This is the second box from Haybox. It's just as good as the last, if not better. This box definitely suits me personally better than the last as there's more I will defiantly use and not have multiples of. I really like that the box I received had a colour theme to it, I'm not sure if they all did or this was because of the box survey that you fill out after you've ordered the box where it asks for your favorite colour.

The same as last month I ordered the deluxe box, this is pictured above. The items which I received in my box in my box are as follows:

- Rhinegold cool dry socks

- Gold Label purple spray

- Gold Label mint & herb healthy treats

- Animology mane tamed sample

- Sheldon mane & tail brush

- Lacura sensitive lip balm

- Shires Wessex purple lead rope

- Local free magazine

Again overall I'm very happy with all my items, I can't wait to try out the mane tamed sample, as Legacy can have a very frizzy bottom half of her mane and for her breed she had a thick mane so I'm constantly trying to thin it out and keep it in one side. The Gold Label treats are something that won't last long as she does love them. Ad their healthy and great for their teeth I've added them into her feed before to give her something a little different. I'm sure that my mums horse will love these as well. The purple spray is always something that is great to have stocked up, as it's nearly time for her to be out full time, its great to have now as I'm sure when she goes out with a few more horses there may be few cuts, although she is very good with any injuries and likes to not have many. 

I love these types of mane & tail brushes, we weren't allowed these in college and every time I bushing the manes & tails I spent the whole time wishing they would buy each horse one of these. They make it so easy to get out all the knots and it makes tail brushing and de-tangling so much quicker than using a small plastic mane comb. If you haven't used one of these, I highly suggest you go and invest in one, grooming will be so much easier and more enjoyable. Another pair of socks & another lead rope in this box but as I said these are 2 things that are either always going missing or I'm making holes in, so if these don't get used right away they will go into storage for when they're needed and I'm thinking it will be sooner rather than later. Again in this months box is the free local magazine to the box creators area, this one has not yet come into my area so all of the info is new and it will be great read for me. The lip balm is always great and this is another thing I like to collect as I feel they can be used all year around, dry lips due to the cold weather and due to the sun. 

This box is still available through the HayBox site, & Don't forget the discount code: start for when ordering your first box, it's still working. The website is here and box choosing is here. 

Treat or No Treats?

Giving horses treats has been and I feel always will be a topic people can go into great discussions on. At the end of the day it's always going to be the personal opinion on the owner to if they are going to give treats or not.

Myself I have always given treats, from when I was learning to ride in my local riding school giving them an apple after the lesson, to sneakily giving the college horses (who weren't allowed treats) the remainder of my apple after lunch.

Even with Legacy now she has 2 sets of treats each day, one in her feed and the other when she's finished. In her feed she gets healthy treats, they can be used as rewards or put into daily feed as a herbal supplement and these are good for her teeth and gums. These are the exact treats I put into her feed and on the bag it recommends 20 for each feed but I just add in 2 large handfuls which comes up to between 20-30. These are mint smelling and tasting so she is happy to eat them all. 

The other set of treats she gets are carrots. She will get between 3-5 a day after her feed. These aren't given for any specific reason just as what the name is a treat. You could say pudding after dinner. 

Now for me when I first get Legacy she became attached to some of the horses in her field and would refuse to get out the field, at first we had to bring her feed bucket into the field and try and entice her out with that, having a cover on it so none of the others knew what it was. She seen the red bucket and knew straight away what it was. After this then a horse from her old place came to the yard (this was only about 2 weeks into me having her) and she wouldn't leave this horse, probably thinking she would never see her again. Having to entice her out with the feed carried on, and then this turned into enticing and bribing her out of the field with carrots. She would have to have a carrot then you would have to hold one in front of her to get her out and give her some carrot along the way. As there was 7 fields that she could have been in you never knew how long the carrots where going to last for before she stopped and wouldn't walk. Yes she had has smacks on the bum and drags along to try get her moving, she was going no where.

So for me in this situation treats became a life saver and where the only way I could do anything with her for a while. Thankfully she is over this now and only gets treats in the 2 previous ways mentioned. Although I can see the reasoning behind the ways people say that they will never give treats such as they will lean to bite etc. and they say it's 'fake love' and a 'fake connection'. In my experience I've seen horses who have never had treats be worse when it comes to biting and pushing for treats than ones who have treats on a frequency. 

What's your opinion on treats? Do you give them to your horse?