One of my boarders researched sugar free treats for her laminitic horse and was advised peanuts in their shells. No sugar, high fiber, easy to keep in your pockets, cheap to buy at the feed store, do not freeze, do not get mushy and all the horses love them. I seem to have peanuts in all my pockets. They get a couple at the gate when turned out so they won’t take off, also have some in their feed dish when they come in and an easy place to stuff in their Previcox.
I buy hoards of the little unsweetened apple sauces when they’re on sale. Then I empty one into sullys feed tub and add one of his supplements. No sugar and he loves the sloppy sauce 
[QUOTE=Cindyg;8421284]
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![/QUOTE]
Sure - but a whole package of almost anything treat-like could be a problem for a metabolic horse. Apparently, my definition of “treat” is wildly different than other people’s, as I should have clarified that I’ve given my muzzle-wearing pony 3-4 crackers, not 3-4 sleeves.
Those sugar-free peppermints have just as many (if not more) carbs than a couple of saltines (if carbs are of concern).
My metabolic horse gets celery as a treat, as well as some cookies that I make out of low carb pelleted feed. I’ll also use the Hilton Herballs if I haven’t had time to make his cookies.
One caution on the sugar free candies is to watch out for the use of xylitol as a sweetener. Not that it is harmful to horses, but it is horribly toxic to dogs, and we all know dogs are at most horse barns and tend to get dropped or unattended horse treats.
I haven’t tried the peanuts but maybe I will.
My old mare is the one whom I buy the sugar-free mints for. The vet also suggested as a treat she could have roughage cubes. Most often I give her a few roughage cubes and keep the mints for special treats. The roughage cubes are called Equilibrium Fibra Classic (low in sugar/starch) and is a Purina product.
http://equipurina.ca/documents/factSheets/35570_EQ_fibraClassic_EN.pdf
This is from Purina Canada but there would have to be something comparable in the States even from a different company. 50 pd bag for $20
[QUOTE=bdj;8422153]
Sure - but a whole package of almost anything treat-like could be a problem for a metabolic horse. Apparently, my definition of “treat” is wildly different than other people’s, as I should have clarified that I’ve given my muzzle-wearing pony 3-4 crackers, not 3-4 sleeves.
Those sugar-free peppermints have just as many (if not more) carbs than a couple of saltines (if carbs are of concern).[/QUOTE]
Just clarifying. Clicker trainers, for example, go through a LOT of treats.
timothy pellets, just conventional hay pellets
It is not so much what the food item is, it is the ritual and love that goes with them
I agree with Timothy pellets - or alfalfa pellets. Alfalfa is low carb. I buy the Standlees Timothy/Alfalfa mix pellets for treats - about $15 for 40 pounds! My mare (who is metabolic) won’t eat peanuts or celery. She spits it out, but loves a handful of the pellets.
Apples are high sugar, so that is a no-go. Same with carrots. I would not feed sugar free candy - the artificial sweetener is basically poison! If you go to Europe, you won’t find anything with artificial sweetener for that reason!
I can’t help you with the laminitis, but have done a lot of research on metabolic/IR horses in recent months since my mare was diagnosed. As for supplements, I use HorseTech: NutrAmino, MG5+Cr, and NutraFlax. They have a lot of good options available.
Are you in the US? My pony hates the Standlee apple cube treat things, I’ll mail you the remainder if you pm me your address. They smell nice, this guy is just apparently against anything dry as a treat :lol:
Hilton Herbs Herballs were developed for horses that can’t have sugar. No molasses or sugar and I have yet to encounter a horse who doesn’t like them!
Hilton Herballs=Horse Crack.
My horses adore them (frighteningly so) as do any others I have fed them too.
We used to give our IR pony a few Mint flavored Rolaids. The sugar in them is low. The calcium and magnesium was just an added bonus.
[QUOTE=Mosey_2003;8423595]
Are you in the US? My pony hates the Standlee apple cube treat things, I’ll mail you the remainder if you pm me your address. They smell nice, this guy is just apparently against anything dry as a treat :lol:[/QUOTE]
If you are referring to my post, I don’t buy any treats - Standlee pellets are just ground up hay! The minute they add “treat” to the title, you can bet it is full of sugar, and metabolic horses have issues with sugar. And oats - another thing to be cautious of!
[QUOTE=MysticOakRanch;8424765]
If you are referring to my post, I don’t buy any treats - Standlee pellets are just ground up hay! The minute they add “treat” to the title, you can bet it is full of sugar, and metabolic horses have issues with sugar. And oats - another thing to be cautious of![/QUOTE]
What? I was talking to the OP.
And no, the Standlee TREATS are not just full of sugar, they’re miniature alfalfa cubes with a little apple juice added.
Costco has big bags of roasted peanuts in the shell, so got a bag to try on my IR guy today. Finding I like them too, but I don’t eat the shells!
My cushings horse gets one or two sugar free peppermint or spearmint human mints. I have tried the Withers and Withers treats and he really likes them.
No glucosamine or msm.
I would not give sugar free applesauce, even natural sugar in just apples could be a trigger/problem.
I may try the Nuzu treats as Nuzu feeds are highly recommended by the IR yahoo group. You may want to check out their site, lots of information, just hard to get around in the site. They suggest extra vitamin E, flax, table salt and some other things to help control IR
My mother jokingly suggested fresh green beans as a high protein healthy snack for my guy, and I think she might have a point there…
Meta Morsels - no-sugar treat
I found a no-sugar treat for my 31 year old quarter horse-who has cushiness and IR. He likes MetaMorsels. They are hand made and have no sugar or grain. All the horses at my barn love these treats made by Dana, the barn owner. She created this recipe to use with her two metabolically challenged horses. Dana has a website-MetaMorsels. They are worth a look-and can be ordered on line.
Cushiness :lol:
