Care and Knowledge
Care and Knowledge
Winter Care of Horses
Winter can be very hard on animals who have to live and survive out of doors. It
is our responsibility to minimize this stress on the animals in our care. The most
critical areas to consider are housing, nutrition, and exercise.
Horses are very well
adapted to the cold and for the most part would rather be outside. Their coats provide
excellent water shedding by the outer guard hairs and insulation by the undercoat
which traps air against the skin to keep them warm. Thus in the rain, the outer coat
is wet but the skin is dry. It is important to provide shelter against the wind.
A lean-
The biggest problem with winter and horses is related to nutrition. In the
fall, most of the nutrients leave the leafy grass and go into the roots. This leaves
a tough fibrous residue which can provide some nutrition but usually not enough.
It is especially hard on older horses with worn teeth and less efficient digestive
tracts. They can neither grind the tough plants, nor properly absorb them from their
intestine. It is often difficult to tell how thin these senior citizens are due to
their heavier winter coats. The other stress of winter is an increased use of calories
to stay warm. This further drains the reserve of fat and requires more intake. To
prevent this winter deficit, all horses should be supplemented with hay, as the pasture
fades in the fall. For older horses who cannot effectively utilize hay, a complete
feed which includes ground up alfalfa or beet pulp as a fiber source is recommended.
Good quality round bales are an excellent way to provide hay for field horses. However,
horses with respiratory allergies and horses with worn teeth should not be fed round
bales. A weight tape as well as a manual palpation over the horse's ribs can help
you pick up weight loss before you would notice it visually.
The other nutritional
problem in cold weather is dehydration and subsequent impaction and constipation.
Horses drink less water when it is cold or frozen. When the only food intake is dry
hay and feed, the ingesta can become solidified in the digestive tract and require
intensive medical care to get it moving again. Some turn out on pasture, a bran mash
once a week, and providing free choice water which is over 45 degrees Fahrenheit
will help prevent impactions. A stock tank water heater or adding warm water to the
buckets two times daily should resolve the problem of frozen water. Do not expect
animals to drink out of ponds and streams with ice and mud around the edges. Provide
an alternative source of clean, warmed water.
The final concern in the winter is maintaining
an exercise program. Horses which are in regular work should have their rations of
grain decreased if bad weather prevents their regular work out. Failure to do this
invites problems with tying up (azoturia or Monday morning disease).
A few facts,
60% of a horse's diet (by weight) should come from fiber sources such as hay, grass,
or beet pulp. The digestion and metabolism of fiber creates more body heat in the
process than the digestion of grain. Fat is an excellent source of calories for horses,
preferably in the form of a vegetable oil. Corn will put weight on a horse but can
also provide more readily available calories which can make them "high" or harder
to handle.
As we look toward spring remember that those overweight horses and especially
ponies need to be introduced to the lush pastures slowly.
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