I’d like to think I’m not the only one who thinks decent horse treats can get pricey and I definitely hope I’m not the only one who’d like to know what my horse is eating is good for them.
What are some good horse treat recipes? Just some easy ones that don’t require dozens of ingredients and are cost effective.
When I had a gelding with HYPP he couldn’t eat molasses, so I used to mix up plain oatmeal, Karo syrup, and just a little bit of flour and water, plop it onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper just like drop cookies, and baked it until firm.
Oatmeal, apple sauce, shredded carrots, a few squirts of peppermint extract. Roll them into small bite size balls and bake them @350 till not sticky.
Otherwise just make butter mints. or use cereal as a treat. My pony thinks rice crispy treats and fruit loops are the bomb.
I make horse cookie out of oat flour, steel cut oats, bran, ground flax, blackstrap molasses, corn oil and cracked corn. I mix all the dry ingredients, minus the oat flour, then add the molasses and oil (like 1/3 cup). Once that’s mixed it should be sticky but not wet, I add some oat flour and bake at 320 for about 13 minutes. Once they come out, I put some kind of treat on top like a mint or a sugar cube, and allow to cool. I bake them in mini muffin tins. They definitely aren’t sugar-free, but my horse loves paddock cakes and we can’t get them in Canada.
As for a recipe, I just throw the ingredients in, with the cracked corn and steel cut oats being slightly less than the bran and flax. I add the molasses until it’s sticky but not clumpy wet, if that makes sense. Then when I add the flour, it helps hold them together.
I rarely bake for myself, so probably not going to do it for the horses. 
While I applaud your willingness, my Herd of 3 goes gaga for Dollar Tree gingersnaps,
Also big fans of dry pasta - any shape.
Neither requires any effort, both are cheap as heck & do not go bad left in the barn.
Hahaha, while I may have made myself out to be miss sueby baker, they are a bit@h to clean up after baking! That crap sticks to everything! You have to soak the dish you use because it sticks like cement on the sides, the counter, the stove, the tins… and everything within a 4’ radius.
I always start out humming and end up mumbling words that shouldn’t be used in public. When I feed them I always reinforce how lucky he is to be getting ONE because they’re precious and I’m never baking them again :yes:.
@Sueby That is why God invented Dollar Stores.
Get yourself a cheap mixing bowl & some disposable pans.
Don’t kill yourself scrubbing, if they don’t come clean toss 'em!
And spray the crap out of the pans you use with Dollar Store cooking spray aerosol.
Or use Dollar Store foil or parchment to line things.
I am all about non-stress baking & cooking in general.
No guilty conscience for tossing a $1 pan or bowl.
I love these ideas!
My 17 yo mare apparently didnt get treats before me. She was very skeptical at first and will now do ANYTHING for a bit of carrot. I use Omega Nibblers, since she has heaves and omega oils are good for her, and Probios treats, which have probiotics since she was on antibiotics forever for a lung infection associated with the heaves.
Other than that she gets LOTS of baby carrots, and I love making horse popsicles for her. She gets such a kick out of them 
I make my horse molasses-raisin treats and he absolutely loves them! The recipe can be found here: https://rachelalexandrablog.wordpress.com/category/pet-treats/equine/
I use a lot of treats for clicker training and have settled on a particular locally-milled extruded feed that is relatively low NSC and comes in the right chunk size to use as a treat.
To me it tastes like dust and cardboard (alfalfa meal and soy hulls), but maresy will do anything almost for one.
Once my sister (who is a good cook) made me a tin of molasses horse cookies that were double baked, like biscotti. They kept forever, and they were “high value” treats, that I brought out when I wanted maresy to try especially hard.
I too have also used bulk gingersnaps and bulk hard white mints as treats.
1 cup oats instant
1 cup flour
1 to 2 cups shredded carrots
1/4 cup molasses
1/3 cup water
1/3 cup Flaxseed
Bake 350’ 6 - 8 minutes
Freeze it keep refrigerated because they don’t keep long.
My gelding will literally wrap me up in his neck pinning me to his side to get these treats. He’s not mean about about it, he’s more like an excited puppy dog LOL I had leased a horse who didn’t like chewy treats, but he’s the only one who hasn’t liked these so far.
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