The County Press

Cold weather horse management tips


Take extra time to observe horses during cold snaps to ensure they’re handling the weather well and provide extra care to those that are feeling the cold’s effects.

Take extra time to observe horses during cold snaps to ensure they’re handling the weather well and provide extra care to those that are feeling the cold’s effects.

METAMORA — The 2018-2019 winter has served up roller coaster temperatures along with rain, snow and everything in-between. Our equine friends are quite adaptive to these variations, but when frigid temperatures are accompanied by wet and windy conditions, horse owners must provide extra care to help animals cope and thrive.

“Horses have three basic needs—shelter, feed, and water,” said Bob Coleman, PhD, horse specialist for the University of Kentucky (UK) College of Agriculture, Food and Environment.

Coleman said digestion is one way horses generate heat when it is cold. The average horse, with a lower activity level, should eat between 1.5 and 2 percent of his body weight in feed per day to maintain weight.

Feed requirements increase as temperatures drop and horses use more calories to keep warm. Mature horses, when adapted, can handle a temperature of 5 degrees F—called the lower critical temperature, he said—before needing to increase heat production or reduce heat loss to maintain core body temperature.

One way to do this is for the horse to eat more. In temperatures around minus 5 degrees F horses will require an additional 15 percent more forage to provide the needed calories, meaning they’ll need to eat 2 to 3 more pounds of hay each day.

“As a horse owner, making sure there is some extra hay available will help your horses get through the short-term cold snaps,” Coleman said. “Long or more chronic exposure to cold will need some other management changes to meet the horse’s calorie needs. For the short-term, add more forage.”

But, he added, if forage supplies are limited, more hay alone isn’t doing the trick, or you have a horse with special dietary needs, you might need to add a concentrate feed to the horse’s diet.

While mature horses at maintenance, can often get their required nutrients from good-quality legume-grass mixed hay, young growing horses and broodmares in late gestation generally require a concentrate to meet their increased calorie needs.

Senior horses, especially those with poor dentition, might also require a concentrate. Make all dietary changes and add concentrates gradually to prevent digestive upset.

Coleman said it’s also critically important for horses to have access to clean, unfrozen water during the winter. While this can be one of the most difficult and time-consuming aspects of winter horse management, it is also one of the most important. Appropriate water intake helps reduce impaction colic risk and keep the horse’s body functioning properly.

“It’s not uncommon to see an increase in impaction colics in horses that eat high forage diets without drinking enough water,” Coleman said. “Make sure the water you’re offering isn’t too cold and check for problems with your tank heaters.”

Horses are very resilient and cold-tolerant, and they can comfortably withstand air temperatures down to around 13 degrees Fahrenheit. Coleman said horses’ hair coats can effectively protect them from cold temperatures, but they stand up less to wind and wet conditions.

Shelters should provide protection from the wind and the different forms of winter precipitation, such as freezing rain, sleet, snow, and ice. “If a horse’s coat gets wet in rain or snow, it can dramatically chill them,” he said. “You may need to bring them inside a barn to dry and warm up. Otherwise, three-walled shelters that guard against prevailing winds will do a nice job of protecting horses from the elements.”

It’s also helpful to have bedding in outdoor shelters as long as they drain well and stay dry.

Many horse owners use blankets, which can be helpful but require extra attention. If you choose to blanket horses, Coleman advises making sure the blankets are both wind- and waterproof. A wet blanket equals a wet horse, and a wet haircoat has reduced insulating abilities. A cold and wet horse can quickly develop cold stress.

“You need to remove the blanket periodically to groom and check the horse’s coat. We have some extreme temperature variations, and if that blanket gets wet or if it warms up and traps moisture from the horse sweating, it could be detrimental to the horse’s health and coat condition.”

It’s also important to ensure blankets are sized properly. A blanket that is too big or too small can cause coat-damaging friction among other issues.

Take extra time to observe horses during cold snaps to ensure they’re handling the weather well and provide extra care to those that are feeling the cold’s effects.

One last bit of advice: Coleman strongly recommends keeping horses out of pastures or paddocks with ponds or other open water sources. Every winter there are cases of horses falling through ice and into a pond, oftentimes perishing before they can be rescued.

Source: Farm News Media