I LOVE giving my horse treats. She has become a little cookie monster. I definitely believe in positive reinforcement and I believe that it can be reinforced through positive words, pets, grooming, time spent and of course, treats. I use treats for so many things, trick training, administering medicine, reward, and of course positive reinforcement. I am also a little bit crazy because I like to give my mare certain treats for certain things. My logic was that psychologically, people can associate taste and colour with experiences. I want to make sure that all of my mare’s experiences are positive, so I have picked specific treats for specific occasions, such as vet, hauling, or medication. I have no science to back this up, but it makes me feel better. Sometimes treats also are just the right size to work with what I need, such as tricking her into taking a pill. I always look for cookies with unique flavours, because I figured apple must be so boring over and over again (truthfully I think she cares more than I do). I also take into consideration the quality of ingredients, what they are made of and the sugar content. So I wanted to share my collection with you so you can spoil your pony too!
First Impressions & Fit and Feel
Pegasus Horse Cubes
These are awesome treats, and even better they are Canadian. Pegasus is also a supplement brand and I believe those minerals have also been added to these treats to make them, even more nutritious
Ginger Ridge Super Stars
Hippo Tonic & Waldhausen
Now, this collection of treats is my favourite. Something I would truly love to know is why Canada does not make fun flavours. These treats, Hippo Tonic and Waldhausen are from Europe and special ordered in by one of my favourite Canadian tack stores, The Carrington Shoppe.
Hippo Tonic, that I personally buy, come in Coconut, Pear & Grape and Carrot Banana. These treats are really high quality and my mare absolutely goes nuts for them, especially the coconut. I use the Coconut treats as my designated treats for when the vet comes to town, and she loves them so much the vet has fondly nicknamed her ‘Coconut’. These treats come in an awesome little log size and smell exactly as the described
Waldhausen Raspberry Cookies are my newest European cookie addition. These come in a very sweet flat heart shape, and their colour is a lovely vibrant pink. These are a total steal of a deal, $5.50 CAD.
Apple Snacks, Stud Muffins & Martin Mills Special Moments
We do not have a lot of tack stores where I live, but our in town first choice is usually Greenhawk. Which is always my first place to go for necessities such as wormer, leather cleaner, hoof conditioner and of course horse treats.
Out of all of my treats I feed the most, I can honestly say Apple Snacks are my go too. These treats are basically just 100% apple pomace. I was told that the company who owns Apple Snacks also owns an apple sauce company, so they use their leftover apple pomace to make horse treats. Is that not smart or what? These treats are very cheap and very palatable. I use them daily to give my horse her pill or would feed them after a syringe to help the taste. I also use them to teach my mare fun tricks, because they are so cheap and the ingredients are so simple, I have no problem giving her extra. I ride another mare who is very picky about what treats she will eat or won’t, and honestly, these are her absolute favourite. Plus they are so cheap! A 1kg bag is $8.99 CAD but they are also available in 500grams or 2kg.
Stud Muffins are just the holy grail of horse treats. That molasses, sweet feed combination is a winner of many horse hearts. These treats are awesome, but they are very high in sugar and expensive when looking at quantity. When I give these to my horse I tend to break the treat into quarters and give her only a piece at a time up to a half muffin. When I am doing trick training with my mare, and she totally nails the trick we are doing I like to give her an extra good treat when we are done our session so that is usually when she earns her Stud Muffin. I usually only get an 8-pack, for $7.99 CAD.
Martin Mills Special Moments horse treats like Apple Snacks are one of my standard treats. They are a small flat peanut shape and come in Maple, Apple, Orange and Peppermint flavour. The ingredients aren’t amazing but they also aren’t terrible. At such a bargain of $8.99 CAD for a 1 kg bag, who can complain?. These are a treat I tend to be very generous with because each piece is so small. That being said, they are my preference for feeding pills. I know above I show how I use the Apple Snacks for pills but truthfully Special Moments treat are a much better choice. Because of their small flat shape, the pill sits so nicely on top she eats it without even noticing a texture difference, or it slipping between my fingers. I would have shown a picture but as you can tell by that deflated bag, I was fresh out!
Crunchits
These treats I got from William Hunter Equestrian (UK company) through their Amazon page. They were $6.00 CAD with $4.90 CAD shipping, so really reasonable for a high quality treat especially coming all the way from England. William Hunter Equestrian is a really great company and has awesome customer service, and despite being overseas from Canada they really try and accommodate.
These treats are really unique. One Crunchit bag has several flavours of cookies: banana, strawberry, beetroot, spinach, parnsip and carrot. They are also made with very minimal sugar so they are an awesome option for sugar sensitive horses. These treats are a little bit hit or miss depending on the flavour. Strawberry is always a hit, but Parsnip for an example is a bit touch and go. I am not a huge fan of the shape, because I think my mare finds it almost overwhelming. She usually tries to almost bite them in half and spit out the other half the treat. I think because the shape is a bit harder to chew than a flat cookie or pellet.
Dogwood Bling
I love my Canadian businesses. These adorable little donuts I purchased through Two Dark Bays Shoppe. For other fun shapes and seasonal treats, you can find them at Dog Wood Bling. These treats are safe for dogs and horses and are apple cinnamon flavoured with a yogurt-based icing. I purchased these little donuts for $3.00 CAD each.
My horse really loved her little donuts and I think treats like this are definitely for special occasions. Her little wreath (part of the limited edition Christmas donuts pack) was her Christmas present 🙂 I think homemade, treats are really nice to do to switch it up sometimes, and it is awesome to support businesses at the same time. If you are interested in getting your own donut treats for your pup or pony, go to Two Dark Bays Shoppe and use code EQEV for 10% off your order.
Final Thoughts
I am a horse treat hoarder, I have accepted this. I think it is really important to love your horse and to treat them to things they like. We tend to ask so much of them, I think the least we can do is give them a out of the ordinary snack. I definitely have my favorites in that list, but my horse also loves sugar. I have met horses that dislike anything sweet and prefer more ‘savory’ treats like bread or unripe fruit. Your horse has their own preference, just like people. Play around with some of these unique treats and fun flavors and see what their favorite is. If you think of a cool treat you want me to try, comment below!
Always get back on,
Love Tess
*The opinions shared in this blog are of my own, and not a reflection of the company or its current and future products
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