Winter Woes for Horses Ц An Overview on Caring for your Horse in the Cold Winter Months

Articles on Horses | Topics: horses, horse, equestrian

by Marcelo Rowland

Winter Woes for Horses Ц An Overview on Caring for your Horse in the Cold Winter Months

Horses need just as much exercise and care in the winter months as they do in the summer months. There are many techniques on how to properly care for your horse in the winter.

One of the most important concerns during the winter months is something that most people do not always think about. That is the amount of water intake a horse needs during the winter months. The winter months are often cold and dry and as a result the horse actually needs just as much, or even more water during this time than in the summer. In fact, most veterinarians would most likely say that this is the number one winter concern-the amount of water intake that a horse gets.

Besides a horse becoming dehydrated, not drinking enough liquid in winter months can also cause other problems. For example, a horse can end up with impaction colic if the horse does not drink enough water. Impaction colic is a malfunction of the intestinal area that results in a severe abdominal pain. This can be prevented as long as you can keep your horse wanting to drink water.

In order to keep a horse drinking its water like he or she should, you should make sure that the horse has plenty of clean, fresh water in a sanitized water basin. Furthermore, you should place the water in a sunny location. This will help keep the water warmer for a longer period of time. However, in the event that the water does freeze up you can break up the ice with a large hammer and then dispose of it in an area not close by horse traffic.

In addition to placing the water more towards the sun, you can also add a bucketful of hot tap water in order to make sure the water stays warm. Furthermore, you can scrub water buckets and keep them in a room to warm to room temperature before placing the buckets back in the stalls. If a horse knows there is warm water available, the horse usually will be more eager to drink this water than if it was cold.

Another idea for caring for your horse in the winter is to prepare it a nice hot homemade meal. One example of a warm meal that can be offered to horses at least once a week is the bran mash. This bran mash can be made with warm tap water right from the barn and then served directly to the horses. Horses will love this bran mash, which consists of bran sweet feed, chopped apples, sliced carrots, and molasses.

For a more specific recipe you can search for it online and you will find the recipe in most horse caring websites. Pedlar.com is an example of a place to find articles that have horse recipes such as this.

аHistorical Quote

the white-crested fillies of the surge
And the white horses of the windy plain.

—Roy Campbell (1902–1957)

Another part of a horse's diet should be salt, hay, and grain. These are all essential for the health of the horse in proper proportion. The benefit of hay is that it produces fiber that helps a horse's gastrointestinal tract to work smoothly. Furthermore, the hay also produces heat, which can help keep a horse warm during the winter months.

Furthermore, a horse should have adequate shelter in the wintertime to help keep it warm. This shelter should be draft free and have a door approximately 12 feet wide so the horse or more than one horse can easily walk in and out of the shelter unit. Another technique to keeping this shelter warm is to close most of the doors and windows.

However, do not close all the windows of your horse's shelter because the barn will get too stuffy and your horse could contract an upper respiratory disease or other sickness. Furthermore, the shelter needs ventilation so the horse can breathe. Also, you do not want to shut the doors too tight around the shelter area otherwise dust, mold, and other buildup could take place. Therefore, be careful to provide adequate airflow through the place where your horse is kept during the winter.

If you have more than one horse, make sure that the shelter has adequate space for all of them, and make sure the door is facing the south. Facing the shelter door to the south allows the horses to be warmed by the midday sun.

Another way to keep a horse warm either in his or her stall or when walking, it is to cover the horse with a large blanket or long coat. This will prevent freezing and help reduce the amount of exposed sweat into the air. The best material to use to cloth a horse in the wintertime would probably be wool.

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Please note: All personal opinions expressed in the "Winter Woes for Horses Ц An Overview on Caring for your Horse in the Cold Winter Months" article belong to the contributing author and are not necessarily shared by DogsPetsCats.com.

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