Homemade Christmas Presents for Your Horse

At this time of year, the feed merchants are full of commercial horse treat gifts – horse stockings, biscuits and sweets. Like anything else to do with horses, they’re expensive – and will your horse really appreciate them? If you don’t want to leave your horse out, try making some treats. Not only will they be a much cheaper option, you’ll also have the advantage of knowing exactly what’s in them.

Deck the halls with boughs of haylage, falalala-la-la-la-la

Homemade Horse Treats

Ingredients

• Two large carrots, washed but not peeled
• Two good tablespoons black treacle or molasses
• 1 cup porridge oats
• ¼ cup vegetable oil, plus extra
• 1 cup wholewheat flour, plus extra

1. Line a baking tray with aluminium foil, and grease the foil lightly with oil.
2. Grate the carrots roughly into a large bowl (a food processor makes this step a doddle)
3. Add the oil and oats. Warm the treacle for a few seconds in the microwave, then add that as well.
4. Work the mixture together, then add the flour. The mixture should be fairly stiff, so that you can work into small balls with your hands (put some flour on your hands first to make it easier).
5. If the mixture is too sticky, add some extra flour. If it’s too stiff, add a little extra oil.
6. Form the mixture into small balls, and press them lightly onto the baking tray.
7. Put the tray into the oven on a very low heat – the idea is to dry the treats out so that they can be stored. The more you dry them out, the longer they’ll last. When done, put them on a wire rack to cool then pack into airtight containers.

The treats also work well with apples, although you may have to use a little extra flour to bind them together.

Please remember – horses do not react well to sudden changes in their diets. Only give these treats in limited numbers (one a day). They contain oats and molasses, which are fine in small quantities for most horses but can cause problems for horses with laminitis or other health problems, and should not be fed at all to any horse on a very restricted diet.