Licking mats for horses are an awesome stall enrichment and boredom relieving horse toy. With a lick mat, your horse gets a tasty food treat, relaxing activity, and sensory variety. If you’re new to using licking mats for horses, these five spreads will give you ideas for tasty, healthy lick mat options to keep your horse entertained for hours.
What Is a Licking Mat for Horses?
A licking mat or lick mat for horses is a simple and relaxing horse toy. It’s a textured pad that you can purchase or create as a DIY project. You spread a lickable paste or syrup onto the mat, and your horse will lick off the treat spread like a lollipop.
Licking mats are popular for dogs and cats because they encourage relaxation, slow down meals, and provide stimulation. All those things are valuable for horses, too – and horses love lick mats!
Most licking mats for horses are homemade, DIY horse enrichment projects. You can create a lick mat in different shapes and sizes – even repurposing other items into awesome lick mats like this DIY slow feeder made from a rubber automotive floor mat.
The Benefits of Horse Licking Mats
Enrichment for horses is all about encouraging natural behaviors. A licking mat is a simple, inexpensive toy that you can use over and over, and they offer lots of benefits for your horse.
Licking mats are low key, calming toys for horses. They keep your horse’s mouth and mind busy, relieving boredom. The texture and taste provides important sensory stimulation, which is especially important for horses during stall time.
Lick mats are safe and easy to use as a horse toy. You can use a lick mat on the ground or screwed into a wall depending on your horse’s preference.
And the best part about licking mats for horses is the huge variety of flavors you can use! Here are five of the most popular.
1. Applesauce: Simple, Basic Lick Mat Spread
Most horses love apples, so applesauce is a no-brainer for your horse’s licking mat.
Applesauce is a great, all natural option that’s easy to find in grocery stores. You can even make your own applesauce for a licking mat by pureeing fresh apples in a blender or food processor.
When buying applesauce at the store, look for plain, unsweetened applesauce with no added sugar. Apples are plenty sweet on their own.
You’ll want to use about half a cup of applesauce for most licking mats. If you buy single-serve cups, one cup is usually a perfect amount.
Applesauce is very popular with horse licking mats. Its only downside is that it’s a little runnier than other options, so it’s best for a licking mat used on the ground.
2. Molasses: Classic, Tasty Horse Licking Mat Flavor
Molasses is a dark, sticky syrup created during the sugar manufacturing process. It’s been used in cooking for centuries for its sweetness and smell.
Molasses makes a great licking mat smear because it’s very sticky and extremely tasty to horses. Many horse feeds have some molasses added to increase their palatability. The sugar content of molasses-sweetened feeds isn’t ideal for some horses, and has given the product itself a bad reputation. But molasses is a fantastic spread for your horse’s licking mat.
To use molasses on a licking mat for horses, drizzle or spread the syrup onto a flat or textured mat. A squeeze bottle makes this a breeze.
Molasses is very sticky, so a little goes a long way. A tablespoon or two on a textured licking is plenty and will last a long time.
You can find molasses in the baking supplies section of any grocery store – I use this brand (link is for reference, but I recommend buying from local grocery). There are several different kinds and all of them are appropriate for this enrichment. It doesn’t need to be refrigerated after opening, which is a plus.
3. Honey: Ultra Sticky, Ultra Good
Honey is another very sweet and sticky option for your horse’s licking mat. And it’s a pantry staple that you might have in the kitchen right now! Like molasses, a little honey goes a long way on a lick mat for horses.
Honey’s special flavor and scent make it a good option for a licking mat. Every type of honey smells and tastes a little different because it’s a natural product made by bees.
You’ll definitely want a squeeze bottle for mess-free application because honey is VERY sticky. Add a few tablespoons of honey to your horse’s lick mat for a long lasting, tasty spread.
When sourcing honey, local is much better than mass-produced products. Honey gathered by a local beekeeper will be more expensive, but it’s real honey without additives and helps to support your local agriculture.
4. Peanut Butter: For Low Sugar Horse Licking Mats
For a low sugar spread for your horse’s licking mat, peanut butter is a great choice.
It’s a common licking mat ingredient for dogs, but horses can eat peanut butter too! Use a few tablespoons on your horse’s lick mat for a long lasting, interesting flavor option.
Peanut butter is available in minimally processed, no sugar added versions. This makes it a perfect licking mat spread for horses with metabolic conditions that can’t have any added sugar. For best quality, check the ingredients – the best brands are made of only peanuts and maybe a little salt.
Peanut butter is a perfect choice for wall-mounted horse licking mats because it doesn’t run or drip. It also takes a lot of effort to lick up, and will keep your horse busy for a long time.
5. Feed Purees and Grain Smears
If you want to keep it simple, you can make a paste or puree of your horse’s normal daily feed and use that as a perfect lick mat ingredient. All you need to do is moisten their pelleted feed or forage until it softens completely, and stir in enough water to make a smooth paste.
This is a good food for any horse’s lick mat, but it’s especially useful for horses with ingredient sensitivities or allergies.
You also don’t have to worry about nutritional content since it’s part of your horse’s daily feed amount. You can make a lick mat using grain or hay pellets as often as your horse likes.
It’s also okay to add flavor ingredients to the puree to add variety. You can add any of the other licking mat ingredients here, or try kitchen herbs and spices for a little extra flavor excitement.
Related Enrichment
Lick mats for horses are a slow feeder that gives your horse mental and sensory stimulation. For more inspiration, try these related enrichment ideas:
How to Use Peanut Butter on a Horse Licking Mat
Fruit Carton Snuffle Mat for basic food enrichment