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You are here: Horses > Horse nutrition / feed > Cold Weather Horse Maintenance |
Equine Winter Nutrition, Activity &
Horse Maintenance Tips for Colder Weather
During the winter, most horses will have changes in their
nutritional needs. Cold weather, which doesn’t permit
riding, can dramatically alter the amount of calories a
horse needs to consume. Some simple, general tips can help
to keep your horse in great shape over the winter. |
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Spending more time in the stall and less riding usually
means that a horse will need fewer calories. Then again, in
colder weather, a horse burns more calories to generate body
heat and maintain its normal core temperature. It’s
important to know, however, that in all but the most extreme
weather, a horse’s caloric needs generally rise only ten to
twenty percent. In the past, horse owners fed corn during
the winter to help horses generate more body heat and reduce
the stress of cold weather. However, a |
horse is able to generate more heat in the hindgut from the
fermentation of forage, such as hay and grass. Replacing
some of the horse’s grain concentrate with hay can help it
to more easily maintain its body temperature.
 One way to do this is to substitute two pounds of hay for
each reduced pound of grain fed daily. When less than half a
percent of the horse’s body weight is fed daily in grain,
consider supplementing with a specialty feed. This ensures
that the horse is still receiving the right amounts of
vitamins and minerals at the reduced feeding rate. For
instance, a good winter ration for a mostly idle horse might
be seventeen pounds of quality grass hay and two pounds of
specialized feed. This combination meets 110% of a mature
horse’s caloric needs, as well as ensuring it receives the
right protein, mineral, and vitamins.
When the cold weather begins, horse owners can notice a
greater frequency of impaction colic. One of the main causes
of impaction colic can be dehydration from reduced water
consumption, inadequate water availability, and eating hay
(which only contains 10% water) rather than grass, which
contains 80% water.
Making sure that horses have good access to unlimited warm
water can help encourage horses to drink more and prevent
impaction colic. When a horse drinks cold water, they must
use extra energy to replace the heat lost to the chilling
water, and they instinctively drink less. Adequate water
intake ensures that the fiber in the digestive system stays
hydrated, which allows it to be broken down by intestinal
bacteria. This makes it much less likely to cause blockages.
Adding a free-choice mineral supplement or mixing salt,
mineral supplements, and electrolytes into a horse’s feed
can also simulate a horse to drink more water. Providing
adequate exercise also reduces colic by helping to aid gut
motility.
Because an unclipped horse’s winter coat can make it
difficult to check the horse’s body condition, the owner
should use a weight tape or scale monthly to check the
horse’s weight. This allows the owner to adjust the feeding
program as needed and to keep the horse in peak physical
condition and ready for warmer weather.
Finally, pay attention to the barn’s ventilation. Good air
flow is even more vital than warmth to horses kept in a
closed barn. Also, care should be taken when feeding hay to
horses kept in enclosed barns. Horses that are fed hay from
nets above their heads have more frequent respiratory
problems than horses that eat hay from the ground or from
hay nets hung low enough to allow the respiratory tract to
drain down. However, be careful not to have the nets hung so
low that a horse can get its legs tangled in them.
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Read the next horse nutrition article on Boarding Your Horse and Proper Feeding. |
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