To treat or not to treat....

[Rosa]

It's hard to resist giving treats to your horse, but they are not necessary in their diet. Grass hay is their 'natural' feed in the wild and is best for them. Some people use treats when training, but I find that my horses can't concentrate on anything but the smell of the treat to come and pester me rather than listen to me! Anyone else find this to be true??

[Luvable_Bug]

My horse occasionally gets treats but not always because I did find that he was nagging me for more and more and ended up getting really bossy if he didn't get his way. So yes. I do agree. I just have to mix them in his feed whenever I decide to give treats to him. Or otherwise Apple cider or even stockgain mixes well and smells gr8 is better.

[mic2]

I'm giving little treats, as I'm a big believer of the 'natural way'.

[mic2]

Looks like I was not clear enough, as I got some questions about my post...

Personally I believe in the natural way. The natural way is *without* treats, as there aren't too many of those on the natural horse diet.
On the other hand, I can resist my sweet Gabi, so once in a while I break and give her a little :-)

[equineelders]

We have a very specific time for treats.....as we do "bed checks" last thing at night. Its a little something special when the horses aren't being asked to do anything else. We never use treats as bribes to get them to respond to cues from handlers. What if a particular task needs to be done on an urgent basis someday and no treats are readily handy?

[mic2]

Good point.
I use little treats mainly because I think it's not the healtiest thing, using the rule of thumb "if nature doesn't supplies it, and it's not a pain/life saver - better skip it".