Celebrating Valentine’s Day is a great way to bring cheer to the mid-winter funk that affects all horse people. You can celebrate in any way that makes sense to you. Go out to a nice dinner. Buy your mom roses. Watch your favorite romantic comedy in your most comfortable sweats. You can also treat Valentine’s Day like a second Christmas. Bust out your fake tree and decorate it, bake treats for your horse, or buy them their favorite cookies
Everyone loves to receive some sort of special treat no matter what the day is, and Valentine’s Day should be no exception. Your horse will never say no to a treat. Turn Valentine’s Day into Pal-entine’s Day, and do something special for your 4-legged best friend.
Horse-Friendly Treat Recipes
Do you like to bake? Or maybe baking isn’t your thing unless it’s for your horse. Either way, there are lots of recipes out there for horse-friendly treats. Give them a try, but always double check with your Veterinarian to ensure they’re right for your horse. Even if you don’t have time to bake, you can still stick with the old go-to treats of carrots and apples. If you feel like you’d like to do something a little extra, then check out these recipes to get you started!
Apple Horse Cookies
Ingredients:
- 3 cups oats (rolled oats)
- ½ cup flour
- 1 apple, diced
- ¼ cup molasses, honey will work if you can’t find molasses
- 1 TBSP vegetable oil
- OPTIONAL: You can add a TBSP of salt (not iodized), sometimes it makes it a little more palatable to horses, but that’s optional.
Steps:
- Preheat the oven to 350.
- Get a baking sheet, and put a layer of tin foil over it (makes it easier to clean up).
- Mix all of these ingredients and roll them into little balls.
- Bake for 15 minutes, or until light brown around the edges.
TIP: If the cookies stick to the sheet after your first batch, spray a layer of cooking spray on your tinfoil.
Enjoy!
Peppermint Pony Muffins
Ingredients:
- 3 cups rolled oats
- 3 cups flour
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 ¼ cups water
- ½ Cup molasses
- 1 bag of peppermint candy (for the topping)
Steps:
- Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
- Mix all of the muffin ingredients.
- Take your muffin tin out, spray each cup with a little cooking spray (repeat for each new batch), and fill each about ¾ ‘s full with batter (as they bake they’ll rise a little bit).
- Bake for 15 minutes.
TIP: When you take them out of the oven, take a butter knife and run it around the sides of each muffin, separating them from the sides. Finally, flip the tin over and your muffins should pop right out. - For the topping: Open up the peppermints and put them into a gallon freezer bag. Close the bag, making sure that there isn’t any extra air in it when you do.
- Put the bag of peppermints on a wooden or plastic cutting board.
- Take a rolling pin and crush the peppermints until they are in small pieces. You can also smash them into sprinkle-size pieces.
- Before the muffins cool completely, sprinkle a little of the crushed peppermint on top.
TIP: You can push them down into the muffin a little bit so that they stick better.
Bon appetit!
Carrot Horse Treats
Ingredients:
- 3 large carrots
- 1 cup molasses
- 2 ½ cups rolled oats
- 2 TBSP vegetable oil
Steps:
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- Shred the carrots into a large bowl.
- Add the oil, molasses, and oats to the shredded carrots and mix until the oats are completely covered with the molasses.
- Grab your 9×13 pan and spray with some cooking oil.
- Dump your mixture on the greased pan.
- Take a spoon (or your hands), and make sure that the mixture is spread out evenly on the tray.
- Bake for about 40 minutes.
- Remove the treats from the oven and let them cool.
TIP: The treats will harden as they cool. - After they’ve sat for a bit, take a metal spatula and break them up into pieces.
Delicious!
If you have a busy schedule or run out of time, here are a few treats you can purchase from our store.
Between work, kids (either 4-legged or 2), and any other extracurricular activities that you indulge in, you may not have the time or the energy to bake anything. Your local Wilco Farm Store has just the thing for you. Check out these treats for your next Pal-entine’s Day purchase.
Apple-Asses
Apple-asses are made with all-natural ingredients like dried apples and molasses. They’re light and fluffy, which would make them a good treat for your elderly equine pal. They also make a good treat to use for a special occasion, as a reward for good behavior, or trying to catch your stubborn horse from the pasture.
Apple-Asses Pure All Natural Horse Treats, 3 lb.
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German Horse Muffins
These delectable, all-natural horse treats are the perfect way to show your horse how much they mean to you this Valentine’s Day. They’re made with ingredients such as sweet grain, molasses, dehydrated alfalfa, and more! Give your horse a change in taste and texture this Valentine’s Day with these German Horse Muffins
Durvet, German Horse Muffin Treats, 1 lb
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Purina Berry Good Horse Treats
Purina Berry Good Horse Treats are a fantastic treat for your senior horse friend. These biscuits are light and fluffy, which makes them easier to chew. They also have an array of vitamins and minerals that are great for your senior horse.
BONUS IDEA: Practical uses for leftover Valentine’s Day decor
Valentine’s Day decor, while overwhelming in stores, can be useful for desensitizing your horse. Got a balloon? Perfect! Use it for an exercise in desensitization. Did you decorate with shiny garland? These can also be great tools for training your horse. Did someone give you a rose? The petals are edible and can be on the sweet side. Feed them to your horse, just watch out for the thorns.
Didn’t find the treats you were looking for? Come on down to your local Wilco Farm Store and chat with our knowledgeable and friendly staff!
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