Bundle Up (or Don't) - Winter Care for Horses

Cold, wintry weather causes humans (and even their pets) to bundle up. My dogs wear sheepskin-lined blankets when they're out for more than a minute or two. But what about horses, animals that often spend 24 hours a day outdoors?

General Cold-Weather Care

There's no single right or wrong way to care for a horse when the temperature turns chilly. It largely depends on what the horse will be used for, where it is sheltered, and its age and health.

For example, a horse that performs regular work, spends nights in a stall, and days outside is often clipped, blanketed, and shod.

• Clipped – hair is trimmed in the fall before a woolly coat grows in
• Full body clip consists of removing all the hair
• Trace clip consists of removing hair along the middle part of the body (leaving it on the upper body and legs)
• Hunter clip consists of leaving only the hair on the legs and saddle area
• Blanketed – wears various layers of blankets depending on the temperature (replaces the protection lost when the hair was removed)
• Kept in during inclement weather
• Wears special horseshoes during the winter
• Pads prevent snow from balling up in hooves
• Borium (see photo, right) or studs prevent slipping on ice

By contrast, a horse that lives outdoors:

• Is often not clipped (or receives one of the more minimal clips)
• May wear a turnout blanket for protection from the elements
• Can be "naked", or free of blankets, if a thick hair coat is grown
  
• Often does not wear horseshoes during the winter

Food, Water and Shelter

The basics are especially important when it's cold. Horses eat more hay when it's chilly – it helps them to stay warmer. In fact, the act of eating the hay actually warms them up!

Water is just as vital in the cold as in the heat. Animals are less inclined to drink frigid water when it's chilly out, however, so lukewarm water should be provided - even if horse owners aren't thrilled about trudging out to chop up icy buckets. (Heated buckets, as mentioned in an earlier blog entry, are a great invention.)

Horses that stay outdoors should have access to a walk-in shelter, if possible. Trees can also help block the wind. Despite the temptation to close barns up tightly to keep the wind out, they should be kept well-ventilated to minimize dust inhalation. Stalls should be kept clean, especially in heated facilities. Heat makes the ammonia from urine much stronger.

To Heat or Not to Heat

Chilly riders should also consider carefully the use of a heated indoor riding arena. While it sounds nice, such drastic changes in temperature (for example, from an indoor facility heated to 40 or 50 degrees Fahrenheit to a barn or outdoor paddock that's 0degrees) can heighten the risk of both horse and rider developing an upper respiratory ailment.

Resources:

http://www.equisearch.com/horses_care/health/winter/