Avoid These Winter Horse Care Mistakes for a Healthy Horse

Common Winter Horse Care Mistakes to Avoid for a Healthy Horse

• Horses are two things: hardy and definitely the opposite of hardy. Horsemanship means reducing risks, and there are several ways to do that in cold weather. Here are some things to consider.

Food and Water

• What your horse eats and drinks, and how they do so, is vital for health. It’s more than slow feeders or adding water to meals,it’ss also monitoring outputs – like manure and urine.

Allowing water sources to freeze over

• One of the most dangerous winter mistakes is letting your horse’s water freeze. Snow and ice are not adequate substitutes for clean, fresh water. If a horse can’t drink, their risk of developing impaction colic increases dramatically, as low water intake can dry out the digestive tract. This is in addition to the organ failure that can accompany dehydration.

• Research shows us that horses prefer to drink cold water, but will drink more warm water. If given a choice, horses like cold water. You should offer both. And you must keep the water from freezing. You have several options:

• Invest in a heating device designed for water troughs or water buckets. This could be a heating element or a bucket warmer, or specialty buckets with the heating element included. Some require power, others do not.

• Check waterers daily to ensure they are functioning and the water is not frozen.

• Break and remove any ice that forms on the surface.

• Ultimately, a horse that isn’t properly hydrated is at risk. Taking steps to provide unfrozen, fresh water is a non-negotiable part of winter care. This simple action helps prevent serious health problems, such as dehydration and colic.

Read more about hot and cold water for horses here.

Not adjusting forage rations for cold temperatures

• As temperatures drop, your horse burns more calories to stay warm. Failing to adjust their feed rations to account for this can lead to weight loss, which is often hidden under a thick winter coat if you don’t clip.

• Forage, like hay, is the best source of extra calories in the winter. The process of digesting fiber-rich hay actually generates a significant amount of body heat, helping your horse stay warm from the inside out. Adding more commercial feeds and grains is not the answer. Forage, either long-stem hay or chaff, hay cubes, or hay pellets, ferments in the hind gut and provides warmth.

• For “hard keepers,” adding more forage may keep them at an OK weight. If you add forage and they still seem teetering on the edge of underweight, use blankets. Then those extra calories go toward weight gain, and you can let the blanket do the job of warming your horse.

• Increase hay rations as it gets colder. Overnight forage supplies need to last until morning, so you may need to do some creative tinkering to find a solution.

• Talk to your vet about the right amount of feed for your horse’s needs.

• Choose a good quality type of hay to provide the best nutritional value, unless your horse already has enough, or too much, body fat. Easy keepers may do best with low-quality hay to keep their digestion going without too many added calories.

Not changing commercial feeds and supplements appropriately

• You may need to shift the bagged feeds and supplements you feed in the winter. You’ll want to accommodate your horse’s calorie needs and supply the missing nutrients that pasture can’t provide in the cold.

• Commercial feeds come in several forms. Ration balancers provide vitamins and minerals without extra calories. Grains and complete feeds also add calories. Choose the best one for your horse’s body type. Usually, you don’t need to increase the feed volume in the winter unless your vet thinks your horse needs more calories. It may be better to switch to a complete feed in those cases. Horses do best when they eat bagged horse feeds in smaller volumes a few times a day.

• You may need to supplement with nutrients, especially Omega-3 fatty acids and some vitamins, such as vitamin E. Fresh pasture is chock-full of these goodies, but winter pasture will be lacking. Omega-3s are a fantastic way to provide all-over anti-inflammatory support and support healthy skin and coat. As a hydration tip, adding some stabilized flax Omega-3s to water tempts your horse to drink.

• If you are changing any part of your horse’s diet, do so over a few weeks to slowly acclimate their digestive system to the changes.

Recognize when your horse needs calories (or not)

• Weight fluctuations are possible in winter, but to be sure, estimate your horse’s weight often. Once a week or so, use a weight tape to gauge if the pounds are going up, down, or holding steady.

• You may need to adjust your caloric intake over a few weeks to help maintain a steady, healthy weight.

These horseshoe pads help reduce snowballs from forming in the hoof. 

Hoof Care

Pulling, or not pulling, horseshoes for winter

• If you are not riding or showing as much over the winter, consider pulling your horse’s shoes. While this is a fantastic idea for some horses, for others it can be a disaster. Some things to consider:

• Hoof quality. Are the soles thick enough to withstand the transition to barefoot, and will the ground be hard and frozen for long stretches? Thinner soles and harder ground make barefoot comfort tricky.

• The transition time. Going from shod to barefoot can take time for some horses. Work with your farrier a few cycles before you pull shoes to ensure they are longer and tougher to help ease the transition.

