Do You Feed Your Horses Treats?

Yes, typically hay cobs because they are really just squashed hay. I give them after work or if I have asked her to do something she is not keen on e.g. having suncream put on. My mare is quite a tense girl, so treats were invaluable when I first got her for helping her to realise I was a nice person.
 
EKW said:
I'm not condemning anyone for giving treats btw! Most people seem to give them quite sensibly as a reward.

I'm just wondering if having a 20kg bag of treats at your disposal would make you give more as there is a never ending supply! Treat for the sake of treating.
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I think people that give tons of treats regardless would probably continue to do so. If I had a 20kg bag I'd still treat the same (I buy a 20kg bag of high fibre nuts and sometimes put them out in treat balls as a little extra for the girls but the bag lasts for ages).

I got on my pony one day bareback and I was barely on when she took off bunny hopping across the concrete yard and we ended up going right round the stable block before I came off. I was fizzing when I later found out that a liveries partner had fed her handfuls of sugar cubes. She had been told to stop so obviously she was doing it on the sly. A bag may make people like these treat more.
 
Yes, daily. I'm not about to stop either, it works for us!

I do use either Simple systems or Thunderbrooks treats so they are not full of junk or fillers.

I have a sign on his door firmly but politely stopping over people from giving him treats though!
 
EKW said:
I'm not condemning anyone for giving treats btw! Most people seem to give them quite sensibly as a reward.

I'm just wondering if having a 20kg bag of treats at your disposal would make you give more as there is a never ending supply! Treat for the sake of treating.
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Nope :) not for me, anyway. I bought one of those sacks and divided it up into containers, so the unopened ones will stay fresh. I just have a single container on the go like normal.

I do treat, at specified times - turning out, they always have one when they turn round and I take the headcollars off, so they stand nicely and don't just bog off. Catching in, they know there's something in my pocket so come over to be caught. When loading, after they're tied up and the partition is shut. That kind of thing. Now and then if they've been really good. The oldies get a handful when I check them, means they come to the gate so I can watch them walking or trotting down the field and see they are sound :)
 
I usually buy a 5kg treat tub from the local feed shop and use as needed. My youngster gets two treats when I catch her as she's on 20 acres with 11 others so if she decides to run off I've got no chance. She gets a treat if we're introducing something new and two treats when she goes back out as it encourages her to stand nicely by the gate while I take her headcollar off before going bombing up the fields.

There's a woman at the yard who literally feeds sugary treats by the handful every day, then wonders why her horse is always walking over her and very fizzy.
 
Yep - equibites as these are multi vitamin treats so she has daily. I also use to help train and reward. Works a treat (dreadful pun I know).
 
It depends on the horse. Trapper didn't get loads as he became a bit of a thug if he had too many! On the other hand, Chilli pretty much gets a slow stream of treats from me. But she has never once begged a treat from me *touch wood*. The worst she'll do is prick her ears and make big puppy eyes, and when she takes them she is so gentle. Any apple is taken in tiny mouthfuls and takes about 7-10 bites on average! Just one of the reasons I love her so much...
 
Yes, I give treats to my gelding all the time, mostly because I use some clicker training and he's well trained not to mug. I buy 20kg bags of unmolassed hay cubes, so they last for a long time and are basically just hay. If I want to give a special treat, he gets apples, carrots or bananas. :D
 
I feed mine "healthier treats" now and again especially in winter just to break up her diet, add texture etc and you can almost see her say "thanks for boring stuff!"
If I know we're doing something she doesn't like, like being wormed I'll buy high value treats such as mints. She doesn't get them often so it really is "well done for not killing me, yourself or the stable!"
 
A big bag wouldnt make me treat more either, as in dish them out like sweets. I have previously done a lot of clicker training and bought a big sack of hay or high fibre cubes to use as it works out much cheaper that way. I havent done any clicker training for ages and really should as its such a good training technique.

My current pony is amazingly hard working and tries his heart out for me and now I've stepped the work up with him he gets something as a reward afterwards usually.
 
I never used to with my retired horse because he was (is) a pushy little ****** and I didnt enjoy his attitude around them :D

New horse is super polite and gentle so he generally gets a carrot or two after a ride as I'm hosing down and I give him some for getting into the horse trailer too - he is far less nervous of it than he used to be but I like to reward him for going in anyway.
 
I often have a packet of polos, and catch a few with a bit of a carrot. I don't let the children treat any pony though. I never treat by hand those who have been known to be a bit nippy - I like the polite ones!
 
No, we never feed anything by hand. I don't hang hay nets while tied for grooming, tacking up, etc. either. They have to learn to stand quiet and switch off, so all are tied up for at least 30mins every day. A "good boy/girl" and a pat is enough of a reward.

None of mine will even take a polo or whatever, although I have stuffed the odd medication in a carrot or apple. My VERY treat-prone friend is outraged when she tries to give my lot mints, etc. Hers, on the other hand, will mow you down and get aggressive if not flung all kinds of pacifying offerings.
 
