How to Make Horse Treats

Horses enjoy the occasional treat or special feed. There are a wide variety of options that are easy to make at home, and your horse will love. Oatmeal cookies, crunchy snacks, grass salads, and fruit-based treats are a few of the possibilities. Keep the treats healthy and don’t overfeed your horse.

Ingredients

Baked Horse Treats

Carrot and Apple Cakes

  • One carrot
  • One apple
  • A cup of molasses
  • Two and a half cups oats
  • Vegetable oil

Crunchy Oatmeal Snacks

  • One cup dry oatmeal
  • One cup flour
  • One cup chopped carrots
  • Sugar
  • Salt
  • Vegetable Oil
  • Molasses

Oat Bars

  • 1/3 cup oats
  • 1/3 cup sweet food
  • 1/3 cup molasses
  • 1/3 cup flour

Cob Cookies

  • 8 cups dry cob feed (mix of oats, barley, and corn)
  • 3 cups ground carrots
  • 1/2 cup corn oil
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 cup molasses

Raisin Treats

  • 1 cup flour
  • 3/4 cup beer
  • 2 cups molasses
  • 1 pound grain
  • 1/2 cup raisins

Marionberry Horse Muffins

  • 1/4 cup Bob’s Red Mill ground flaxseed
  • 3/4 cup warm water
  • 1/2 cup organic sugar
  • 2 cups Bob’s Red Mill oat flour
  • 2 cups Bob’s Red Mill oatmeal
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 cup frozen Oregon marionberries

No-bake Horse Treats

Peppermint Cookies

  • 1 cup of rolled oats
  • 1/4 cup of water
  • 1-2 tbsp of molasses
  • 5 peppermints

Banana-glazed Apple

  • An apple
  • A banana
  • A handful of ice cubes

Frozen Grape Pops

  • Carrots
  • Bunch of seedless grapes

Grass Salad

  • 5 chopped dandy lion plants (when they are in bloom, and excluding any roots)
  • 2 handfuls of chopped young bunchgrass/thick blade grass
  • 2 handfuls of young wheatgrass
  • 4 cups of young pink clover (when in bloom)
  • Handful of chopped parsley
  • 2 washed and chopped up spinach plants

Fruit Salad

  • 2 pears
  • 1 apple
  • 4 carrots
  • 1/4 watermelon
  • 1 plum
  • 1 spoonful cod liver oil
  • Vitamins (optional)

Method 1
Method 1 of 2:
Baking Horse Treats

Carrot and Apple Cakes

  1. 1
    Gather together one carrot, an apple, a cup of molasses, two and a half cups of oats, and some vegetable oil.
  2. 2
    Grate up the apple and the carrot, and then mix them in with all the other ingredients.
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  3. 3
    Place the mixture onto a shallow baking tray, and then place the tray in a pre-heated oven at 300 degrees Fahrenheit.
  4. 4
    Bake it for around 40 minutes, or until they look golden brown.
  5. Image titled Make Horse Treats Step 1
    5
    Remove the tray from the oven and allow the mixture to cool for four hours in the fridge before you cut out the cakes.[1]
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Crunchy Oatmeal Snacks

  1. 1
    Gather a cup of dry oatmeal, a cup of flour, and a cup of chopped carrots. You will also need some sugar, salt, vegetable oil and molasses.
  2. 2
    Chop up carrots into small pieces, and mix in the oatmeal and flour.
  3. 3
    Add a teaspoon of salt and one of sugar and mix it some more.
  4. 4
    Stir in two teaspoons of vegetable oil, before pouring in a quarter cup of molasses.
  5. 5
    Stir the mixture thoroughly until everything is sticking together.
  6. 6
    Use your hands to form the mixture into small balls and place them on a greased baking tray.
  7. 7
    Put the balls into a pre-heated oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit, and bake for around 15 minutes, or until golden brown.[2]
  8. Image titled Make Horse Treats Step 2
    8
    Ensure they have completed cooled before feeding them to your horse.
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Oat Bars

  1. 1
    Gather a third of a cup of sweet feed, a third of a cup of molasses, and a third of a cup of flour.
  2. 2
    Mix all of these ingredients in a large bowl, starting with the oats and adding them one at a time.
  3. 3
    Mold it into a series of bars when the mixture is thick and sticky.
    • You can wrap each bar in tin foil, or use a cookie cutter or mold if you have one.
  4. 4
    Put the bars onto a greased tray and place them in a pre-heated oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
  5. Image titled Make Horse Treats Step 3
    5
    Bake the bars for around 22 minutes, before removing them and allowing them to cool in the fridge or freezer.[3]
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Cob Cookies

  1. 1
    Gather 8 cups cob feed (a mix of oats, corn, and barley), three cups of ground carrots, half a cup of corn oil, two cups of flour and two cups of molasses.
  2. 2
    Mix them together well, in a large bowl.
  3. 3
    Leave the mixture to stand for an hour to enable the grain to absorb more of the moisture, and then stir it up again.
  4. 4
    Scoop out teaspoon sized amounts and place them onto an oiled or greased baking tray.
  5. 5
    Bake them in a preheated oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit, for between 12 and 18 minutes.
  6. Image titled Make Horse Treats Step 4
    6
    Cool the cookies on a cooling tray and then store them in an airtight container.[4]
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Raisin Treats

