Treats

[StrawberryFish]

Just thought I would ask - as people have very different things that they treat their horse with (food wise)

I personally am very naughty - my old boy used to LOVE kitkats and Haribo Tangfastics

and my current horsey got whatever I was eating and used to like Tuna Sandwiches...
:runs away and hides before she gets shouted at:

So what do you give your horsey??

 

[slimdizzy]

the usual apple carrot neep and treacle sarnies

 

[mollymurphy]

We used to give ours treats (sweets, mints, crisps, etc), but they got bad mannered and started nipping and barging, so we stopped. We still gave them apples/carrots/bread etc in their feeds, but now we're lami-paranoid and all forms of food (apart from handful of Happy Hoof, hay, grazing) are illegal!!! Big fatties!

Lou. x

 

[Chex]

Chex generally gets a bit of whatever I'm eating if he's there, but I wouldn't go and buy him his own packet of crisps or loaf of bread! He eats anything. I don't really give proper treats that often. He gets carrots in his tea though

 

[Dotilas]

My boys eat all fruits, except citrus fruits. Any old mints, Likits, Stud Muffins.. (think they were what you're thinking of??), Seeds and raisins/sultanas, Nuts, lots of Veg.... Occasionally chocolate, but not very often. My TBs favourite treat is Malted Milk biscuits... My cob loves bananas in their skin still

 

[riotgirl]

Mine gets the usual fruit and veg in her feed bucket. I have to be very careful not to feed her treats etc by hand as she had a horrible nipping habit when I first got her and it can rear it;s head again if I start to give her treats.

 

[RachelB]

Mine gets carrot, swede or apple in her food (only small amounts of apples and carrots though as they're too sugary IMO). For hand-fed treats she usually gets sugar-free polos, Hilton Herballs, those Spillers apple flavour treats, the occasional apple/carrot/swede, no bread/crisps/sweets. I pick blackberries on the way up from the field, and things like hawthorn twigs and things I know she likes, and I let her pick at things sometimes (not on the side of the road though, when we're on our field track). My random is that she loves those "elevenses" breakfast bars, but she only gets a teeny bit once in a blue moon! Or other cereal bars.
I try not to give anything other than the occasional polo or special horse treat though.

 

[kayleigh_and_rocky]

Rock doesnt tend to get treats as he gets nippy but on the odd occasion he does get them (after hes performed well at a competition or behaved for the vet/farrier etc) he gets the usual carrots. apples and polos and occasionally he gets a swede put in his stable for him

 

[pottamus]

I give my boy two extra strong mints after each ride and if we do a pleasure ride event he shares my hot cross buns!

 

[StrawberryFish]

lol
it's dead interesting what some horses like!

I'll always remember buying loads of kitkats and haribo for my old boy and putting them in a tuppawear box. I gave him a little treat one day and left the box open (by accident) - went out of the stable, came back in to find it all gone - the kitkats were still in their wrappers

I never kept them like that again.
I was sooo scared I'd killed him - thankfully it all passed through ok.
I look back fondly now, but at the time I couldn't stop thinking about what I would do if he died and I had to tell my mum and the vet what I had done!!
A lesson well learned!!

 

[Twinkle Twinkle]

My boy gets swedes carrots and apple at night he gets hilton herbals when he is being lunged if he is good sometimes has sugar free polo`s no crisps or chocolate got to watch his waistline.

 

[RunToEarth]

Only thing mine get are apples and carrots, the odd mints. My fields are full of grass, I dont have the time to graze them on sidewalks or pick grass for them, good lord im pushed for time as it is, and my horses never have sweets/choc of any description, I have all on to persuade oshk to eat apples!

 

[Dotilas]

Ah, but my TB doesn't like some apples either! He will point blank refuse to eat them, and much prefers carrots!

 

[catembi]

Catembi helped himself to a tube of strong mints once & ate the whole thing with the wrapper on!!!! I too was v worried in case I'd killed him, but nothing came of it.

I put 'no' to chocolate as I think the horse can test +ve after it as it's a controlled substance?? Something to do with cocoa being a stimulant?? In actual RL I must confess that I did let Cat have the odd bit of choc if he asked nicely.

 

[JessPickle]

occasionaly if pickle is lucky he may get some tescos cheap mints, but thats pretty rare!

Apart from that he gets carrots in his feed every day (yard has HUGE deleieveries of carrots that the shops wont sell strange shapes etc!)

Then he has had bread before but not on purpose, and someone gave him a dried prune once! apart from that ntohing mainl because food is kept in plastic bags which are SCARY to pickle!

 

[spaniel]

Absolutely NO hand treats for any of my horses. They do get the odd pear or carrot but its always in the food bowl.

I cant believe people feed crisps and chocolate to their animals!

 

[LauraBR]

Mine gets those herbal treats (pasture sticks or similar) or carrots/apples for his stretches every day and that is it 'treat' wise. I'm quite strict about it actually.

He gets carrots and apples in his feed, I'll give him a snack ball with carrots etc in if he is stuck in during the day and I'll occassionaly string up a swede for him and thats it.

I CERTAINLY don't let him graze when I'm leading him day to day.

