Wednesday, December 16, 2015

majorly good treats


please sir, may I have some more?
Do you love your horse? They will tell you if you really love them you need to feed them many treats. Carrots, apples, all acceptable. But for a nice crunchy yummy, don't buy a store something, make this easy, horse-approved treat!


I don't like to cook. Or clean. But baking is fun, and baking horse treats is especially easy. I've concocted a recipe that Major (and everyone else so far) loves. They last a long time (in a sealed container or baggie), and they're pretty healthy, so they can eat quite a few (Major says A LOT is the right amount).

all ingredients needed. Except the dinosaur. He's just cool.

Flax seed horse cookies
I buy everything from the discount grocery (Winco) bulk bins. They have the best deal on spices, scoop as much or as little as you want, if you haven't tried this, check it out! I bought everything, except salt which I already had, for $11, enough to make at least 5 batches.

1.5 cups ground flax (I use a coffee grinder, or buy pre-ground flax)
1 cup whole flax
2 Tablespoons salt
5 Tablespoons cinnamon (more or less)
1 cup applesauce
1/2 cup molasses (optional, can also use brown sugar)
water if needed for consistency

Mix it all together, add water, or more applesauce, if needed till "dough" is pliable (usually I don't need to add any). Using a large cookie scoop or tablespoon, place onto parchment covered sheet (if you don't use parchment, these do tend to stick, so maybe spray instead), flatten with bottom of glass (or other fancy tool).

Put it all in a bowl. Stir it up. That's it.

make spoonfuls then flatten with your sophisticated kitchen tool...

bake them up!

I put on a cookie cooling rack to get extra crunchy.

Bake 325 for 25 minutes, then 300 for 15/20 minutes. Really just until crunchy. Not too high, they'll burn.

Transfer to metal cooling rack and leave in oven while cooling for extra crunch (I just leave them overnight, the house smells delicious). Or take them out and keep them a little chewy (though they are sticky).

Makes approximately 60. Which might not last too long. Major recommends a double batch! You can also make some and give to friends. Major also does not really like this idea. Treat your horse to something yummy and homemade. Plus it saves you from making more cookies that you'll eat yourself…

for friends, Major has to share
I am Major. And I approve this treat.

3 comments:

  1. Such a handsome spokes-horse you have! Thanks for sharing the recipe :D

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  2. I've never fed flax but if I understand correctly, baking it makes it non-toxic?

    I don't like to give sugar to horses but it looks so fun to bake those, I wonder how low I could drop the sugar and they'd still be appetizing.

    Your cards are adorable, I love the forelock. Poor Major must share.

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    Replies
    1. Major has a very sad forelock, it's so pitiful. Good ting the rest of him is cute!

      Flax has very little toxic compounds (as do many things we eat, including apple seeds!), not enough to hurt a horse in the amount given, unbaked or otherwise. I love it because it makes Major's fur amazingly soft and helps with hooves too, and I never get any skin disorders, plus it makes yummy cookies. I started it on the advice of a certified equine nutritionist. If you want to read more about the toxic myth, this post by Susan Garlinghouse DVM is imformative:
      https://groups.google.com/a/endurance.net/forum/#!topic/ridecamp/2nXNwvDfoiM

      Garlinghouse summarizes: "The thing is, there is a particular enzyme required for the cyanogenic
      precursors to break down into active cyanide. Ruminants (like cattle and sheep) produce the enzyme in abundance, but horses do not. The precursors are still there if they're fed flax/linseed, but without that enzyme, it
      just travels on through the GI and no harm done. There's never been a
      single reported case of an equine having a problem with flax/linseed, yet the urban legend still persists."

      Other information as well:
      http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC227015/
      http://www.balancedequine.com.au/nutrition/linseed.html.
      http://www.equisearch.com/community/forum/aft/1828.
      http://feedxl.com/newsletters/22-feeding-flaxseed.html
      http://americashorsedaily.com/feeding-flaxseed/#.VKmKqKZj6yM

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