Horse Treat Recipe

We have a dear friend who owns several acres that she keeps mowed like a golf course. She only has three horses and each Spring they tend to founder on the plentiful, weedless, rich grass. We help her out each year by taking our broodmares with the new foals to her place to help eat down the grass.

This is a great solution for all of us, her horses don't get as much grass and don't have to be locked up in her corral as much. Our mares get good grass, the babies get their first experience of being loaded and hauled in a horse trailer. They also get hand fed treats and get lots of handling and attention (she loves the babies). The extra bonus is that we just pick the mares up in the fall and bring them home to wean the foals. Usually we bring the weanlings home before bad weather sets in but this year we only had two babies left that didn't sell and Diana kept them all winter. So, both Biscuit and Diva got some extra spoiling.

We put Diana's hay up for her each year and try to help with other problems that crop up at her place from time to time, like downed fences, trees or injured horses. We have one lame mare that she always winters for us also.

Diana buys carrots in bulk from Sam's Club as treats and also has a nice apple tree in her yard that supplies treats in the fall but she was buying expensive horse treats as well. So to help out, I found a recipe online that looked good to me and started making treats for her to feed during the winter months. I don't like baking during warm weather, so I only make them when it is cold outside. All of her horses and our horses love them, my goats do double back flips for them too, my dogs even like them.

Diana's Favorite Horse Treats and My Favorite Goat and Dog Treats.

Recipe:
1 cup of quick oats
1 cup flour
1 cup shredded carrots
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons corn or vegetable oil
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup real molasses (real molasses is a good source of iron) or you can substitute pancake syrup or corn syrup

Mix all ingredients into a large bowl. Make small balls and place on a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350º for 15 minutes. Shut off the oven and leave them in the oven for several days to harden. I always double or triple the batch, I cool them on a cooling rack while the others are still baking, then pile them all back on the cookie sheet for the hardening stage in the oven. Letting them set out in the open for a few weeks takes any softness out of them, making them crunchy and more desirable for the horses and goats. They also store better if they have no moisture in them.

Catching Up

I seem to have gotten behind in my life and need to do some catching up. I have several rope halter orders that need to be made and shipped.

It seems most of my website clients wanted updates after Christmas. We had a horse come home from the trainer and his info and pictures had to be updated on our site. I even took some videos of Leroy with the trainer and posted them, you can see them here: 2004 ApHC Bay Leopard Gelding For Sale . The page has a lot of pictures, so if you are one of us poor peasants who are still on a dial-up, then it will take a while for the page to load and you will have to really be patient if you want to watch the videos.

Leroy may be a famous horse, we got a call the other day from a friend who sent Leroy and Biscuit's pictures in to a magazine, I forget the name of the magazine but he said that they had gotten back with him, wanting to know the reason for their names. I don't understand that, doesn't everyone name their horses Leroy and Biscuit? Leroy had actually been named by the owner of the mare that he is out of. We bought him after he was already registered. Biscuit is an actual descendant of the great Seabiscuit and Lady Bugs Moon, so thus her registered name, PS Lady Seabiscuit, you can visit her page here; 2007 ApHC Chestnut Leopard Filly For Sale .

I just got back in from doing the morning feeding, I can walk on top of the mud now, it is frozen, we have several days ahead calling for cold temps, so I can take care of my animals myself and give hubby a break. He only has 30 something horses to feed grain to every evening besides my stuff, it is taking him around 3 hours at this point.

I broke the ice for water this morning, it was pretty thick. I have to carry water out to my goats and chickens in a gallon bucket because that is the most my back will allow, so sometimes I have to make several trips. I don't even mess with the hoses, even if they have been drained and aren't frozen, they still hurt me to drag them around, the bucket is easiest. I usually get warm water from the bathroom for everyone when it is cold, they appreciate it.

Angel was very needy this morning, I had to sit down and spend some time petting and hugging on her. I really enjoy my life, I would never leave home, if I didn't have to.