 

[spaniel]

I must admit I do now let Tom pick when he is on his way in from the field. He is old now and its quality time between us. He strips the new shoots off the bramble bush every day and I figure he is self medicating so its not like he is stuffing grass. I certainly wouldnt allow this with anything else.

 

[tabithakat64]

My old pony used to like kitkats, yellow jelly babies and rasberry jam sandwiches.
Lady like cola flavour ice pops, icecream, chocolate, apple pie, biscuits, cake, hot cross buns, sandwiches actually pretty much anything i'm eating, although I don't give her treats often.
Fudge likes pick and mix and biscuitsagain he doesn't get them often either.
They both have carrots and apples in their feeds

 

[MagicMelon]

I buy a big bag of regular cubes (like spillers high fibre cubes etc.) - I put it in a big tub and just grab a handful whenever I want to give them something. A bag lasts me AGES!! Way cheaper than buying Meadow Treats like I used to!

Otherwise they get fruit and veg, although are pretty picky.

 

[bamboozle]

mine will get somesort of treat, only since i got given a 2bags them at christmas - dont know what theyre called though and doubt i'll buy them myself. think theyre meadow herb treats or something. he gets one when i catch him, (because hes very clever, and is a quick learner, so didnt take him long to walk upto me straight away when im catching him!yes im lazy!) and one when i let him out - purely to keep him sweet! i like it when horses hang around you when you let them out. and not turn around and p*iss off!! but hes not remotely nibbly, and knows not to be because i cant bear horses that pester you for sweets. if he started to get nibbly, id stop straight away - i hate rude horses!!!he doesnt know about apples, and will happily smell it and not be remotely interested in it - unless its cut up. carrots, hes a little more interested in, because he gets them in his feed.

 

[Christmas_Kate]

I swore I wouldnt fed the shettie treats, as he was quite a bad nipper when he arrived.
But now I only have to stand at the top of the field and shout "sweeties" and he comes galloping and snorting for his polos.
Anyway, I'mn trying to wean him off of them onto special herbal treats, and use them as part of his training.

Other than that he gets an apple every few days, and carrots daily. Swedes in his stable in the winter.

 

[Evadiva1514]

I don't give my horses any hand treats, and they only get the occasional apple or carrot in their feeds. Wouldn't dare feed mine any sweets or anything like that!!

 

[Butterbean]

Carrots & polos are the main treats, the odd apple/pear as well if we have some going off at home.
Merlin will try to eat whatever I'm eating eg if at a show or eating after a farm ride I have to be careful to keep an eye on where he is or he'll pinch my sandwich from over my shoulder.
The other horses won't eat anything unusual, certainly no crisps or choc!

 

[_Jazz_]

In the Winter Jazz has lots of carrots, a few parsnips, an apple and a swede every day( We can buy a sack of parsnips and swedes for £1

) In the Summer she has the odd carrot and apple, usually after a ride. She always has 1 Polo or Xtra Strong mint at bedtime

I don't like her to graze to and from pastures but I do graze her in hand in the Winter, she does have turnout but hey the grass is always greener and all that

I don't feed her chocolate(THATS MINE !!!), crisps, sweets or bread. Like alot of animals she is attracted to tobacco

I've heard it is a 'natural' wormer

 

[htobago]

My stallion only gets carrots and apples, but that's because he's some sort of health-freak and won't eat polos, sweets, chocolate, etc.

He only rarely gets hand-fed treats, and never 'asks' for them.

He's the least food-motivated horse I have ever met - he craves affection and attention, not food or treats, and will always happily abandon his feed to come to the door for a chat or a kiss.

If you offer him a carrot or apple he will take it politely, but he would really rather have a cuddle. My mother fed him a small apple the other day, but when she offered him another one, he said no and asked for a kiss instead - ignoring the apple and nuzzling her face.

 

[Enfys]

I don't do treats, or fruit, or vegetables because my horses simply don't know how to eat from your hand, they have no idea.........it just doesn't seem to be done here. None of mine will touch carrots or apples either, anything like that is left in the feedbowl.

Actually, it's great because there is never any mugging for treats, quite refreshing after running the gauntlet for years in fields full of treat orientated horses (mine included)

 

[druid]

Mints, apples, pears, bananas, kiwifruits, carrots and the ocassional slice of stale bread or toast she nicks! *But* only mum gives her treats by hand...it's the only time she spends with her and horsey seems to know she has to have manners.

 

[HorseyGirlie]

Mince Pie and Christmas, can of stout in tea at New Year and a Cream Egg at Easter, oh and a handful of crisps and whatever else he can sneak when we go to the pub!

A friend and her horse recently introduced us to the new After Eight individually wrapped ones.... our boys have expensive tastes!!

 

[Bright_Spark]

Mine get occasional treats when they have been good- normally horse ones.

Gypsy, Septre and Jehtro will eat pretty much anything, especially Gypsy. Amber is quite fussy and the only treats she really likes are the spillers herbal ones. She will eat carrots and apples in her feed and I have recently found out she likes bananas.

Suzzie doesnt like to take treats from your hand, although she is getting better now. I had to catch her using carrots at first, although would invaribly end up with a following of shetlands LOL.