The footing has been so treacherous that it has been too dangerous to ride. Tonka is barefoot, and his feet slip on ice like unwaxed cross country skis. The snow is wet, it balls up in his hooves, and so at times it’s like he’s walking on rockers. But that doesn’t mean that training him has come to a halt. We’re working on all sorts of fun and useful behaviors, like “come” and “stand” and “head down” and “let’s go” (which means walk next to my shoulder, off-lead.) I reward him with carrots, but once in awhile I like to give him a high value treat. Tonka certainly likes commercial horse cookies, but they’re expensive, and I’m not thrilled with their long list of ingredients. I decided to make my own. I developed a recipe to meet my criteria of simple, healthy ingredients, a large batch with shelf-life, and very tasty.

I warn you that these smell so good when baking that your family will be disappointed that they are for the horses!

Healthy Horse Treats
(recipe © Terry Golson at CooperativeHorse.com)

1. Preheat the oven to 350º F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper or nonstick liners.
2. Shred the carrots and apples. Please use flavorful apples, like Macouns or Macintoshes. Do not use drab delicious.

3. Put the shredded apples and carrots into a bowl, preferably of a stand mixer. (You could do this by hand, but the mixer will create a better texture and is easier. Most handheld mixers aren’t powerful enough for this dough.) Add the remaining ingredients. Cooking tip: measure the oil in the measuring cup and swirl around before pouring out. Next, measure the molasses in the same cup. The molasses will then slip right out into the mixing bowl.
4. Using the paddle attachment, beat the mixture until all is shiny.

5. Scoop out small balls, they’ll be uniform if you use a scoop (you can make them half the size shown here by using a melon baller.)

6. Bake for 1 hour, or until dry all the way through. If the tops turn dark brown before the centers are done, cover lightly with a sheet of tinfoil. Cool on a wire rack. If the cookies are baked until soft like regular people-cookies, the horses will love them, but they will only stay fresh for 3 days. Baking so that they are dry through their cores give them a longer shelf life.

makes 2 1/4 pounds

After fussing with this recipe, I took the treats to the barn to see what the horses thought.

Mica, Dune and Cisco loved them, but they’ll eat anything.

Tango, though, is a fussy thoroughbred. He spit out the first one offered. But then he thought about it and decided that he really, really liked them.

Tonka said that the cookies were a nice change from carrots. Here he is coming when called.

I’ll be writing more about training with treats in future posts. But for now, it’s important to say that I never give food “just because.” Horses are large and potentially dangerous animals. They can get pushy. A swing of a frustrated head, a shove, a bite, can do much damage. With this in mind, I only hand over a treat in response to a desired behavior. Also, how a horse takes a treat is as important as what he does to get it. A horse is capable of taking a treat with the gentlest of lips. Because of my parameters and attention to my horse’s body language, Tonka remains polite and calm, even during training and eating.

The goats also like treats. You might be surprised to hear that they are fussier than Tango! Pip turns his nose up in disdain at wilted parsley, and Caper has refused animal crackers (that his brother would have gorged on if I’d let him.) The ultimate test of this recipe was whether or not both of the goats liked them.

Like my horse, the goats are asked to behave before being fed. Sometimes I have them stand on their stumps, sometimes they are asked to back up. When I came into the barn with these new cookies, they could smell them. Their little tails wagged. They enthusiastically backed up, and then they smacked, crunched and swallowed. Success!

After a brief January thaw we are in the midst of another arctic chill. That’s the nature of January thaws, they get you thinking that spring is around the corner, and then crush your hopes.

Yesterday morning I woke up to this.

A reading like that causes some people to panic about how cold their hens are. Don’t. My two barns aren’t insulated. They have great ventilation, which means they are not closed up tight – the Little Barn has a hole in the roof called a cupola, and the Big Barn has large screened vents at the eaves. There’s no source of heat except for the barely-warm base for the waterers, and the animals themselves. And yet, this was the temperature inside of the barn at 7 am after a very cold night.

Toasty. If you’re a worrier, you might get peace of mind by bringing a thermometer inside of the coop.

The chickens don’t need a thermometer, and they’re not discouraged after the January thaw, either. As far as they’re concerned we’re heading into springtime. Even the molting laggards have grown in their plumage for the new year. Do you remember how Ruby looked in December? That’s a late molt! But despite being half-naked in early winter, the cold didn’t bother her.

