know what you and your horse thought of the homemade snacks!