As we sit down to pen our October blog, the forecast for the week ahead looks a little grim for anyone who spends lots of time outside. We’re facing a spell of wet and blustery weather, so no doubt the fields will get muddy, and the wind will strip the trees of leaves, depositing them all over the yard! We’re less than two weeks away from the clocks changing (remember they ‘fall’ back an hour in the autumn) and that means darker evenings are on the way. Frost, ice and even snow won’t be far behind, and combined with short days and long nights, it all makes winter a challenging time for horse owners.
We know that for our followers and customers, it’s ensuring that their horse stays happy and healthy during winter which is their main focus. With that in mind, for this month’s blog we’ve gathered our five top tips to help you keep your horse happy this winter!
Feed plenty of forage to keep them warm
Did you know that when forage is broken down in a horse’s hind gut, it produces lots of heat? That can act like their own internal central heating, keeping them warm on a cold winter’s night. If you’re leaving your horse with a hay net for the night, will that be enough to keep them going all night, bearing in mind horses are designed to trickle feed for 20 hours a day? If you’re worried about weight gain, then try cutting right down on any hard feed and dialing up forage in its place. A handful of chaff with some feed balancer and any supplements is all lots of horses and ponies need if they’re getting plenty of forage.
Make sure your horse gets out of its stable every day
Unless your horse is on strict box rest, don’t use the weather as an excuse to leave them stabled all day. Getting them out for exercise and some form of turnout is essential for their physical and mental wellbeing, with good gut health linked to movement as well as what the horse eats. A Swedish study showed horses preferred to be out in all weather, bar the very wettest and windiest, when they chose to go into a field shelter. Just wind, just rain, snow and cold all saw them choose to stay out.
If your field gates get so muddy it’s almost impossible to get through them, a little bit of preparation can help. You could try using temporary fencing to stop horses gathering there when they are ready to come in or create a track to the gate which you change every week to stop it getting too muddy. Some people lay down hardcore or special mats to stop the mud coming through at all. Even a few hours turned out in a school will give your horse the chance to stretch its legs and a change of scenery.
Keep things varied in the school
Dark evenings, wet fields and icy roads can make hacking tricky in winter. If the thought of another schooling session fills you with dread in winter, just imagine how bored your horse could be. Try to implement some variety if they are mainly exercised in the school, with lunging, long reining, gridwork, pole work and loose schooling. If you have transport, you could box to a training centre for a clinic or head to the beach for some fun. We welcome groups of up to four horses and riders (or you can come on your own!) to Thorpe Farm to use our gallops for an hour at a time, and we love seeing the different ways people use them, from fast work to practicing shoulder in, travers and more!
Provide tepid water on the coldest mornings
Some horses, particularly veterans with sensitive teeth, may find drinking very cold water uncomfortable. That leads to dehydration and, especially if they are fed on mainly dried forage, that can put them at risk of impaction colic. We recommend topping up a bucket of cold water with some warm water from the kettle several times a day so that horses have the chance for a good drink – and the same goes for older horses who winter out. It might be a thankless task when the weather is freezing, to cart hot water to the field in the morning and afternoon, but it’s a better option than a poorly, dehydrated horse. Soaking their hay can also help sneak in more water, as can ensuring any chaff or hard feed is mixed with a good slosh of tepid water.
Make sure they can interact with other horses
More time spent stabled can mean less time interacting with other horses, and in some cases means your horse can’t see or touch another horse for the majority of the day. As herd animals one of horses’ basic needs is to be able to interact with other horses, so please do bear this in mind. A mounted police force took part in an equine behaviour study where they removed the upper partitions between loose boxes. After some minor disagreements between horses as they sorted their pecking order and one or two moves, the horses settled and their behaviour markedly improved, including under saddle. How many horses branded as ‘naughty’ might be desperately missing equine company? We’ve seen some yards move to shared barn space, which can work well, or wintering groups of horses out with a large, bedded field shelter in case of very bad weather. Worth a try, perhaps?