5 Tips for Keeping your horses warm this winter
The winter in Montana this year has been cold, windy, and where we are located, lots of snow. When the temperatures drop too low, an animals cold tolerance is affected. When you add wind chill to the temperature factor, the cold tolerance of an animal drops significantly. Horses are no exception to the rule. According to the University of Minnesota Extension, the estimate for a horse's lower critical temperature for the winter is 18 degrees Fahrenheit if the horse has a winter coat. That means, 18 degrees is the temperature a horse can be in comfortably, any lower and it's beneficial to help keep them warm. Here are 5 simple things you can do for your horses this winter to make sure they stay warm and keep a good body score!
1 Make sure they have access to hay and or grazing all day
When a horse eats, their body generates energy which keeps them warm, not unlike humans. The horse's natural winter hair coat along with the added energy of food, keeps them quite warm. I added a link below to an interesting article that shows the actual thermal imaging from a horse before and after it eats hay, while in cold weather. Making sure your horse has access to good quality grass hay is a perfect way to allow your horse to naturally warm their bodies. Constant "grazing" either with pasture or hay has a ton of benefits for your horses health while keeping them in good body condition for the winter. Sometimes a grass alfalfa mix is beneficial and adds a little extra protein into their diet. Younger horses that are growing, need consistent access to good feed. You could also supplement a young horse's diet with an appropriate amount of grain to give them a little extra boost and make sure they are getting everything they need to continue to grow.
2 Don't Blanket Your Horse
If you are in the showing world or in an extremely wet climate, this might not be an option for you. Additionally, I understand that some horses don't have the ability to grow the best winter coats. However, if your horse can, letting them grow their winter coat is actually a great way to help your horse stay warm. Most horses were made to be able to grow and shed really good hair coats. It's natures blanket! Blanketing them often inhibits that hair growth which in turn causes them to need blanketed because they never grew a thick hair coat. On the occasion that a horse can't grow as good of a hair coat (I have one of these horses myself), blanketing them is a good option, but typically if you implement some of the other tips in the blog, you still don't have to blanket them. These are simple things you can try and the results might surprise you!
3 Block the wind
When you take wind out of the scenario, the animal's cold tolerance is significantly higher. Blocking the wind by feeding in a draw, in the trees, or in a shelter is a great way to warm up your equines. Plus, it's an inexpensive and low maintenance method. If nothing else, it is considerate to the wellbeing of your horses to feed them in a location out of the wind. Even a simple cattle windbreak works just fine.
4 Straw
In severe cold, giving your horses some straw to lay in is a super cheap way to make sure they are extra warm. Especially if your horses run in herds, this is a great way to give them an extra boost as a group. A round bale or square bale of straw works great and you can usually buy one for a decent price if you look around. For one or two horses, the same applies. Shavings are a secondary option, but when your offering bedding outdoors specifically with no shed cover, shavings will get soggy much faster. The longevity of straw for outdoors is much better.
5 Provide Moisture cover
Along with wind making animals less cold tolerant, if you add moisture, either in the air or on the animal, the cold tolerance goes down, and their total digestible energy needs (food intake) goes way up. A pasture Shelter, and or tree cover is a great way to add a little protection from the elements. Providing moisture cover has other benefits besides warmth as well. It can keep your horse from getting rain rot and other similar things that are a pain to fix once they happen.
Winter can be a stressful time for equine owners living in a cold climate. There are little things that can be done to make it less stressful for owner and equine. More often than not, nature has built in provisions that we can take advantage of or supplement to make winter much more enjoyable.
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