This is what she looks like today. She’s in fine form and ready to lay.

In fact, Amber, the Best Buff Orpington Ever, (due to the fact that she has never once gone broody and she lays eggs as consistently as a hybrid) has already been using the nesting box.

Meanwhile, there’s been an upswing in egg production in the Little Barn, too. Twiggy, a White Leghorn, upheld her breed’s reputation for laying, and has laid eggs even on the coldest days. She’s created five to six eggs a week since she started last summer. Nancy Drew has contributed two to three eggs a week. The Americaunas stopped as daylight waned, but just this week Owly resumed laying her beautiful dusky blue egg. Beatrix is thinking about it. But Veronica? No sign at all of laying. However, she never stops chatting, and it turns out that she is a very good school visit hen.

The hens are sailing through these frigid temperatures and remain true to their optimistic natures. I’m going to follow their lead and ignore the thermometer. Spring really is around the corner. Now, if only I could convince Scooter.

The last thing that I was looking for when I went shopping for a horse was a flashy paint. In fact, my preference would have been for a solid brown or a bay with black points. Understated and classic. I certainly didn’t go out looking for a horse that inspired Oh! He is so beautiful! bursts of admiration. However, that is what I got. Even standing in mud, Tonka looks good.

What I did go looking for, my #1 criterion, was what horsemen call a kind eye. (Although, of course, horses have two eyes, it is always referred to in the singular.) Tonka has one.

Like people, horses are born with their own unique personalities. Some are introverts and some are extroverts. Some horses are competitive and have the look of eagles. Some are worriers, and some are endless, mischievous troublemakers. Some have gentle souls and thoughtful minds, and those are the horses with kind eyes.

You can’t train a horse to have a kind eye, but you can crush it. There are obvious ways to do that, such as physical abuse. There are other ways to do it as well, that are more subtle but far more prevalent.

Just like the well-behaved child in school is often ignored, so too, a good horse is often casually handled. Only when he acts up (perhaps a spook on the lead-line) is he paid attention to, and then it is with a yank on the rope. The horse with the kind eye who is ignored might learn to misbehave for attention. Or, more likely, he will simply go dull. That kind eye will turn listless.

Horses respond to pressure, both physically by touch and also when others enter into their personal space. They are exquisitely tuned to body language. They are herd animals that can read the emotional life of another horse 20 feet away by the flick of an ear. They are animals that form lifelong friendships. They also hold grudges. Horses believe that everything has cause and effect. So to keep that kind eye intact, it is not enough to simply dote on your horse. it’s not the love you feel, or the treats you give, but how you treat him. Every action (or inaction) matters.So, to nurture Tonka’s kind eye, I have to comport myself in a way that relates to him (even across a field, my movement affects his) and I also have to behave consistently and with purpose.

People like to spoil their horses, and it is easy to do. Horses have big appetites and they relish treats. You might say that you want to give your horse a carrot just because you love him, but the horse doesn’t see it that way. In his mind, there must be a reason why you have handed over that bit of food. If he nuzzles you and gets a carrot, the next time he sees you he’ll try another nuzzle. That doesn’t work? He’ll shove. I don’t want a pushy, needy horse, but that doesn’t mean that I never give Tonka carrots. Instead, they are offered only after I ask him to do something and he does it. I might ask for a “touch” or a “head down” or a “walk next to me.” I ask, he responds. I pay attention to him as much as he does to me. He knows the reward is coming because of a clear sound marker (I use a clicker). He knows what to expect, and he knows that what he does matters to me. Horses crave this sort of interaction. Tonka enjoys these short work and treat training sessions. He even adds his own twists to it to see if I really am paying attention. We’ve been doing off-lead work. during which I ask him to walk next to me, his head pointing straight ahead, parallel to my shoulder. Lately, while I walk, he’s been all contained, exuberant energy. He trots. He gets a few steps ahead and looks back. No click. He slows, he backs up, he jigs next to my shoulder. He’s asking a question, “what gets the reward, just being next to you, or do I have to walk, too?” I tell him, through body language, and then a click, that as long as he stays at my shoulder, that he can use whatever gait he wants. I might regret this later, but it sure is cute. Tonka’s kind eye glimmers with intelligence and trust.

His fancy black and white coat is a bonus. I confess that I do like having such a handsome horse! But in the end, it’s the relationship that matters.