8 superfood recipes for healthy Homemade Horse Treats
DIY Recipes You Can Make In A Food Dehydrator
I feed a ton of treats to the horses that I work with. Knowing how sensitive horses are I always want to make sure that the rewards I pick out 1. won’t upset their digestive tract – goodness knows it doesn’t take much to do that and 2. won’t clog up their system with artificial/undigestible garbage. I know when I make crappy food choices I feel awful, I don’t want to do that to my horse. Her rewards should taste yummy and make her feel good too.
After reading ingredient labels on a bunch of different treats ruling out any that had artificial ingredients and added sugar/molasses I was a bit frustrated. So off to the kitchen I went to create 8 superfood horse treat recipes. No added sugar, no molasses, only good stuff. They are a combination of basic fruits and veggies you probably already have and a few extra beneficial ingredients that can give your horse an added boost of nutrients.
You can check out the list of them below and grab the full recipe and details on the superfood benefits for each one by clicking on the pictures or titles to head over to each post.
Five Reasons to make horse treats in a food dehydrator
1. It’s easy (just set it and forget it- infomercial style).
2. You can make a bunch of different kinds at once without trashing your whole kitchen.
3. They turn out looking pretty gourmet. Great for gifting.
4. They hold on to their nutritional value better than baked treats.
5. You can store them for long periods without worrying they will go bad.
Not sure what type of food dehydrator to get? After using a few different ones I can confidently say I’m sold on the Excalibur. Sure they are pricier than the basic dehydrator that you would buy at most big box stores but in this case, you really do get what you pay for. They have more specific settings and better accessories such as the Paraflexx drying mats and it dries food way more evenly than most others I’ve tried. For those that are a bit casual in their details and directions like me, the Excalibur Dehydrator is pretty failproof. Even when I’ve “forgotten” food in it (ie spent too long at the barn) it still turns out edible so for me its worth the extra money.
8 Dehydrated Superfood Horse Treat Recipes
This recipe is very simple and gives your horse the benefit of both cinnamon and turmeric. They turn out looking really pretty too so you can always make them for horse friend and give as appreciation gifts when you find yourself asking for a favor, borrowing a trailer, or needing a chore helper 😉
If your looking for antioxidants, amino acids, and minerals this is the treat to whip up. It’s loaded with blueberries and goji berries to give your horse a ton of vitamins A & C plus protein and fiber. In the words of the TruVibe goji berry brand, “Nothing tastes as good as feeling good feels!”
These cookies are perfect for the horse with a sensitive stomach. Having a base of bananas and sprouted whole wheat flour makes them super easy to digest. Plus they have added pumpkin seeds, ginger, and apple cider vinegar to keep your horse’s good bugs happy.
Using steel cut oats in this recipe makes them come out crunchy and full of fiber, iron, and protein. Plus the pineapple gives them a little extra immune system support and helps keep eyes and joints healthy.
The secret ingredients in these chewy treats are kale and kiwi. Providing potassium, calcium, and magnesium they are great ones to make to help keep your horse energized in hot weather and hard work.
So these cookies got their name for two reasons 1. they are loaded with fiber so they keep things moving right along smoothly and 2. they are filled with beneficial omega 3 and bromelain to help keep your horse moving freely. They are a great one to make for horses that have a bit of inflammation.
Using sprouted whole wheat flour and homemade sugar-free applesauce made these roll-out cookies super easy to make. The best part was they look super cute and I didn’t have to feel bad about giving my horse a bunch of refined foods that would be in the commercial horse cookies.
This recipe is great for helping with boosting your horse’s omega 3s for everything from heart health to shiny coats. These are fairly simple and yummy enough I even ate a couple of them.
Hope you have fun making these dehydrated horse treat recipes & You're Horse Loves Eating Them
I like to make a variety when I bust out the dehydrator so I set up these recipes to make a batch that covers roughly one tray. You can bump up the recipe to do several trays of the same kind or make a few different ones and see which are your horse’s favorite.
Some of these recipes have different dehydrating temps and times. If you’re somewhat flexible on how crunchy or chewy you want them to come out you can mix and match the different varieties and still make them at the same time in the dehydrator. Just be sure to check them and pull out trays as they get done.
I had a lot of fun creating these and shooting the pics to go with them. It took me right back to playing “cooking show” with my sister when I was little. I hope your horses enjoy them as much as mine do.
Insightfully,
Becky
