Anthony, the education software manager from Chicago, was the lucky recipient of Rachel's second one-on-one date on this season of The Bachelorette, and they spent the day on what probably would have been a very Corinne-approved date. The couple took horseback rides down Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills (get it?), stopping in some boutiques along the way to pick up proper cowpoke gear. But they also paused to get a snack from a Sprinkes cupcake vending machine, which, curiously enough, happened to be offering "horse cupcakes." At this point, you may have found yourself wondering: what are horse cupcakes featured on The Bachelorette? Needless to say, they are not a regular Sprinkles vending machine option.
But they are real! Most likely, some poor Bachelor intern under the watchful eye of the episode's horse handlers had to whip up some equine-friendly treats for Rachel and Anthony's rides. A quick google search will actually turn up an impressive number of festive dessert results safe for horses to eat. (It will also turn up a lot of people wanting to bake their horses birthday cakes. Horse pastry internet is deep.) Anyway, baked goods for horses mostly all seem to be some combination of grated carrot, grated apple, oats, and molasses, plus a few standard baking ingredients to make muffins or cupcakes rise. (So they're obviously safe for human consumption, too.)
The cupcakes which Rachel and Anthony's horses ate most likely had a lot of molasses in them as a binding agent, hence his remark that they tasted kind of like maple syrup. It was pretty cute to watch Anthony, who had never ridden a horse before in his life, feed them cupcakes, but, as he predicted, it led to a rather messy moment in one very glam Beverly Hills boutique. Feeding horses cupcakes mid-shoot obviously led to some casual horse droppings left behind on the pristine white floors of the shop in which Rachel and Anthony were trying on clothes. So, as hard as Rachel was trying to make riding horses down Rodeo Drive a thing, the clean-up logistics alone mean that it is very much not a thing.
But Rachel and Anthony did manage to have a pretty fun time together, punctuated by dancing along to a moonlit jazz quartet after dinner. Needless to say, he definitely got a rose at the end of his one-on-one date. (And the horses seemed happy with their cupcakes.)
