Feeding horse treats in moderation is ok...though sometimes it's hard with this face! Photo by Colleen Peachey
‘Tis the season of giving, and when it comes to us ‘horse people’, we seem to be eternally gifting giant bags of treats and cookies to any horse in sight. When in doubt, a safe gift for everyone at the barn is a bag of horse treats. Because really, who doesn’t love to feed treats to their pony?
Personally, I know that I’ve fed my fair share of treats to my own horses. One of the crowd favorites of this season turned out to be a brand new variety of raspberry flavored treats for the senior horse, which is made by my feed company of choice. Ripley seems to be slightly addicted to those particular cookies!
I usually don’t overthink it when picking out horse treats at the feed store, but are there things that I should be taking into consideration? Are certain treats healthier than others? Should I have a preference between commercially produced, or gourmet homemade type treats? Read up on how you can incorporate different types of treats in your horse’s diet by checking out this article on ‘Healthy Horse Treats’ over on The Horse.
Also, check out the other headlines from This Week in Horse Health News Presented by Absorbine.
How to Muck Your Horse’s Stall Like a Pro: Do you have a certain way that you like to muck a stall? Maybe you have a certain routine that you stick to that is more efficient or helps to get a stall as clean as it can be. Check out this six step process to gather some tips on how to “speed clean” stalls without wasting bedding. [Equus Magazine]
Is Your Horse Happy in a Stall?: With the wintery weather upon us (well, some of us!), it is likely that some horses will be spending more of their time stabled. But are they really happy spending more time in their stall? Learn how you might be able to recognize some behaviors that could indicate that a horse is unhappy being kept in. [The Horse]
Supplementing the Supplemented Feed for Your Horse: How closely do you follow the feeding instructions on the label of your feed bags? While the recommended feeding rations on commercially fortified feeds may seem high, they represent the needed amount of vitamins and minerals that your horse needs. If you adjust down from the recommended ration, you’ll need to “supplement the supplement.” [EquiMed]
How to Become an Organized Horse Owner in 10 Days: With all of the day to day work to care for horses in work, it is easy to let the tack room become a little unorganized. Since the new year is about to start, read up on tips to help get yourself to being an organized horse owner in just 10 days. [The Horse]
