FEED SCOOP FRIDAY: Safe Treats vs. Unsafe Treats
Let's talk about treats. The everyday ones, the pocket ones, the "just one more" ones. Treats feel like the simplest part of owning a horse, but they're one of the most misunderstood parts of the diet. Every treat is a small dose of sugar, starch and minerals, and depending on the horse, that dose can be perfectly fine or a real problem.
Most owners sort treats into "healthy" and "junk." Your horse's body sorts them differently. It cares about sugar and starch (NSC), potassium, choke risk and how the hindgut handles whatever shows up. Good intentions don't count. Neither does cuteness.
Let's start with the classics. Carrots run about 6 grams of sugar and starch per 100 grams as fed, which is close to an average hay. A medium apple carries roughly 19 grams of sugar. For a healthy horse in work, a carrot or a few apple slices a day is not a crisis. Peppermints and sugar cubes are nearly pure sugar, and molasses-based cookies are basically candy with a horse on the bag.
Bananas have a reputation as the healthy choice, and for most horses they're fine. One medium banana carries around 420 mg of potassium, though. HYPP horses need total dietary potassium kept under 1%, so bananas, molasses (which can run as high as 6% potassium) and most sweet feeds are off the menu for them.
Then there's human food. Muffins, bread, cereal bars and pastries get offered with love and land in the hindgut like a surprise party nobody RSVP'd to. They're packed with starch and sugar in a small, easy-to-overfeed package. In larger amounts, starch that isn't digested in the small intestine ferments in the hindgut, where it can drop the pH and upset the microbes your horse depends on. Keep the snack bar for yourself.
The treat matters, but the horse in front of you matters more. A metabolic or insulin-resistant horse can react to sugar that a healthy horse handles without a blip, and for a laminitis-prone horse that insulin spike is the whole risk. For these horses, look for treats with a guaranteed NSC under 12% printed on the label. "Low sugar" on the front of the bag is marketing, and the guaranteed analysis is the proof. A small handful of their own hay pellets works too, and most horses don't seem to mind.
Seniors and horses with dental issues have a different problem: choke. Hard, round pieces are the biggest risk. Cut carrots lengthwise into sticks instead of coins, break cookies into small pieces, and soften hard treats in water for horses that quid or bolt their food.
Treats also shouldn't be doing a job they weren't built for. They can't cover for discomfort, make up for a diet that isn't meeting requirements or stand in for training. If your horse only loads or stands for the farrier with a cookie in front of his nose, that's worth a training conversation. A horse who gets pushy or nippy about your pockets is telling you the routine needs a reset.
You don't have to give up treats. Choose them with intention. This week, go read the label on the treats in your tack trunk and look for NSC in the guaranteed analysis. Then count how many your horse actually gets in a day (barn help, kids and visitors included), and break the big ones in half. Small, measured and matched to the horse is the safest treat plan there is.
Happy Feed Scoop Friday! Go read a treat label! If you're not sure where treats fit into your horse's plan, reach out to a nutrition specialist.
