It’s fair to say this week’s snow and icy weather has caught a lot of us by surprise . . . wasn’t it just last week we were lamenting the unseasonable mildness?
But here we are, drifts of snow and frosty cars reminding us that we’re well and truly into November and hurtling towards Christmas (ho ho ho). We can retreat to our homes at the end of the day, run a hot bath or have a cup of tea to warm up . . . how can we ensure we’re giving the same comforts to our four-legged-friends.
Make sure there’s plenty of forage available. Whether it’s grass, hay or haylage, your horse requires around 2 - 2.5% of their body weight in forage per day and relies on food to keep warm when temperatures plummet. It may be necessary to provide additional forage in the form of hay/haylage if the grass is frozen.
Keep an eye on their weight and body condition - it’s easy for a horse to lose condition rapidly in the colder months, but we might miss it. Monitor their condition throughout the winter and you’ll be able to notice issues quickly and make adjustments to keep them healthy. This might mean you have to weight them . . .
Fresh (not frozen), water. Horses drink more in the winter, due to increased feeding of dry forage and reduced intake of grass so it’s even more important to double check those buckets (field and stable) to ensure the water hasn’t frozen. If your horse is stabled, consider adding some warm water to the bucket to help prevent overnight freezing and you might want to wrap a towel around the yard tap to keep the flow of water from freezing as well.
It’s mega easy to rug our horses depending on how cold WE feel, but bear in mind that they feel the cold very differently and most will be able to regulate their body temperature when it’s between 5-25C. However, there are a few exceptions . . . veterans, youngsters, those with clips, thinner horses and finer coated breeds such as thoroughbreds and Arabs will all typically need a helping hand (or rug) to keep them warm. Remember to change rugs each day so you can keep an eye on your horse and check for any injuries. As tempting as it is to bundle our beloved ponies up when the temperature drops, over-rugging is linked to weight gain so make sure they’re appropriately blanketed.
After heavy snow, there’s often sodden ground to contend with which can lead to our favourite thing - MUD. Keep checking your horse’s legs for signs of mud fever and (crusty scabs, broken skin, matted patches of hair, heat, pain or swelling of limbs) and catch this as early as you can.
And if you’re planning to ride in this icy patch then consider hiring an indoor school (PADDOX can help you with this). Riding on icy surfaces can not only lead to dangerous slips, frozen arenas can also be incredibly damaging to a horse’s legs. The cold will also mean that it takes horses a little longer to warm up and cool down so make sure you build this time into your exercise programmes.
Just a few tips to help guide you through the cold patch . . . we look forward to hearing any additional advice you have which we’ll happily add.
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