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California Riding Magazine • June, 2009 Nicker Bait Bakery by Kathleen Burke Jensen |
The Nicker Bait Bakery overlooks a canyon in Castro Valley dotted with horse properties. Melinda Abplanalp, founder and president of Nicker Bait, is a horse owner who was tired of offering her horse the same “round and brown horse treats. So I started to make pretty and yummy treats for my equine friends,” says Abplanalp. A former sales representative for a global leader in the sporting goods industry, Abplanalp decided to apply her extensive sales and marketing background to her passion for horses. From her fresh approach to cookies and mash, to fun special occasion cakes and truffles, there are now many creative options when it comes to offering treats to horses. These are healthy treats made from organic fruits and vegetables, whole grains and no added preservatives. There is nothing routine about a Nicker Bait cookie. The bakery is nestled in the midst of 25 mature fruit trees so there are seasonal fruit cookie options that will appear on the menu including cherry, apple, fig and pear. Nicker Bait uses San Francisco’s own Giusto’s ground flax, oat flour, barley (human grade) and organic carrots, sweet potato and banana. All horse treats are tested and re-tested on a variety of horses ranging from the horse that will eat anything to the pickiest of the bunch. Abplanalp’s goal is for her customers’ horses to be very, almost to the point of obnoxiousness, thrilled with her creations.
All Carrot, No Stick! Nicker Bait is introducing a new product line at the Western States Horse Expo in Sacramento this month. Nicker Bits, with a smaller form factor, are a valuable training tool because they fit easily Everyone knows a carrot is the way to a horse’s heart but would they like sweet potato? A test was done and the result was a resounding yes. Nicker Bait borrowed from the holiday tradition humans love so much and added a small marshmallow to create Candied Sweet Potato cookies for horses. Ingredients include oats, wheat bran, barley, molasses, organic sweet potato, flax and a mini marshmallow. In a study published in the December 2005 issue of Applied Animal Behavior Science Journal, bananas ranked second in a 15-flavor taste test of what horses prefer. Bananas ranked higher than the old standby apples and carrots, so Nicker Bait created the Banana Chip cookie. All Carrot No Stick is the name of one of the newest Nicker Bait creations. You’ve heard the old saying the carrot and stick as a training method. Nicker Bait believes you’ll get better results if you drop the stick and offer a carrot topped cookie instead. Bling is everywhere. Even rough tough rodeo cowboys have bling on their horse’s headstalls. Tummy Bling has become one of the top selling flavors this season for Nicker Bait and is a jewel of a cookie. In addition to cookies Nicker Bait bakes bright, cheerful and adorable cupcakes each topped with a different neon frosting and a jewel of rock candy. The cupcakes are made of horse friendly cake ingredients and a frosting fit for a vegan will make any herbivore very happy on her special occasion. Nicker Bait Truffles are filled with dried cherries, blueberries and cranberries and hand dipped in confectioners’ sugar, pink raw sugar or candy coating. The satin ribbon ties this windowed gift box into a perfect gift. For the royal treatment customers can give their equines a mini bundt cake packaged in a windowed gift box.
The Nicker Bait Team Lisa Keenan is one of the premier food and lifestyle photographers. Her ability to capture a moment or mood, a flavor or a taste, has helped define the photographic style of many highly successful brands. Reichel Broussard has branded and designed for various online and retail companies including most recently Williams Sonoma and Pottery Barn. Abplanalp’s personal horse, Orange Crush, was a gymkhana horse before she bought him. Now he’s spoiled rotten and spends his days tasting the Nicker Bait products at Apple Creek Farms when they aren’t on the trail.
Our chief tester is Orange Crush. Nicker Bait is proudly sponsoring the Woodside Vaulters (www.woodsidevaulters.org), who will sell cookies as a fundraiser for their team. Every account that Abplanalp has introduced to the Nicker Bait product line has elected to stock the products. “Buyers get excited about cookies and the gift boxes that some of the things come in,” says Abplanalp. “Those little striped boxes with the window and satin ribbons are a big hit.” Valley Vet Supply will start carrying Nicker Bait in the near future. Nicker Bait products are available in the following California outlets: Iron Horse Equestrian in Danville, Arnie’s Crow Canyon Saddlery and Jack’s Trailer Sales Inc. in Castro Valley, Christensen’s and Western Saddlery Inc. in Pleasanton.
For more information contact Melinda Abplanalp at 510-733-2126 or via e-mail at nickerbait@yahoo.com or online at www.nickerbait.com.
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