No-Sugar Treat Help!

[RoanyPony]

My 6 year old gelding was recently diagnosed with mild laminitis. The vet thinks on a strict diet he should be sound again soon (thankfully so far he has been right and he is almost sound) so with his new diet means new hay (timothy/orchard mix), no grain (only platinum performance & chia seeds), and sadly, no treats. I have no experience with laminitic horses so any advice would be great BUT I really need help figuring out what treat recipes or brands would work for him! They would have to be NO sugar or very LOW sugar treats. And has anyone else had success on getting laminitic horses sound and rideable again?

Thanks in advance.

UPDATE: So far Keystone approves of the peppermint flavored Uckele Equi Treats and sugar free mints. Celery was a definite no lol.

[2miniB]

Personally, I wouldn’t use Platinum Performance for metabolic horses. I believe it contains glucosamine, which can cause issues for metabolic horses. HorseTech makes High Point grass in both a flax based powder or alfalfa based pellet. Try the flax powder first, since that could replace the PP and chia and it’s a little cheaper. If it doesn’t work, then try the pellet. Chia tends to be more expensive than flax. My horses get Omega Horseshine, since that’s the only one they like.

I use TC Premium Grass Forage as a supplement carrier and treat. Same with Ontario Dehy Timothy Balance Cubes. Some use beet pulp, soaked rinsed and soaked again, but that didn’t work well for my metabolic horses. All of mine love the Timothy cubes as treats.

Look into Platinum Metabolic Support. It’s probably the single most useful supplement I’ve tried for my metabolic horses.

FeedXL is a very useful tool to help you formulate a diet. They have a lot of supplements and feeds in their database. There’s a theory that keeping iron:copper:zinc:manganese ratios in a 4:1:3:3 balance and calcium:magnesium at 2:1 ratio helps with these metabolic horses. I’m not 100% sold on this, but it’s pretty quick and easy to calculate these ratios with FeedXL.

My experience is that EasyBoots are superior to SoftRides in terms of construction, comfort and customer service. I used the EasyBoot Transition and EasyBoot trail for my laminitic pony. I haven’t yet tried the new EasyBoot Cloud, but it looks like they fix all the flaws with SoftRide.

[Texarkana]

I’ve known many laminitic horses who have gone on to continue their careers. It’s all about good management and good professionals being on the case.

But to answer your question about treats, I recently purchased a bag of Standlee Apple Berry Cookie Cubes at TSC, which are very low sugar for a treat. They are really just mini hay cubes that supposedly are flavored with juice. Two out of three of my horses found them totally edible-- the third spit it back in my face so hard it ricocheted, but then, she hates everything.

Hay cubes in general make good treats. I also used to feed my mare almonds when I was super conscientious about her sugar intake.

[fordtraktor]

Uckele sells no-sugar treats. riding warehouse has some on sale on their Misc page in the Cherry Vanilla flavor.

[Huntin_Pony]

I use Hilton Herbs “herb balls,” sparingly for my ponies. They love them and they smell great.

[cayuse]

I have heard celery is a good treat for metabolic horses. Not positive on that, so you might want to research it a little. My guys love it, although it did take a try or two for them to get used to it.

[MyKindaFlower]

I second the Hilton Herb Balls - my horses love them too. Also, Withers and Withers Insulin Resistant Horse Treats - those can be found via Dover or Smartpak. I’ve used a small handful of no shell Pepitas (pumpkin seeds) and my EPSM boy likes those too. A handful of Stabul 1 grain, which can be ordered from Tractor Supply makes a nice treat. It is under 10% NSC and you can get fenegreek or banana flavor. Nuzu, the company that makes that grain also makes low NSC treats that can be ordered from their website and those come in several flavors.

[downen]

My Cushings pony never liked celery, but he gets a little Teddy Graham every night and he’s been laminitis free for serveral years now.

[newhorsemommy]

I would also avoid the glucosamine and look at something like Horse Tech’s High Point Grass supplement. There’s plenty of low NSC feeds if you need a handful of something to put the supplements on.

My horses love the Hilton Herballs (they smell like pizza) and they are very economical. You can get a 2.2 lb bag from SmartPak for $13.95.

I’m lucky because my Cushing’s gelding is not IR and is actually a little more of a harder keeper so I can give him a cookie without stressing too much about it

[Trails]

I go to Walmarts and buy sugar free mints; they are really tasty. I purchase the spearment flavour (made for diabetic people).

