The WildHorse Blogsite

Ten Winter Horse Care Tips
By Moira Clune

Horses usually adapt easily and quickly to winter’s challenges. But it’s important to provide them with the extra care they need to stay safe and healthy when the cold winds blow.

1. As pasture quality or accessibility decreases, increase hay. The best heat source for your horse is extra hay. During the cold weather, it’s best to increase the amount of hay, not concentrated feeds. Hay is digested in the cecum and colon which results in heat production by bacterial fermentation.

2. Get a pre-winter dental checkup. If your horse isn’t grinding up her food properly, she may not be getting all the nutrients and energy out of it. Food is energy and energy creates warmth!

3. Even if your horses are stabled over night, make sure they have a windbreak or shelter. This doesn’t have to be an elaborate structure. Dense shrubbery or a stand of trees may be enough.

4. Consider blanketing during wet, very windy, or frigid weather. Like a wet down jacket, your horse’s haircoat looses loft and won’t hold body heat when it’s wet. Older horses, horses unused to the cold or clipped horses may need blanketing.

5. Remove the blanket every day. Brush your horse and check for chafing and irritation from the blanket. Don’t neglect grooming during the winter. A dirty, matted coat loses much of its ability to insulate.

6. If you put your horse in a stall during very cold weather, keep in mind she may still need blanketing. In the wild, horses forage, move continually and huddle together during cold weather to keep body temperatures up. These options are not be available to a stalled horse and body temperatures can decline.

7. Inside the barn, be sure there is adequate ventilation but no direct drafts. Consider weather stripping the stalls. If your stall floors are cement, add rubber matting or extra bedding for insulation.

8. Be sure to provide adequate water during the winter. Horses may not drink enough if the water is very cold. Try to keep the water temperatures as far above freezing to increase water consumption and avoid dehydration.

9. Watch for frozen puddles around the water troughs. These can be really dangerous to your horse. Sprinkle alfalfa meal on the icy spots. Alfalfa contains nitrogen to promote melting and has a texture to provide traction. Non-toxic and cheap! Fireplace ashes and plain old dirt can provide traction, too.

10. Keep hooves in good condition. Well trimmed hooves will chip less, hold less snow, and provide better grip on slippery ground.

In the wild, horses acclimate very easily to cold weather. In a domestic setting, we may need to provide a little extra care to ensure our horse’s safety and heath. Learn to balance your horses needs with her current environment for the best possible horse health!

Let Practical Horsekeeping show you how to become an efficient, effective equine expert! Moira Clune and Noreen Girao provide helpful horse care information with a practical twist at http://www.PracticalHorsekeeping.com/

Our free horse care ezine shows you the fastest, safest, smartest ways to care for your horse and create an organized, appealing environment that works for horse and rider! Sign up today and get our free, veterinarian approved Colic Preparedness Report that shows you exactly what to do in a horse colic emergency. Join us today at and start getting practical!

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Stress in Horses

Tip! Self Discipline - Horses take a lot of time and work, so your child will have to be dedicated to learning how to ride and handle horses effectively. I have found that dedication is rarely something that children lacks when it comes to horses.

Just like us, our horses get stressed. Stress seems to be an inevitable part of modern life and we can even pass on such feelings and problems to our pets and animal companions. In the same way when our animals become stressed we know it and it affects our riding and enjoyment.

But how damaging really is tension and anxiety. How can we avoid it and why is it important for animals as well as people?

Stress is a natural response of the body to something that threatens it whether that threat is mental or a physical accident or a disease. When the body senses that something bad may happen to it, cells release chemicals that start to protect the body from what ‘might happen’. This threat to the body might be a sudden change in the weather, a new horse in the field that might cause a fight, some change to management regime or maybe the loss of a companion in the same field. Some of the chemicals that the body releases in such situations are natural steroids which calm damage in the body down whether that damage occurs in the mind or the muscles. Other chemicals start to prepare the body for taking evasive action i.e. running away quickly.

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So we can see that stress is actually a natural state of the body. If we or our horses did not get worried or stressed about things to some degree we would be much more likely to get into trouble in difficult or dangerous situations. The trouble comes however when stress continues for long periods of time without us being able to get away from what is causing it. Then the natural chemicals in the body that are supposed to protect the body actually start having negative effects. The body steroid hormones start weakening the immune system, body chemicals make us ‘revved up’ in order to escape the stress and cannot do so and by products of all this chemical activity called ‘free radicals’ start damaging the cells and make us grow older more quickly. It is a bit like ‘revving up’ an engine for a long period without going anywhere. Of course it is not good for the engine after a while. Recent studies show that short periods of stress are actually good for the body because the healing process of the body afterwards gives it a lift. If a person has no occasional challenge to make them think more acutely the brain degenerates and becomes less able to function well.

Tip! Learn Respect - Children will learn to respect their horses and themselves. Horses are large, dangerous creatures and they demand respect, yet in order to be handled safely they must also respect their handlers.

So what does all this mean for horses? It means that if your horse is locked up in a stable for prolonged periods and does not like this it can get stressed and this damages its health. It means that horses that loose their companions and are then left by themselves get ill eventually. It means that if a horse is constantly worried about a heavy competition schedule and non-stop traveling it is likely to get ill relatively easily.

How do we prevent the longer type of stress causing damage to our horses? The key is of course good management and an understanding of how a horses mind works. For many people this is not natural and it is worth reading up on how horses behave in the wild and in domestication and trying to fit in more with what a horse is happy with. For example most people are well aware that horses like to be fed at regular times during the day and get stressed out if regimes are upset. If a horse never knows when its feed is coming it is a constant state of anxiety.