• Have a backup plan for hoof protection if barefoot in winter is your thing. Hoof boots for turnout and riding are a thing! There are dozens of styles for every occasion.

• If you are keeping your horse shod, have a plan for packed-in snowballs. These clumps of packed snow in the hooves make walking dangerous and can lead to injury. Special snow pads prevent the snow from balling up.

Farrier care

• And while the hoof slows down its growth in the cold months, keep up with preventative hoof care and regular farrier visits.

• Schedule regular trimming with your farrier every 4 to 8 weeks.

• Pick your horse’s hooves daily to remove packed snow and ice.

• Monitor the soles for signs of bruising. You may see darker areas where rocks or frozen obstacles have bruised the sole or the hoof wall. Be vigilant about noticing early lamenesses, too.

Daily Health Care Mistakes

• It’s so easy and fast to check your horse’s health. It takes a few minutes a day to monitor their vitals, gums, and hooves for the first signs of problems.

Skipping vital signs and gum checks

• Here are a horse’s resting vitals. An increased heart rate or respiratory rate can mean pain, or they just ran around a little before you checked on them. An elevated temperature of about 101.5 is cause for concern and warrants a call to your vet.

Temperature – 99.5 to 101.5.

For foals, up to 102 is normal.

Pulse (Heart Rate) – 24 to 40 beats per minute, although most horses are between 32 and 36.

For newborn foals, 80 to 100 is normal, and 60 to 80 is normal for older foals.

Respiration – 8 to 12 breaths per minute

For foals, 60-80 breaths per minute

Not checking gums for signs of dehydration

• Take a peek at your horse’s gums! Make sure they are pale pink and slippery.

• When you feel between the upper teeth and upper lip, it should be slick. Dry or sticky gums indicate dehydration.

• If the gums are any color, like red, purple, white, or yellow, this is cause for concern and you should call your vet.

• Also, perform a quick capillary refill time. Press your thumb into the gums, release it, then watch for the color to return to a pale pink. This process should take 2 seconds.

Read more about gums here.

Not noticing manure and urine habits

• It’s so tempting to zip through your chores and head back to the warm indoors, but take a few minutes to check for manure and urine spots. Is your horse pooping and peeing as they usually do, in the same places for creatures of habit, in the same amount? How does everything look? If manure is too wet, your horse may become dehydrated. If things are too dry, it can be the beginning of an impaction. Urination habits can also signal hydration status.

Ignoring skin abnormalities

• Winter, for most horses, means their thick winter coat can trap moisture, sweat, bacteria, fungus, dirt, and dead skin cells. Thorough grooming should remedy all of this, sometimes we can’t get ahead of it. Mud fever on the legs is common in damp, dirty conditions, but you can also find skin problems under a blanket. Don’t forget to use your fingertips to check for rubs, crusty areas, extra-itchy spots, or anything abnormal that needs special attention.

Ignoring changes to behavior

• Most horse owners notice the cold-weather zoomies, but other behavior changes may indicate something amiss. Any changes to eating, drinking, urinating, or pooping are red flags.

• Go beyond that and see if they are stressed, either by amping up or shutting down. Boredom in the barn or snowy paddocks without grazing is the perfect opportunity for vices to pop up. Do you notice cribbing, wood chewing, weaving, or any other vice? Nip those in the bud!

This article outlines common vices in horses.

Grooming and Blanketing Mistakes

• Horse grooming in cold weather can be the pits! But if you keep it up, your horse will stay healthier.

Skipping routine grooming

• Not only will grooming help keep skin and hair healthy and mud-fever-free, but you will also be able to sense how your horse’s muscles feel. If you help your horse stretch, you can monitor their flexibility and encourage them to stay loose.

• And, grooming is a nice way to spend time and bust boredom with your horse.

Over or under-blanketing

• Yes, blankets will compress a horse’s coat, provide waterproofing, and add insulation. For underweight, older, clipped, or otherwise not-waterproof horses, blankets are a must.

• You can tell if you are over-blanketing if your horse sweats. Your horse also doesn’t have to be toasty warm under the blanket, just protected enough.

• If your horse shivers, they are under-blanketed. You can add another blanket or use one with more fill.

• There is no hard-and-fast rule about how to tell if the blanket is right, so you’ll have to observe your horse’s behavior and reactions and adjust accordingly. Taking their temperature can also give you an idea if they are heading toward hypothermia or hyperthermia, both of which require veterinary intervention.

Not washing blankets

• Blankets can get GROSS in the winter. One way to remedy this is to wash them as needed, either in a washer, on a line, or at a car wash.