[sandyliz]

I use these for training. My mare loves them.

http://emeraldvalleyequine.com/product/beet-treats/

[RoanyPony]

Sorry, I guess I shouldn’t have included the metabolic part. He was diagnosed with mild laminitis that’s due to diet (which means no rotation) and I just figured it was the same thing? The vet approved of the platinum performance and told me to continue feeding it to him. I originally became interested in the PP because it has biotin in it which seems to help his hooves. As for the chia seeds I have not yet started them but placed an order a few days ago. I read it’s a natural anti-inflammatory that can help fight ulcers & laminitis. The vet was concerned about ulcers and wanted me to start some type of preventive so I’m hoping the chia will help… But does flax have the same benefits? Thank you for your help!

[RoanyPony]

[QUOTE=2miniB;8419527]
Personally, I wouldn’t use Platinum Performance for metabolic horses. I believe it contains glucosamine, which can cause issues for metabolic horses. HorseTech makes High Point grass in both a flax based powder or alfalfa based pellet. Try the flax powder first, since that could replace the PP and chia and it’s a little cheaper. If it doesn’t work, then try the pellet. Chia tends to be more expensive than flax. My horses get Omega Horseshine, since that’s the only one they like.

I use TC Premium Grass Forage as a supplement carrier and treat. Same with Ontario Dehy Timothy Balance Cubes. Some use beet pulp, soaked rinsed and soaked again, but that didn’t work well for my metabolic horses. All of mine love the Timothy cubes as treats.

Look into Platinum Metabolic Support. It’s probably the single most useful supplement I’ve tried for my metabolic horses.

FeedXL is a very useful tool to help you formulate a diet. They have a lot of supplements and feeds in their database. There’s a theory that keeping iron:copper:zinc:manganese ratios in a 4:1:3:3 balance and calcium:magnesium at 2:1 ratio helps with these metabolic horses. I’m not 100% sold on this, but it’s pretty quick and easy to calculate these ratios with FeedXL.

My experience is that EasyBoots are superior to SoftRides in terms of construction, comfort and customer service. I used the EasyBoot Transition and EasyBoot trail for my laminitic pony. I haven’t yet tried the new EasyBoot Cloud, but it looks like they fix all the flaws with SoftRide.[/QUOTE]

Sorry, I guess I shouldn’t have included the metabolic part. He was diagnosed with mild laminitis that’s due to diet (which means no rotation) and I just figured it was the same thing? The vet approved of the platinum performance and told me to continue feeding it to him. I originally became interested in the PP because it has biotin in it which seems to help his hooves. As for the chia seeds I have not yet started them but placed an order a few days ago. I read it’s a natural anti-inflammatory that can help fight ulcers & laminitis. The vet was concerned about ulcers and wanted me to start some type of preventive so I’m hoping the chia will help… But does flax have the same benefits? Thank you for your help!

[Cindyg]

There are Nuzu Nuggets. These are approved as a complete feed for metabolic horses. My horses love this feed.

[RoanyPony]

[QUOTE=Trails;8419755]
I go to Walmarts and buy sugar free mints; they are really tasty. I purchase the spearment flavour (made for diabetic people).[/QUOTE]

I have heard of people just using sugar free peppermints before! But when I mentioned it to some other equine friends, they seemed to not be too fond of the idea. Are there really any downsides to it though? If used in moderation of course?

[GotMyPony]

Roasted salted peanuts in the shell, available by the bag at most grocery stores and Costco/Sams. My horse and donk, who were used to sweet treats, seem to like these just as much.

[arabiansrock]

Look at HorseTech’s Glanzen 3 if it is biotin you are interested in. It is ground stabilized flax, biotin (lots of it), a b-complex, and trace mineral complex. Very economical and my horses have thrived on it. You would not need the chia with this. The flax is considered to be anti inflammatory.

If your horse is ulcery, also look at their gutwerks, it has pre and pro biotics, as well as active bacteria (yeast?) and a bunch of other good stuff. I put my boy on it when he finished his course of omeprazole and he has done great so far.

Second the standlee hay cube cookies, they are softer than a traditional hay cube (not so dry) and my horses gobble them up.

Also, a slow feed hay net is your friend.

[bdj]

Saltines, or oyster crackers. Cheap, super easy to get, and no sugar.

[Cindyg]

[QUOTE=bdj;8420876]
Saltines, or oyster crackers. Cheap, super easy to get, and no sugar.[/QUOTE]

No added sugar, maybe. But that is not a low-carb treat for a horse. (Not saying one oyster cracker is a problem to a healthy horse. But a box of them could be a problem for a metabolic horse!)

[HowDoILook]

We just feed sugar free peppermints to the insulin resistant mate at our farm. I have just made it common practice to only buy the sugar free ones and then I don’t have to worry who eats them. Our local martins sells them by the pound vs pre packed too so it is cheaper.