I currently have a 6 year old thoroughbred, working 3-4 days a week. Nothing extremely hard, but in moderate work. I am looking for treats or treat recipes and post workout “recipes” to give him. I can’t seem to find many elsewhere. I only am looking because I want to find something beneficial rather than sugary snacks. The post workout stuff would be to help him slightly “recover” and just to offer him a little extra on harder days.
Thanks in advance
The horse should have the same food every day, because otherwise you disrupt the gut flora.
One thing you can do is give electrolytes in water if the horse is sweating a lot.
I do clicker training and can go through a couple cups of treats in one session. I use a basic lower NSC kibbled horse feed, that isn’t part of my regular feed plan.
I had a horse who LOVED his orange Tang after work… You could use gatoraid I guess but that has lots of sugar.
If you want to add electrolytes, add typical electrolytes without sugar to his feed. Or try low sugar Gatoraid (which I drink all the time). I add electrolytes every day to my horse’s feed.
For a nice snack, try carrots in carrot stretches. My horse gets this as a reward after work and he totally drops because he knows it’s a reward and then licks my hands profusely afterwards. If I move my hands, he “lips” them back. For whatever reason, this is a very relaxing moment for him and I let him take his time licking my hands. I pet his face and forelock, too. I often hand graze him even for 10 minutes after a ride, because the grass around the arena is better that the grass in his pasture at this time of year. And, I know where the clover patches are.
In the summer, he has a mild fly allergy and I break out the human back scratcher after the ride. He loooooooooooves it. I realized recently that he loves hard grooming so much (scratching of his butt and shoulders) that I wore the teeth off his Epona flower shedder. It’s totally smooth!!! His new one came today and what a difference.
Bottom line, find what your horse considers a real reward and likes!
You could also consider, if he likes carrots, grating them into a bit of feed feed as a healthy snack. Or apples. Some horses really respond to peppermints and while all sugar, are tasty enough that a couple crushed in some feed might be a treat.
Always carrots and Uckele’s Equi Treats for mine. The treats are ground, pressed timothy with sunflower meal and natural flavors.
Mine is a fiend for bananas, so he gets them as a special treat after lessons or shows. As for recovery, you might consider adding an amino acid supplement like Tri-Amino or Purina SuperSport to aid in muscle development and recovery after work.
3-4 days of moderate work shouldn’t require any real need for “recovery” that his regular diet doesn’t already provide. What’s his diet?
What are examples of what you consider a sugary snack? Fruits have sugar, carrots have sugar. Alfalfa pellets make great treats - low sugar, easy to carry, long shelf life.
Nothing wrong with “sugary snacks” if that means carrots or apples versus handfuls of peppermint candies.
I think people overthink this. Horses are not kids. We don’t have to worry about rotting their teeth or causing hyperactivity by giving them an apple. 
45 calories in a 15,000+ calorie diet…it’s pretty safe.
My horses love Hilton Herbs’ “Herballs.” They have alfalfa and various herbs like mint. No added sugar.
It makes their breath smell lovely(er)too!.
Thanks for all the suggestions! I did put recovery in quotes because I know that with his work load it isn’t required. I just wanted to find a reward for him that was also beneficial. I’m not worried about sugary snacks hurting him or anything, he actually doesn’t like peppermints. I wanted to find some cookie recipes that included carrots, and apples since up at my barn I don’t have a fridge to keep them in. So I figured cookies would last longer. I will definitely have to think about trying amino or electrolyte supplements. And I’m definitely going to see if he will eat bananas. 😊
You don’t say where you are. Here in Ontario, our horses rely on hay for most of the year. I like to give them a hay cube mash after work to get some extra water into them. This is fed to them daily as part of their ‘meal’, so has not acted to disturb their gut flora. In addition to water, I also like being able to sneak in some quality long stem forage (plus have a reliable carrier for vitamins, a bit extra oil if they look thing or any other medications etc I may need to sneak in). It also allows me to treat them all, from the air fern who needs to be limited on calories (and gets a cup of slop), to the green bean in a grow spurt who actually gets a second meal + mash + oil to keep weight on.
Is it a critical part of their diet? No, but I enjoy the bonding time of rewarding them with an extra snack.
I make homemade horse treats once in awhile. Usually a mix of carrots, apples, some oil and/or molasses, oatmeal or flax seed, some flour, and a cup of ration balancer. Put it all in a food processor, squish it into balls, and bake.
Carrots are my favourite for rewarding stretches though. Easier to “tease” them and let them have nibble without losing a finger.
One or two treats 3-4 days/week shouldn’t really disrupt their gut flora.
A lot of horses love whole peanuts in the shell
How many treats are you feeding? Their usual ration should be beneficial and a balanced diet. A treat is just that, a treat and doesn’t need to be healthy if the regular diet is nutritious.
If you are doing peanuts, ask your BO. peanuts are banned in my barn because one of my sons has an anaphylactic allergy and even slight contact causes a severe response. I don’t ask for accommodation outside the farm and his school, but his home should be safe.
I quite like smartpak’s smartcookies - they’re itty bitty and pretty straightforward, ingredient-wise. I know you said your guy doesn’t care for peppermint, but the peppermint ones are so fragrant! My barn dog may or may not get some here and there to offset horse poop breath…
In winter, I sometimes feed a small ,warm beet pulp mash as a post workout treat. Usually she gets her “cup of tea” which is 1/2 bucket warm water with elecrolytes, a tiny glug of molasses and a small handful of pelleted feed dissolved. I make it before I tack up so pellets have dissolved by the time ride is finished. Mare LOVES this and will drink the half bucket right down and lick the bottom. Its a good way to get more fluid into her with minimal extra calories. Besides, I love the fuss and ritual!
New Purina Carb Conscious treat is low sugar, & mine all eat it.
I use alfalfa cubes for treats. I break them into smaller pieces. For a treat after working why not alfalfa hay?
I love using alfalfa cubes (broken up and fed piece by piece) or even alfalfa hay. I just discovered Purina Outlast TREATS! and they are great. One of my OTTBs can have a nervous tummy and so I give him a bunch out Outlast cookies both before and after I ride and I feel like I’m doing positive things for him. He certainly loves them!
MTA: He gets Outlast supplement in his AM/PM feed. I just prefer him to have 3 doses of it per day and think giving it before/after riding is an excellent way!
Not really a treat just what I feed them. 2 scoops of timothy pellets for mare, 2 scoops of alfalfa pellets for gelding, 1 scoop beet pulp pellets each, 1 cup BOSS, 1 cup whole flax, 1 scoop platinum performance (the scoop that comes with the platinum). 1/2 cup oil. Free choice bermuda hay. carrots and apples.
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