Luckily, the equine cookie world is a bit different than the human cookie world.  To most of us, if a human cookie is truly healthy, we won’t eat it.  Or, we put it into another category like Vitamin bar or Healthy bar (and most of those aren’t really healthy anyway…).  Basically, the true vitamin or nutrient enhanced human cookies, to me,  kinda taste like dust.  Patooey.

But, that isn’t the case with Equine “value added” cookies.  Thank Goodness.  Horses like what they are supposed to eat and they gobble up the goodness.

Now, I’m not saying that horses won’t eat ‘bad for them’ cookies.  I know they do.  But, what I am saying is that they won’t throw out ‘good for them’ cookies like we do.

ARE THERE GOOD EQUINE COOKIES OUT THERE, REALLY?

I have researched and found 2 equine cookie makers who are painstakingly and thoughtfully making cookies for the nutritional good of the horse.  I’m sure there are more out there… these are just the two that I found.  Kam Animal Services Cookies with a Clue and Skode’s Horse Treats. (I have no affiliation with either.)

SKODE’S COOKIES

Skode’s Horse Treats was created after the owner had a horrible bout of Laminitis in three of her horses several years ago.  The experience was traumatic.  Out of that trauma came a huge desire to learn about the foods that promote laminitis and IR as well as the foods the help a horse fight (or more specifically, don’t aggravate)  laminitis and IR.  Skode’s whole goal with her company was to help others steer clear of laminitis/IR through diet.  Makes sense to me… we are what we eat.

I received a sample bucket of low sugar and low starch Skode’s Cookies.  They are guaranteed to be carefully balanced to a simple sugar and starch ratio of below 10 percent. In my humble opinion, cookies with low sugar and low starch are good for all horses, not just IR horses or horses prone to laminitis.  Why push the envelope, right?

MOM, IS THAT YOU?

I opened up the box and felt like I had just received a care package from home.  As you can see by the photos, the cookie packets felt like Mom just baked them up and sent them over  — which in fact, is exactly what happens at Skode’s.  There is no factory other than her kitchen.  No middle man finds her ingredients for her, she does it.  And, every ingredient is the best she can find for the purpose of equine nutrition – no gimmicks and no shortcuts.  I like that.

MY CARE PACKAGE

My care package included Apple Pie Cookies, Pumpkin Spice Cookies, Ginger Snaps, Enchanted Flower Cookies and Banana Cookies.  Wow.  Yummy!  They smelled GREAT!  I looked at the analysis on each label and then sought out my taste testers.

First though, I have to tell you that these cookies don’t look processed at all.  They look like real cookies with special ingredients that are obvious.  You can see the pumpkin seeds.  You can see the Flowers.  You can smell the apple and the banana and the fragrance is real, not enhanced or extracted.  So, I took a bite.  Yup.  I took a bite of each one.  And, I’m still here today… so that went well.  But, I have to say that I didn’t enjoy them as much as my horses.

OMG!  My horses went wild for these!  It was like I was serving a 5-Star dinner!  They practically came through the fences after the first bites!  Even my dog, Nomar, was eating them.  He followed me all around and stood there waiting for a cookie as I took his picture.  He never stands for photos!  To a horse or a dog, these cookies are tasty, let me tell you!

WHAT I LIKE ABOUT SKODE’S COOKIES

I like that there are Special Blends or formulas for different ailments, per se.  She has the Ultra Low-Sugar cookies in quite a few varieties, the Digestion Blend and the Terrain Blends (blends with different types of vegetation according to type of terrain in that area), as well as Support Minerals.

I like that you can purchase in bulk and get a discount.  I like that the shipping costs are very reasonable.  I really like that she offers the cookie mixes (unbaked) so that you can bake them at home (at a discount).  I like that you can have them automatically sent to you and I like that you can call Skode and talk about your needs…

I also liked that they look like cookies!  Itty Bitty bite-sized cookies!

GREAT HOLIDAY IDEAS FROM SKODE’S

Here is a wonderful assortment sampler that you could try for yourself or gift to other people.   She also has Trail Mix samplers and just lots and lots of inventive and interesting treats for your horses.  She even has special Mashes to warm your horses’ souls on these stormy nights!

SKODE’S OTHER ELIXERS

I haven’t tried the other mashes and multitude of other ‘good for your horse’ elixers on the Skode’s website.  But, I want to try the Support Minerals for Norma.  These minerals are specifically for IR horses, especially those who retain odd fat areas (she does) with a proclivity for founder (which seems to be happening).    From Skode’s point of view, magnesium was the ‘wonder drug that saved her horse’s life’  so she refined the blend and put it in her line up.