• One way to extend the time between cleanings is to use a thin sheet as a base layer, keeping any dirt and hair away from a heavier sheet. These thin layers are easy to clean and dry, and are usually cotton or slick nylon/polyester fabric.

Read the complete guide to horse blankets here.

Exercise and Turnout Mistakes

• Reducing exercise time can be fine in the winter if your horse has other ways to play, move, and expend energy. Increase turnout, offer horse toys and puzzles, and spread hay nets or piles around paddocks to encourage movement.

• Skipping a proper warm-up and cool-down when you do ride is not doing your horse’s joints and muscles any favors. Spend extra time walking, perhaps with a quarter sheet or a cooler over them, before getting down to “work.” After a ride, all horses should have a longer walk, and use coolers to absorb sweat and help your horse dry safely.

• Overlooking pasture safety in winter can lead to vet bills. Avoid icy turnouts, as footing is a significant consideration. For barefoot horses, don’t make the winter horse care mistake of leaving those hooves without boots on frozen ground.

Barefoot hooves may fare better in the snow. 

Shelter

• Please resist the urge to bundle them up and stash them in a barn with the doors and windows shut.

Insufficient shelter from harsh weather

• Horses are surprisingly resilient in the cold, and many will willingly choose to galavant around in the wide open. Even still, an appropriate shelter is a must. Despite having winter coats or blankets, horses can be overcome by wet weather or wild winds, making body heat a rare commodity.

• A shelter should have a cover and a break from the wind. You don’t need to build a luxury hotel. Many a two or three-sided shelter is perfect.

• Ideally, all the herd can fit safely into the shelter(s). This means that nobody can be trapped in a corner or against a back wall, which is why two-sided shelters are okay in many cases with mild weather, as they provide an escape hatch. Three sides to a shelter may be more common and fantastic, but only if they have enough room for a quick getaway.

• Spend some time observing the herd dynamics around the shelter. You will notice who gets pushed around, eats last, and has the least access to coverage, and make changes accordingly. You may need to swap some herd members around or expand your shelter.

Improper ventilation

• No matter the temperature, horses need much more ventilation than you think. Closed windows and doors in barns trap ammonia gases, dust, and stale air. Unless it’s an emergency, let your horse have ventilation. A lot of it.

• If your horse has heaves (equine asthma) or other respiratory ailments, you need to do everything you can to improve ventilation and minimize dust. This may include changing bedding to a low-dust alternative, such as cardboard, and using ceiling vents for more airflow.

• If you sweep or blow the aisle daily, do so when the barn is empty. Sprinkle some water down the aisle to keep dust from blowing upward as you sweep or blow it.

Barn Safety Hazards in Winter

• There are a few significant winter safety hazards to be wary of, and all could use preventive measures to avoid much larger issues when it’s dark and cold outside.

Rats and fire

• Two things are closely related – rodents and electrical wires. Cold, plentiful food brings rodents into the barn and feed rooms, and exposed wires are a vermin’s favorite treat and may result in a power outage or a fire.

• Have an electrician inspect the electrical wiring and circuitry around your farm and make any necessary repairs.

• Have a plan for rodent control in feed rooms and tack rooms. All feeds must be secured, and daily sweeping of the feed room will also help. Make it a rule to store treats in rodent-proof containers, not tack lockers or shelves. Secure all snacks for humans, too.

Frozen pipes

• Frozen pipes create burst pipes, which may or may not flood your barn. You can do a few things to help prevent this winter horse care mistake. Wrap exposed pipes with pipe insulation, and seal any areas where pipes enter the barn. Let faucets drip during cold weather, which may mean you need a workaround for automatic waterers. Don’t leave hoses attached, and keep them drained.

Icy walkways

• Landing on your butt is never fun, so keep walkways shoveled, salted, and sanded. If you live in an area with abundant wildlife, the salt may attract them to your farm, so adjust accordingly.

• Sand, cat litter, and zeolites help add texture to icy areas. You can also find non-toxic de-icing products to help prevent an ice rink from forming.

• You can have your farrier add borium to horseshoes for additional traction. Avoid studs, as they are intended for short-term use on softer surfaces and are not intended for long-term wear on hard ground.

Take the time to get ready for winter before it arrives, and it should all go swimmingly.

Key Highlights

Proper winter horse care is essential for a healthy horse during the cold weather months. As horse owners, it’s essential to avoid common winter horse mistakes.

• Ensure your horse always has access to unfrozen, fresh water to prevent dehydration and colic.
• Increase your horse’s hay ration to help them generate body heat.
• Provide adequate shelter from wind, rain, and snow.
• Continue regular hoof care and grooming to monitor for health issues.
• Avoid over-blanketing or under-blanketing.