Since the Uncle Jimmy’s no sugar added products are apparently not the best choice since the maltodextrin will just turn into sugar, I’m looking for good ideas. I do use food rewards for training certain behaviors (like dropping the head when I’m working on the mane), reinforce behaviors I like (meeting me at the gate instead of making me slog through the mud to get him) and confess I like to just indulge him a bit. Kidlet likes to, too. I was a little sad he couldn’t have his birthday Uncle Jimmy’s Hanging Ball this year. Right now I’m just using hay pellets, which he seems to find adequately motivating, but looking into other options. Commercial treats, recipes, fruits/veg that are low sugar but still appealing, etc. Little things that can be treats and “big” things he might enjoy in his stall or paddock. It seems like a lot of things I’m finding on my own are a bit misleading (like the maltodextrin in the Jimmy products), or missing the point (homemade treats that have no table sugar or molasses but are loaded with grains).
Carb Conscious from Purina.
Uckele “Equi-Treats”–several flavors, pellets made of timothy hay, sunflower meal, flavoring. Test under 10% sugar and starch. My guys love them. Riding Warehouse usually has the best price.
I clicker train using a lower NSC extruded feed that isn’t part of the daily ration. I get it in 20 lb bags. They are apparently very desirable treats despite tasting blah to me.
Second this. My boys love them in all the different flavors. I’ve talked to Uckele and they have assured me they are low NSC (don’t remember the exact # but it was not high) and safe for my IR horse.
My guys like roasted salted peanuts, shells and all.
This is so interesting.:lol::lol: They were recommended to me as a safe treat from my IR horse. He will NOT touch them, :no:going so far as to fling his head and knock them out of my hand. Never before or after have I seen a treat that boy didn’t like. From what I hear most horses do like them. He has is own mind about certain things and made this one VERY obvious.
Great suggestions, everybody! Keep ideas coming, I love to have a variety of options and rotate/mingle, and facing a period of not-riding, maybe trick-training sort of period for a bit, it’s great to contemplate options.
Any thought regarding other grocery store options aside from salted peanuts (we still have to make some trips to the store for human food after all, yay curbside pickup)? Recipes I might use with common grocery ingredients plus alfalfa/timothy pellets?
We’ll see, my guy is a Mustang and originally VERY suspicious of new things. My daughter literally crawled around on the ground in order to shove little carrot sticks in his teeth as he grazed (less dangerous than it seems at first blush, he was tamed/trained at that point, tied, and she was on the other side of a sturdy fence) since he originally had no interest in any kind of “treat” (which tells you my dilemma is largely manufactured, I suppose). After getting over that initial suspicious hump he’ll try anything offered on a human palm at least once (like, literally anything, he ate a Kleenex before I realized he wasn’t going to just sniff it), and at least if he doesn’t like them, the human family likes peanuts just fine!
DuMor large Bermuda/ alfalfa pellet)
Its the tractor supply brand and the large pellet is the perfect size! Also, they’re cheap and last forever!
Tractor Supply carries the Stabul 1 treats. They are low sugar/starch and what I give to my three, one a Paso Fino very prone to IR. They come in three flavors, peppermint, fenugreek or banana. My TSC only carries the two, peppermint or fenugreek, which all three will eat. The two spotted walkers I have won’t touch a peppermint candy, but love the Stabul treats in peppermint.
Not familiar with these. I’ll have to look into whether my TSC carries them. From what I see on the web, they are a bit pricier than the Uckele treats I use.
Their feed also looked interesting, but quite pricey for only a 20# bag. Might work as the winter when I want to get extra calories in him as it gets colder. More options for the toolbox. Thanks.
I use Buckeye no-sugar-added treats. https://www.buckeyenutrition.com/pro…ap-treats.aspx. They are small, so great for training, and all my guys love them, and they are relatively inexpensive.
What’s the specific brand you’re using?
Alfalfa cubes. They can be broken into smaller pieces if needed.
Fjordmom, I don’t use the stabul one feed, though recommended by the ECIR group as a safe carrier for minerals. I use the Triple Crown timothy balancer cubes as the main food for my three which also makes great treats as well. Mine love the cubes, each get their cubes soaked twice a day. The cubes are easy for me to get from my feed dealer plus safe as to feeding my very IR prone Paso gelding.
I feed alfalfa hay cubes as a treat. Break the big ones into smaller ‘slabs’. The low/no sugar treats have something to replace the sugar, so are not usually low carb.
Pretzels.
That said, I assume that you’re asking because your horse has a metabolic condition. My vet’s opinion is that if the horse’s symptoms are well controlled, unless I’m giving him a 20lb bag of treats all in one sitting, the treats are not going to pose a meaningful risk to his health.
I feed Stauffer’s ginger snaps. I break them into pieces. Horse loves them, and they’re cheap.
I used to buy the sugar-free peppermints at the grocery. Added bonus is they don’t melt in the heat! The other weirder option that my horses actually like was peanuts in the shell. They actually would run across the field to eat a handful!
I had a vet recommend celery for an IR horse in my care. She LOVED them