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When a horse has been stressed for prolonged periods of time sometimes extra help is needed. Bad experiences can affect a horse strongly for the rest of his or her life - just like a person. In the same way a period of one month’s stress because of an inability to get on with another horse in the same field may take several weeks to get over after normality has returned and this is where herbs can fit in nicely.

Many herbs are great at tackling stress and help animals adapt to stressful situations. The most important of these are called ‘Adaptogens’ (help bodies adapt). Examples of such plants are Indian and chinese ginsengs, Astragalus and even tumeric. Other plants have strong antioxidant properties which help get rid of toxic free radicals which are releases at times of stress. Most people think of different types of food, vitamins and minerals as being the only sources of antioxidants but many herbs are specifically more powerful than anything else at providing this form of protection.

Tip! Learn Patience - Horses are like children themselves, and training a horse is much like teaching a child. When your child has become a confident and skilled rider, letting them help train a horse will be an excellent experience for them.

So when horses and people are stressed the strategic use of herbal mixes to reduce stress can make an enormous difference. Rather than reaching for the diazepam a quick drink of a suitable herbal drink can get you back on the right track in an hour or two when otherwise you might be uptight for days. In the same way for horses the careful use of a good herb blend can help your horse recover quickly from a difficult situation or cope with stress more easily until you are able to remove the underlying cause.

Stephen Ashdown MA, Msc BvetMed MRCVS, a veterinary herbalist and managing director of Global Herbs has conducted research these past 10 years into the use of herbs for horses.

A Quick Check for Your Horses Health

Tip! Teaches Sensitivity - Horses can be very sensitive creatures. They have keen senses, and can sense if someone is afraid, angry, happy, etc.

Do you check your horse’s general condition on a regular basis? Do you know what to look for to make sure your horses health is where it should be? This is something you should make a habit of doing on a daily basis. And once you know what you are doing it should not take you very long. This will prevent something minor turning into something major.

First, each day when you go out to visit your horse, whether at your home or if you board your horse at a farm, think about what your overall impression of her. Does she look well, does she have a healthy appearance? What are your first thoughts? Below are major areas to observe.

Mobility - Does your horse move with comfort, on or off the halter and lead. Is her coordination good, is she reluctant to move, stiff or seem to be in pain when she walks.

Posture - When you look at your horse at a stand still, is she standing squarely on all four legs or balancing on three legs with the fourth hind leg in an easy resting position? Alternating the resting hind leg is a sign of a sound horse; they should not always rest the same hind leg.

Expressiveness - A horse, like most animals, facial expressions show that they are not feeling normal, from a small ache to a large pain, there facial expressions will show you how they are feeling, sometimes they may even act out with anger if you accidentally touch the area that is hurting, the horse may try to lash out and bite or kick you. Keep an eye out for glassy stares or an anxious pre-occupied appearance.

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Reaction to Your Visit - As your horse gets to know you, she will definitely respond to your presence, either with a whinny or other time of reaction. Learn how your horse reacts, if she does not react to your presence when she normally reacts this is a big red flag that something may be going on and that she does not feel well.

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Hydration - If you are familiar with the skin pinch test, this will show you if you horse is hydrated. If you don’t know this procedure, just pinch a small amount of skin on the horses neck, it should return to its normal place, if the skin stays up the horse is dehydrating or already dehydrated. A very fit horses skin may be a bit thinner and take longer to return to its normal position, this does not mean they are dehydrated, so you may want to also perform the capillary refill test where you use your thumb to pressure blanch a spot on their gums just above the corner incisor, then remove your thumb quickly and count the seconds it takes for the color to return. The capillary refill time is a measure of blood pressure and volume.

You should also check and monitor your horse’s vital signs. This includes her pulse, respiratory rate, temperature and the capillary refill time. First, stand beside your horses rear end, on her left side if you are right handed and vice versa for left. Stand close to avoid getting kicked. Drape the arm closest to your horse over her rump and gently grasp her tail. Have a lubricated thermometer ready in your other hand. Lift her tail gently, if she clamps down, gently wiggle her tailbone to assist in relaxation. Gently insert the thermometer into her anus, taking care to hold the end of it gently with your thumb and index finger, keeping the thermometer in place for the recommended manufacturer’s time limit. Remove and read. It’s that simple, just be cautious the first few times you take her temperature.

Tip! If you choose to work with green horses (youngsters) you have to recognize that you are taking on the role of teacher/parent/
disciplinarian and in that role, anytime you lose your temper you cause more work for yourself down the road and you confuse the horse. It is specifically for this reason that I don’t recommend HOT clubbers purchase green stock.

Most importantly, if you are unsure or have any signs that something is not normal with your horse, check with your veterinarian or veterinary staff at your barn and have her checked out, a simple problem can be corrected quickly, but some things that are let go, may turn into a serious life threatening illness, so pay very close attention to your horse and her health.

Nanette Hughston is a freelance writer from the southern United States Region. She has a bachelor’s degree in finance. She rides dressage with Grand Prix Level Trainer, Tracy Masterson at Highlife Farms, Orlando, FL. For more information and articles please see her website at http://www.dressageamerica.com and to visit her training site, please visit http://www.highlifefarms.com for dressage and hunter/ jumper information. Permission for reprint is granted with full bio remaining intact.