7 Easy DIY Horse Treats You Can Make at Home!

There’s nothing quite like that deep knicker of excitement from your horse right before a tasty treat. He’s excited… you’re excited… and one knicker can turn into a chorus of excitement once the other horses figure out what’s happening.

So, what if you could feed your horse healthy homemade treats every single day?  When you make horse cookies, treats, and licks at home, you know exactly what ingredients are going into your horse.  Plus, you can customize the treats to match exactly what your horse likes!

Here are 7 easy DIY horse treats you can try right away.  We can’t take credit for creating these recipes, but we’re happy to stick them in one easy-to-use article. 

Easy Jet No Bake Horse Cookies

Ingredients:
½ cup peanut butter or sun butter (for peanut allergies)
¾ cup powdered sugar
¾ cup milk
1 cup old fashioned uncooked oats or quick oats
¾ cup unsweetened granola or puffed wheat
¼ apple chips (crunched into small pieces)

Directions:

• Measure your ingredients into a large bowl.
• Combine peanut butter, sugar and milk.
• Mix well.
• Stir in oats and remaining ingredients.
• Drop rounded teaspoon-sized dollops onto wax paper.
• Let stand until firm.

Recipe from the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame and Museum

The Ultimate Horse Cookie Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 apple
• 1 carrot
• 1/2 cup honey (or molasses)
• 2 cups oats
• 1/2-3/4 cup flour (or make oat flour by throwing some oats into a blender/food processor)
• 1 tablespoon of coconut oil or vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon water (optional)

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 300-325 degrees
• Grate the carrot and finely chop the apple
• Mix together all of the ingredients.
• NOTE: Keep in mind, depending on variations such as the size/type of apple, what kind of oats you use, whether you use honey or molasses, etc. you may need to tweak the amounts of the ingredients. You should be able to squeeze a ball of dough in your hand without it falling apart.
• Roll and press into balls with your hands and place them on a greased baking sheet. NOTE: If the dough is too sticky add more flour and/or water
• Bake for about 28-32 minutes on the middle rack. Check on them often, until golden brown
• Cool and store in a sealed container and use within one week. They’ll stay the freshest stored in the refrigerator.

Recipe from Tanya Davenport

Layered Horse Popsicle Recipe

Ingredients:

• Pick out your horse’s favorite fruits and veggies (pears, carrots, apples, strawberries)
• Ice
• Water

Directions:

• Cut your ingredients into large slices.
• Put a layer of fruits and veggies on the bottom of a freezer container.
• Add a layer of ice.
• Repeat the layering of ice/fruit until the whole container is full.  (Using layers prevents the fruit from floating up and getting frozen at one end.  It also makes it freeze faster.)
• Freeze until solid.
• Dump the frozen popsicle out for your horse to enjoy!

Recipe from Insightful Equine

Earth Muffins

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup Bob’s Red Mill ground flax seed
• 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 of sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 cup frozen blackberries

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 375°F.
• Soak ground flaxseed in warm water for 10 minutes until it turns into a gelatinous consistency.
• In a mixing bowl, combine water-and-flax mixture with sugar.
• Stir in oat flour, oatmeal, salt, and cinnamon until well-combined.
• Pour batter into a greased mini-muffin pan.
• Firmly press one berry thick side down into each muffin.
• Bake for 18-20 minutes.

Recipe from Michelle N. Anderson of The Horse Magazine

Blended Horse Popsicle Recipe

Ingredients:

• Kale, kiwi, apples and sea salt (to help replenish your horse’s electrolytes)
• Water

Directions:

• Toss all of your fruits and veggies into a blender with 2 cups of water.
• Blend until smooth.
• Add enough water to fill your container.
• Blend again until evenly combined.
• Pour into a freezer safe container and freeze solid. (Hint: Add a piece of twine or rope to the mixture before freezing so you can hang your popsicle.)
• Dump out for your horse to enjoy!

Recipe from Insightful Equine

Homemade Oatmeal Horse Treats

Ingredients: 

• 1 large apple
• 1 large carrot
• 1 cup molasses (or honey)
• 2 1/2 cups old fashioned oats
• 2 tablespoons oil

Directions: 

• Shred the apple and the carrot into a large bowl.
• Add in the oil, oats, and molasses. Stir to combine well so that all the oats are covered in the molasses.
• Pour the mixture into a greased 9×13 baking dish.
• Pat the treats down with a spoon or with your fingers so they are flattened into the pan.
• Bake at 400 degrees for about 40 minutes until they begin to get crispy.
• Remove the treats from the oven and let them cool for a while.
• The treats will harden slightly as they cool. Once they are hardened you can score into pieces.

Recipe from LittleHouseLiving.com

Vanilla Sugar Horse Lick

Ingredients: 

• Granulated sugar
• Vanilla extract
• Whole grains
• Corn syrup
• Butter
• Salt
• Baking soda
• Water

Directions: 

• Combine the sugar, salt, syrup and water in a pan, stirring them until the mixture boils.
• Let the mixture boil for a few minutes.
• Add the remaining ingredients.
• Pour the hot mixture into a greased bundt pan and let it cool
• Remove the treat form the pan, tie a string through the center hold and hang in your horse’s stall.

Recipe from PetDIYs.com

Check them out and let us know which ones your horses like best!