  1. 1
    Gather one cup flour, 3/4 cup beer, 2 cups molasses, 1 pound grain, and 1/2 cup raisins.
  2. 2
    Mix the flour, beer, and molasses thoroughly and slowly add the grain.
  3. 3
    Add in the raisins, and then pour into a 12-by-15 inch pan and bake for 25 minutes in a 250°F oven.
  4. 4
    Allow 40 minutes to dry and firm.
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Marionberry Horse Muffins

  1. 1
    Gather 1/4 cup Bob’s Red Mill ground flaxseed, 3/4 cup warm water, 1/2 cup organic sugar, 2 cups Bob’s Red Mill oat flour, 2 cups Bob’s Red Mill oatmeal, 1 teaspoon sea salt, 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, and 1 cup frozen Oregon marionberries.
  2. 2
    Preheat the oven to 375°F.
  3. 3
    Soak the flaxseed in water for 10 minutes.
  4. 4
    Combine the flaxseed with sugar in a separate bowl, and stir in the oat flour, oatmeal, salt, and cinnamon until blended.
  5. 5
    Pour the batter into a greased mini-muffin pan, and allow to bake for 18-20 minutes.
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Method 2
Method 2 of 2:
No-bake Treats

Peppermint Cookies

  1. 1
    Gather a cup of rolled oats, a quarter cup of water, 1-2 tbsp of molasses, and five peppermints.
  2. 2
    Mix up the oats and the water.
  3. 3
    Stir it up together until the oats are all damp.
  4. 4
    Add the molasses gradually, stirring as you go, until the mixture is nice and sticky.
  5. 5
    Roll the mixture up into balls, and then press one peppermint onto each cookie.
  6. Image titled Make Horse Treats Step 5
    6
    Put the cookies in the fridge and wait for them to harden before treating your horse.[5]
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Banana-glazed Apple

  1. 1
    Gather an apple, a banana, and a handful of ice cubes.
  2. 2
    Peel and then slice the banana.
  3. 3
    Put the banana pieces into a blender with some ice cubes and blend it until the mixture becomes creamy.
  4. 4
    Cut off the top of the apple and carefully scoop out the middle.
  5. 5
    Spoon the creamy banana mixture into the hollowed-out apple.
  6. Image titled Make Horse Treats Step 6
    6
    Pour out any remaining banana mixture onto the sides of the apples.[6]
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Frozen Grape Pops

  1. 1
    Gather a few carrots and bunch of grapes.
  2. 2
    Slice the carrots into slim sticks.
  3. 3
    Push one carrot stick into each grape so the grape stays on the end of the carrot stick, a bit like a popsicle.
  4. 4
    Put the grapes in ice cube trays, so the carrots are sticking up, and put them in your freezer.[7]
  5. Image titled Make Horse Treats Step 7
    5
    Leave them in the freezer for a couple of hours so they go cold, but do not completely freeze.
    • Make sure the grapes are seedless, or you have removed all the seeds.
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Grass Salad

  1. 1
    Gather five chopped dandy lion plants (when they are in bloom, and excluding any roots).
  2. 2
    Combine this with two handfuls of chopped young bunch grass, or thick blade grass, and two handfuls of young wheatgrass.
  3. 3
    Add four cups of young pink clover (when in bloom), and a handful of chopped parsley.
  4. Image titled Make Horse Treats Step 8
    4
    Mix in two washed and chopped up spinach plants.
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Fruit Salad

  1. 1
    Gather two pears, an apple, four carrots, a quarter of a watermelon, and a plum. Cut all these ingredients up into small pieces and mix them together.
  2. Image titled Make Horse Treats Step 9
    2
    Add a spoonful of cod liver oil, and mix it in well.
    • This will make a big salad that you can share with more than one horse.
    • You can add extra vitamins and minerals to the salad if necessary.
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Warnings

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References

  1. ↑ http://www.aboutyourhorse.com/easy-make-horse-treat-recipes
  2. ↑ http://www.horsechannel.com/horse-exclusives/horse-treats-oatmeal-carrot-crunchies.aspx
  3. ↑ http://www.horsescapes.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=15107
  4. ↑ http://www.thinklikeahorse.org/index-17.html
  5. ↑ http://www.thehorse.com/articles/33084/horse-approved-homemade-treat-recipes
  6. ↑ http://www.aboutyourhorse.com/easy-make-horse-treat-recipes
  7. ↑ http://www.theequinest.com/treat-recipes/

About This Article

Pippa Elliott, MRCVS
Co-authored by:
Pippa Elliott, MRCVS
Veterinarian
This article was co-authored by Pippa Elliott, MRCVS. Dr. Elliott, BVMS, MRCVS is a veterinarian with over 30 years of experience in veterinary surgery and companion animal practice. She graduated from the University of Glasgow in 1987 with a degree in veterinary medicine and surgery. She has worked at the same animal clinic in her hometown for over 20 years. This article has been viewed 21,077 times.
15 votes - 94%
Co-authors: 27
Updated: May 25, 2021
Views: 21,077
Categories: Horse Feeding
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