Legacy loves her treats, and when NAF brought out their new Hedgy treats I just had to get her some to try. They are made with natural ingredients which include read hedgerow herbs, so she's not only getting a treat but it's healthy for her. 

The herb ingredients in the treats are as follows;
Common Nettle,
Hawthorn Berries,
Dandelion Leaves
Rose hip Shells

These are all herbs which horses could find in the field which proves it's natural and healthy. If you're horse doesn't have any of these in their field these treats are a great way to add home variety into their diet. 

Back when Legacy cut her head open and I wasn't able to bring her head down to get a good look into the cut, I fetched these and she was happily bringing her head down to eat these. 
These treats have even resulted myself having a black eye from my mums horse, I was using them to keep him still while trying a new rug on him and I moved into the stable rather than over the door and he flew his head up to look where the treats have gone, and his head flew up into my face, splitting the edge of my eye open and then having a black eye for a few days. 

The lesson I learnt from that day is to never under estimate the power of some tasty treats. 

Here are a few links to where you can check out the treats;

VioVet, Hyperdrug, Houghton Country, Millbry Hill

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?