Horse club

[Butterscotchbitesfinger]

Good for you! Looks like a perfect day
My poor Hombre is practically an orphan. I've been busy refinishing the deck and just life in general. DH has been stepping up on horse duty because he has been cleaning up a portion of the pasture, don't know if I had mentioned b4. So, further excuse to be delinquent on my horse duties. Went for feed,clean up last eve. Hombre misses me I can tell I will make time today.
Anywho, we ordered a bunch of hay. Minimum was too much for us so we hui-ed up with friends. Had to borrow a truck for pick up and did 2 loads.
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But that lead us to our friends place for a drop off and one of her usual visual treats and heartfelt surprises- that I of course gotta share w/ you all.
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Now, this little surprise is from Iluna, one of the rescued horses. Actually the one we gifted to our pal after she lost one of her brood mares. So, I am especially proud and so is my friend.
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Just days old. We treaded lightly so not many photos. We were dropping off w/o friend there. What a treat.

They are soooooooooo cute. I think I’m officially in love.

 

[TropicalBabies]

Too much yeah? I love the mule... but I bet that colt is going to be something in a few months. I think babies a re cutest after a few months. When new born they seen so fragile and gangly

 

[Butterscotchbitesfinger]

Never too much! I just went for a ride. To all u horse riders out there, particularly if u ride dressage like me it is super important they stretch their neck. I will show some stretches that are really good for their neck, I use both these

(I don’t do the tongue stretch though because I’m worried Hudson would bite me.)

 

[littledog]

*Warning This May Be A Long Post*

So because of COVID-19, I am home all the time and have plenty of time on my hands, and I was thinking of making a horse treat business as a fun, creative, easy-ish way of making money! I just have some questions for you guys to determine somethings!

I would make sure everything extremely sanitary, and likely wear gloves while making, if that makes you feel any better

1.) Do you care if their cute or not? This is very important because it determines the recipe I use.
2.) How large would you want packets/orders to be? Would you want different sizes like Small, Medium, Large, or if they're decorated 4 pack, 6 pack, 8 pack, 10 pack? This is all very important.
3.) How much would you pay for each size?
4.) Shipped in bags or boxes? (With boxes the price goes up!)
5.) Are there any common ingredients you wouldn't want in them?
6.) Are there any ingredients you would want in them?
7.) What is your favorite current brand for horse treats? Why?
8.) What is your least favorite? Why?
9.) Would you want Sugar Free treats as an option?
10.) Do you think you would buy treats from my business if I made one?

What a great idea and fun/productive way to pass the time! Just my opinions:
1. I think they should be somewhat cute, or at least nice looking - not just lumps. Don't need to be some complicated shape, just something a cookie-cutter can do.
2. I would pay more for lots of small treats than a few larger treats, even if the total weight is the same. Decorations that are too elaborate would make me think I'm paying too much for useless frippery, I think just a nicely-designed label on the bag with a cute picture and list of ingredients would be the right amount of decoration.
3. Let's say it was a 1 lb. bag filled with 32 1/2oz. cookies (I'm not much of a baker, so I'm not sure what size they would be, I'm just guessing flat cookies about 1" wide) I would pay $5- $10 depending on the ingredients. Less if they're a hard consistency like a dog biscuit, more if they're kind of chewy.
4. Definitely bags. Like, a heat-sealed plastic bag with the cute label on it, shipped inside a bubble-wrap mailer bag. I think in this age of covid, people would have more confidence in an inner bag that is sealed.
5 and 6. I think if they were non-GMO and/or organic, people would pay more. Like, stick to fruits/carrots, avoid corn (why would they pay for a treat that's mostly corn when COB is like 50# for $15?) and instead of regular flour, you could use rice bran (powdered, not the pellets) which is low in sugar and healthy for even older/Cushings/Insulin-resistant horses.

Because, the people who would buy these treats, rather than just a bag of carrots or apples, probably have older, lifelong buddy horses who they want to spoil without wrecking their low-sugar diets.
See question #2: this is why small-sized treats are better for this type of customer. Me, for example: I could give my 26-y-o Cushing's horse several treats without having to do a bunch of math with the ingredients or feel guilty that I might have given him too much sugar. And the horses don't care, small or large, a treat is a treat.

7 and 8. I almost never buy treats any more. I give them apples from my trees when they're in season, and occasionally a bag of carrots when the grocery store is practically giving them away. When my horse first went on pergolide for his Cushing's, I tried a bunch of different treats to hide his pills in, and even the most appetizing (and pricey) were a big fail. He started refusing all treats, thinking there was a hidden pill. My mare, on the other hand, considers anything you feed her from your hand a treat and doesn't care what it is.
9. Low in sugar, definitely. A minimal amount of molasses to hold them together OK, but no fake sweeteners.
10. I would definitely give them a try at least once, if the price was right. And if a pill could be hidden in them and my gelding would still eat it, I'd be a regular customer.

When you market them, and this is just my opinion: you should stress
1. the safety, sanitation, wearing gloves and masks all through the process until you seal them in plastic bags.
2. healthy, natural ingredients, no GMO or corn, low in sugar for older horses who need that kind of diet, but still delicious. Do the math and put sugars/carbs per treat on the label and on your website.
3. Also make sure you test how long they stay good with or without refrigeration, and put that on the label/website too.

I bet you'll do really well with a good recipe, honesty and transparency in your process and ingredients, and getting out the right messaging to the horse owners who are able to spend money right now.

Good luck to you!

 

[littledog]

I hope you don't mind, I downloaded that poster to try the exercises with my own horses, and maybe post them at my barn for others to try.

 

[Butterscotchbitesfinger]

I hope you don't mind, I downloaded that poster to try the exercises with my own horses, and maybe post them at my barn for others to try.

I don’t mind at all. That’s why I shared them. They work well with Hudson. I use treats to tempt him particularly while doing the stretches from the second poster.

 

[Butterscotchbitesfinger]

Occasionally I buy equinedelights they are very sugary, the ones Hudson likes best are molasses, oats, apples, chai seeds and I think it has ummmm I can’t think of it (you watch, it’ll come to me after I wake up tomorrow). But they’re good I have been sooooo tempted to try them they smell soooooo goooood. Though I can’t imagine Hudson being very pleased if I ate them. We bought a value pack (a container full) and it cost almost $40! That’s why I don’t buy many treats for him, they are sooo expensive and this is coming from a farm store!

 

[9SpiceyChickens]

I'm really excited because I get to lease a pony at my barn, Casper, for the month of May! He's a super cute cremello (white hair with pink skin and 2 blue eyes). He was supposed to be leased by another girl, but she couldn't so I get to! He was also supposed to be $500 a month, but because of Corona, it's $350 a month! We're not allowed to jump out of lessons and we can't afford private lessons, so no jumping ( ) but we're going to have a lot of fun! I'll post pictures of him soon enough....

 

[Butterscotchbitesfinger]

I'm really excited because I get to lease a pony at my barn, Casper, for the month of May! He's a super cute cremello (white hair with pink skin and 2 blue eyes). He was supposed to be leased by another girl, but she couldn't so I get to! He was also supposed to be $500 a month, but because of Corona, it's $350 a month! We're not allowed to jump out of lessons and we can't afford private lessons, so no jumping ( ) but we're going to have a lot of fun! I'll post pictures of him soon enough....

That’s wonderful. I’m so happy for you, I’m taking Huddie for a hack this morning

 

[littledog]

Though you can't afford private lessons, are there maybe occasional group lessons that you can afford, so you could do some jumping? It's pretty easy to "social distance" when riding, even in a group.
If not, well, at least you'll have a tom of fun riding him! Pics, please