Anyway, you can look on her website to peruse the various blends and formulas listed and see what tickles your fancy.

THE SCIENCE BEHIND HER BLENDS

These cookies are all organic (which can mean nothing, truth to tell, but in herbs it is good because it means no sprays or chemicals).and that she has done extensive lay-person research into herbs and minerals for equine nutrition with the help of:

Catherine Bird, Dr. Juliet Getty,  PHD, and Dr. Eleanor Kellon, DVM. You can read about them here.

KAM ANIMAL SERVICES

Gabrielle Sutton is an equine nutritionist that I admire.  She has spent many years figuring out why and how nutrition works inside humans and horses.  She also has a list of well known experts who advise her.  If you click here, you can read about them.

I’ve written about Gabrielle before and you can read that here.  She has an entire equine nutrition practice devoted to equine wellness.  If you go to her website, you can see how robust it is around equine nutrition and disease.  I call her the Equine Nutritional Wizard.

Today I would like to speak about her cookies.

COOKIES WITH A CLUE (that is what they are named….)

Gabrielle has come up with cookies that are good for certain issues.  The names pretty much spell it out…

Booster Bites (gives your horse an ‘all around’ nutrient boost, without making your horse ‘hot’)

Belly Bites (This organic nutrient specific treat provides great gut support)

Chubbies (This organic nutrient specific treat is SAFE for horses with EMS and IR)

Owchees (This organic nutrient specific treat offers support when there is pain, discomfort and suffering from inflammation)

Stress-Busters (This organic nutrient specific treat works fast when needed).

Now, it is tough for me to believe that a cookie will help with all of these issues  – but you need to think of it as a bite of nutrition instead of a treat.   It makes sense how over time these cookies add missing elements to the equine system.  I am very curious, however, to see if the Stress-Busters do really work quickly.  The website says they have ‘homeopathic remedies”.  I’d like something that works quickly!  Interesting and I’d like to try them.

But first, my experiment.

MY EXPERIMENT WITH BELLY BITES

I was given a bucket full of individually wrapped bags of Belly Bites.  Nice!  But, I know they usually come in Bucket form so you don’t have to worry about a bunch of little bags.  However, I like having them and will distribute them to my horsey friends.  From my perspective, the cute little individual packets would be FABULOUS stocking stuffer or gifts or holiday party favors.  Loved them!  The tiny bags have a nice label and a green pipe cleaner twisty-tie.  Cute.  Of course, if I was feeding these daily as you are supposed to, I’d want just the big ol’ bucket of bites.

The form is like a pellet, not like a cookie.  So, not too attractive to a human but the horses didn’t care.  They did smelled great!…

The horses loved them!  Again, they wanted MORE!  No problem getting them to eat the Belly Bites!  But, having not had these cookies for a long time and not experimenting with a horse who has a gut issue, I cannot attest to their results.  I know the idea is to use these daily so that the nutrients help the gut over time.  Coming from Gabrielle, I trust that these products do what they say they will do…  But again, I haven’t done that kind of testing.

ANOTHER FUN COOKIE GROUPING FROM KAM – THE SURVIVAL KIT

If you want a nice assortment of all the cookies to have on hand, this is an economical deal when you break it down.

HERE’S A GREAT HOLIDAY COOKIE GIFT ASSORTMENT IDEA

I thought this Holiday Gift Bucket was a terrific idea.  You get a bucket of 20 individually wrapped assorted cookies for $29.95 plus shipping.  You can use these as little gifts!  Or, gift yourself and try them all!

KAM’S COOKIE CONTEST

Well, I’m always up for a good contest!  If you email your Cookie success stories to Kam, you might win the monthly prize!  Yup, Cookies!  Here is the link for the contest.

TIP OF THE WEEK AND GABRIELLE’S TELESEMINAR

A few other wonderful things on Kam’s website are the Tip of the Week (very insightful and helpful — I wish I could pilfer some of those ideas for my blog!…) and they also have A FREE WEBINAR about nutrition on Dec 6th.  Here is the link with information.  I signed up…

HORSE AND MAN is a blog in growth… if you like this, please pass it around!

INSTANT KARMA DO GOODING! Our December Bucket Fund
HELP WITH PAYBACK!!   Donation Gift Certificates are here!  Yup, if you donate to help Tullie (the burned horse), Gump (the ugly horse), Dixie (the starved and sick horse) or the Wild Mustangs/Burros (the gathered horses), you can now get  “A Donation has been made in Your Honor” certificates to give as gifts!  You can give them to coworkers, family, friends or even in lost pets’ names… for this Holiday Season. Yay!  INSTANT KARMA!