All my horses preferred Packer Pellets to the other treats. But after having two of them choke I switched to soft treats (except carrots). The pellets were so cheap, 40lb bag for about $25.
Another vote for gingersnaps!
The Dollar Tree version
My 3 will never meet a German treat. Not at that price!
Sidebar:
When I got my ginormous - 17’2 - TWH, his owner gave me a half full jug of his “favorite” carrot snacks.
Horse wouldn’t touch them when I offered.
My TB was glad to take them over
@Heinz_57 sounds weird, but all my horses LOFF dry pasta. Any shape, also cheap at Dollar stores.
I get spaghetti for little kids to offer - keeps little hands at a safe distance.
The more time I spend with them individually… the less I think they came from the same place. They seem to have had wildly different life experiences. It’s probably a good bet that they came from the same sale, though, and have probably been living together or near each other since. Anything is possible though!
I have to hit the feed store today for a new water tub (damn it Cooper), so I might pick up the small bag of German Horse Muffins and a few other cheapish treat options to test out. German Horse Muffins are solely responsible for Elmo’s undying devotion to me and being easy to catch… when I got him as a 3yo he was iffy on being caught - he went into turnout with my senior TB, who got half a muffin every night at turn in to hide his Equioxx. Naturally, Elmo got the other half when it was time to be caught, and it created the best kind of cookie monster.
Anyway, on to Bert. Last night we made some excellent progress. Bert is a bit backwards of Ernie in the way he wants to go about this, so we’re pivoting from body touches to just working directly with the halter for now.
In exchange for fair payment and building upon incremental baby steps, Bert will now put his nose through the throatlatch of the halter and allow me to pull the crown up to the front of the ears level (almost like a browband) and leave it there. He reminds me a lot of my once-feral pony - who incidentally is a Very Good Boy, but you will not skip a single step or try to trick him in any way (it’s an insult to his intelligence!).
Ernie, on the other side of the fence, is very happy with his new friend Peach. They are well-matched, temperament wise - Peach is the lowest man in my original herd, and Ernie is even more submissive (almost excessively so) so they were pretty quick to buddy up and Peach now gets to play big brother. There’s hardly a dirty look between them, and Ernie’s looking more confident already. And I just love his big boy voice nickering at me at every meal. For such a wee, awkward lad he has the deep voice of a big, strapping boy
I just realized that you have Bert, Ernie, and Elmo! That’s absolutely adorable.
Ironically… all three absolutely fit their characters’ personalities.
Peach and Ernie sound like a perfect pair, they can help each other and when Ernie glows up some, spectacular pair there.
Manna Pro Goat Treats are like horse crack, for next time you visit the feed store. I feed mine store brand ginger snaps. Each one can be split into 4, because I’m cheap. Holden’s caught onto that.
Since we’re all so used to seeing Ernie next to big tall Bert, I thought it might be fun to show him next to tiny Peach (15.1 last year? Maybe 15.2 now?).
I love the subtle differences in the colors of red horses. Side by side, one is more golden caramel and the other (Ernie?) is more cinnamon/nutmeg. So pretty!
now you need a shy, sweet blue roan and name him Grover
Sorry, if I bring home any more horses without selling a couple first, someone please commit me.
And since as they say, pix or it didn’t happen, Bert doin’ the work by choice:
I like to see an Oscar too! Gray that likes rolling in the grass??
Great job! And he’s willingly
Standing there doing it.
GOOD BOY BERT!!
PS and a golden palomino named Big Bird.
I had a siamese cat named SuggleUpWithGus (like Snuffleupagus) and lived up to his name. best cuddler ever.
Or we could just re-name Peach to Big Bird… he’s close enough? I actually considered that in the beginning, but he’s not big and the personality is all wrong.
This morning was Ernie’s turn, and I’m happy to say that he successfully remembered most of his lessons from the weekend. Especially the backing up is fun part, he’s a pro now.
This is not the prettiest picture - so why did I take it? It’s a pretty accurate representation of the awkward growth stage he’s in right now. Also, look how cute Uncle Peach is, providing extreme moral support.
Gotta admit, every time I hear Peach, I think Princess Peach from the Super Mario games. So maybe you need a Mario, Luigi and Yoshi too?
All of our herd loves Cutie type little oranges. The actual Cuties are the fave, but regular mandarin oranges will also work…or regular big oranges, but those are not as portable and are messier to try to split up. The Cuties will break into halves or smaller sections quite easily. No need to peel them and they’re handy for hiding meds inside.
Someone suggested marshmallows to me once, but none of mine ever would take them. Ginger snaps from the dollar store, yes. Cuties are the tops, though.
I thought that too
Maybe Bert and Ernie decided they wanted to keep their tail tags, because those turned out to be their good luck tail tags?
I pulled Ernie’s off yesterday, although there’s still a little piece of paper there since it ripped some. Both also have a glob of nasty sticky glue leftover from having mane tags at whatever sale they were at before Bowie we’ll get there eventually, but I do tire of looking at those stupid tags. We’re a ways from baths and spray bottles yet, so I’m stuck with it.