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I give my five year old a treat for good work or compliance only. I was not going to use treats but the training is going a lot better since I capitulated and he doesn't get nasty.
 
I do give treats when vet wants to do something I know they won't like, jabs, taking blood etc
I also have one on a low dose of Metformin and I wasn't going to wrestle him into taking it,
he takes the Metformin from my hand and he gets a herbal treat after, no fuss, no wrestling just a bit of bribery and corruption
 
Mine gets some of the herb treats that come in a tub when he is caught as he's not good at being caught.

He has some of his pasture cubes from his tea in his treat ball at night

He has apples and carrots and sometimes a pear in his evening and breakfast feeds his prascend goes in the apple. He is a bit funny about taking fruit from your hand and often won't probably because he's Welsh and thinks you're poisoning him.

He also gets lickits every so often e.g. if he's in early as the weather is bad but only the little ones not the big ones.

Never had a problem with him biting and don't think bigger bags would make me treat more.

He isn't allowed Swede as it seems to make him more neurotic and weird than normal!
 
Depends on the horse. mr B usually gets a treat when he stands nicely to have his head collar off when he's turned out and I normally give him a treat when I've ridden. he doesn't mug for treats and is very polite. I also use carrots for stretches. Mr Fatty doesn't get treats as he's a little thug, however I do drop a treat into his muzzle before putting it on so that he accepts it more easily. I've never used treats to catch horses and ponies as it doesn't really work when there is loads of grass,i'd rather make them work until they prefer to be caught.
 
EKW said:
Do you feed Your Horses Treats on a regular basis? The local feed store has just got in the 20kg bags of Equerry treats. Sure this is encouraging over feeding of treats?!?

Mine very rarely get treats. Usually whatever carrots are left in the fridge! And in winter I buy the big nets and chuck them a few on the floor. But rarely do I give them treats of any description!
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Yes I do mare is gentle boy try's to grab but I keep fingers clenched and bob his nose and say gently till he does.
 
Not really unless we've done something that the particular horse finds very frightening - e.g. TB is prone to buttercup burn on white sock so doesn't like that leg being touched, so if he lets us handle it without throwing a fit he'll get a little of something. Shetland gets prascend in a 'treat' though but not sure if this counts. They sometimes get carrots or apples in feed but again, does this count?
 
Never! Well not specific horsey treats, he'll get any carrots or apples that are past their best ;) I rarely hand feed them, they go in his feed.
 
Yep, both the hay replacer fibre nuggets and some similar looking nuts with mint in that come in big bags ( may be Equerry - can’t remember). My boy had one or two difficult behaviours as a young horse and treats helped to quickly overcome these. He is very clever and knows when it is time for a treat (as we nowadays stick to a routine - stretches, over the gate at turnout etc) and when there is no point in looking for one. I was lucky years ago to be given a large round drum with a good tough tight fitting lid so am able to tip the bags into this, and use From there with no rodent worries. He also has them in a football which he has always loved playing with.
 
I occasionally treat, but I tend to give them either apples or bread, so I wouldn't be tempted by a giant 20kg bag. That said, I might go a little over the top if I did buy one, so it's better for them all that I don't :D

Cortez said:
I don't hang hay nets while tied for grooming, tacking up, etc. either. They have to learn to stand quiet and switch off, so all are tied up for at least 30mins every day. A "good boy/girl" and a pat is enough of a reward.
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Despite my stance on treats, however, I also think this is important. Mary has been tied up every day since being brought back into work, and she's expected to stand there nicely whilst Six eats his dinner on the other side of the fence. Luckily, she thinks a good groom and someone fussing around with her mane, tail, and feather are great treats in and of themselves, so she now comes trotting up with Six to be tied up and pampered each day.
 
Yes but at set times, turnout & bring in and then after a ride. She has never mugged me for a treat. I give her thunderbrooks cob nuts or herbal treats. She might get the occasional polo if a friend is giving one to theirs but I don’t buy them. I normally use carrots for stretches. If I had a nippy horse I’d feed treats on the floor so they didn’t feel need to search hands or pocket
 
I use hi fibre nuggets and they get a treat before and after being worked. Diva also gets one at the moment after she has her Inhaler as a reward for being a good girl. Of course, Polly gets one too, so she thinks it’s fantastic when the Divas inhaler appears...!
 
I use them as rewards - for stretches, doing something frightening or for a good session in the school. I do usually treat with sticks of carrots, apples, celery etc and now he will be in overnight he will get the occasional swede on a rope to keep him interested.

I don't carry treats as a rule now. I bought a tub of Baileys a while back after being encouraged by others that treats would be a good option to get him through things he doesn't like, and I slipped into giving him treats or carrying a couple in my pocket. My fault but it turns out these make him nippy & muggy which I hate, and I don't want him behaving like that around my young nieces who want to come and help groom but would be easily scared.

It's taken a couple of months, but I am no longer searched for treats and he knows he gets something nice for behaving well when asked, and sometimes that's just a 'good boy' and a scratch.
 
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