10 of the best winter horse tips

These are some of the best tips I have discovered, or have been recommended over the years, for getting through winter. Now, keep in mind we live in a warmer climate than some, and while I'm sure plenty of folks from really cold locations will laugh at us poor southern people and our wimpy winters; they're real to us! ;) Also, I am not a vet, I don't claim to be, and I am not diagnosing or treating any conditions or illnesses here. You should definitely check with YOUR PERSONAL, REAL LIFE VETERINARIAN THAT KNOWS YOUR HORSE before you implement anything listed here. Also, I do know there are many different metabolic disorders and issues in horses, and while I know these tips are not a blanket "solve all" -newsflash, you won't find those anywhere- these tips can and will help the vast majority of horses and their humans... So, that being said, read on for some tips and tricks of making it through the cold, dark times!

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ONE> Hay is the way. Keep as much hay as you can in front of your horse. Hay is great for many reasons but put very simply, it feeds the furnace. The more your horse's gut is breaking down forage the warmer they will stay. Their gut is their heater, so to speak, so the more you feed it fuel the hotter it burns (this is an oversimplification, but sometimes those are best..) It also promotes thirst, and that can help prevent winter time -impaction- colic episodes caused by not drinking enough water. Also, hay is a boredom buster. Sometimes it is just too cold or gross to ride or work with your horse, and if you happen to have a busy body *raises hand* then time spent eating hay is time they are not "playing" with things (read: destroying). Keep in mind, fine hay, such as coastal bermuda grass hay, has a bad reputation for causing impaction colic when horses aren't drinking enough. A coarser hay such as orchard grass or and alfalfa mix might be a better option if this is a concern for your horse.

TWO> Salt. Adding a tablespoon or two of sea salt/kosher salt/pink salt/basically any salt that is not iodized -terrible for a healthy gut- to their feed ration can help stimulate thirst as well. THREE> Soaking feed. Soaking feed with warm/hot water depending on when you will be feeding is dual purpose. It can help stimulate appetite; most horses love hot mash. It also gets more water into them, which is never a bad thing. FOUR> Wind breaks. I don't know if your horses are like mine and prefer to use their shelters when it is hot, but stubbornly stand out in the rain/snow/hurricane/apocalypse waving their hands around like they just don't care, but wind breaks can help a lot. Sometimes it just feels drastically warmer if you can just get out of the wind. So shelters and specifically built wind breaks can be very helpful in winter (if your horses will use them). They can handle pretty low temperatures, especially with hay ad lib, but the wind and the rain are another story. Once they get in the wind, or get wet, their natural "puffer jacket" is not as effective at keeping out the cold. FIVE> Alfalfa. Consider supplemental alfalfa. Hay is best -love that long stem forage- but any is helpful. Horses typically love the taste of alfalfa and it is a calorie dense food that counts as forage, not grain. Alfalfa is especially helpful for young ones, oldies, and harder keepers. Forage first! Calories = warm. Too many calories = fat, but let's not go there. SIX> High fat feed. I know a lot of people swear by higher fat feeds, and many avoid it like the plague. If your horse needs it, consider feeding a higher fat feed during the colder months, along with upping your fiber intake (think hay, beet pulp, alfalfa) to offset the amount of calories your horse needs to burn to stay warm and maintain ideal body condition. I suggest you do your own research (IN ALL THINGS) and form your own opinions. SEVEN> Hay Supply. Find a reliable source of good quality horse hay in your area BEFORE you need them. There isn't much I hate more than having to call around to find hay when you need it. I swore to never do that again if I could help it, and thankfully I haven't had to, but that takes planning. Ask horse people around you, your farrier/vet/coach/farm owner/friend down the road/etc. Chances are somebody knows somebody that reliably has hay. EIGHT> Pasture/paddock management. Horses all eat a different paces. Some gobble it up, others take their time and savor it. I don't know about you, dear reader, but in our herd, the fatties eat the fastest AND are top horses in the herd. So you guessed it, the lower ranking horses take their time eating, and because of that end up getting pushed off of their portion of the hay. Hay bags are great, slow feeders are also great. But if your horses live outside 24/7, and don't live in stalls it can be hard to make sure everybody gets their hay and nobody else's. Splitting horses up by metabolism and eating style versus gender is one of the best equine management things I ever did. Lots of farms I know will split the pastures by mares and geldings. However, we have more luck splitting the fatties off into their own paddock, where we can monitor the hay and pellets they are consuming and the lower ranking horses have the time they want to eat their hay. NINE> Water, in its solid form. Anybody that has had animals for any length of time knows animals should have access to clean drinking water at all times. However, this can be tricky in climates where it gets cold enough to freeze your troughs. Trough heaters are a fabulous option! If you can manage putting the trough somewhere close to power and can plug it up. But what if this isn't an option for you? Or not an option for all of your pastures/paddocks? Well, there are two popular options I have found. Both may not work for an especially cold area. One is to keep a gallon jug partly filled with salt water floating around in your trough. It is supposed to keep ice from forming around the top, now I have never tried this personally because every time I try, somebody -just kidding, I know who- goes jug bobbing and pulls the jugs out of the trough and smashes them... But what I have tried, and I know works in our Southeastern USA climate zone, is keeping an access hole clear in the trough. Early in the winter (or later), ice isn't nearly as thick in troughs and fishing it all out is no big deal. It's cold, but easily done. However, in the dead of winter ice can get pretty thick and it's hard to remove it all. So don't. What we do is cut a good sized access hole in the ice sheet and then make sure that stays clear. For the most part the horses will keep it clear themselves, but it does still need to be checked. Keeping a claw hammer and old large screwdriver by the gate (or trough if your horses won't mess with it) is also helpful because you can grab it as you go to check water. TEN> Tissues. My last tip is for you, the rider/owner. Keep a boxes of tissues in the barn or in the truck. I don't know about you, but cold weather makes my nose run, and having a box of tissues handy is super helpful! I am always thankful I remembered to put it out there when I am in the middle of chores with a running nose. Well, that's all ten, I hope they help. And remember, winter may be coming, but it is going too, the shed will be upon us before we know it.

#winteriscoming #horse