Fresh hay and water to ease winter chills (From Worcester News)

Fresh hay and water to ease winter chills

9:32am Monday 11th January 2010 in

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WHEN grazing paddocks are frozen our first thoughts turn to forage for our horses but just as important is a good water supply.

This isn’t easy when troughs and buckets are frozen over in sub zero temperatures but a horse does need a regular source.

Without water your horse’s body will not function properly, which could possibly lead to colic, especially as the animals will often reduce their intake as the temperature falls.

Some people think their horse can get by on eating snow but they need a great deal of water to digest dry food.

Also, forcing a horse to produce moisture by eating snow is counter productive because six times as much snow must be consumed to provide an equal amount of water – and the process uses a lot of valuable calories.

The first, and probably the most obvious thing to do, is break the ice on any water bucket or trough but there are other simple methods to prevent it from completely freezing over, such as placing it in the sunniest spot possible and banking dirt around the sides to insulate it.

You can cover part of the surface with some wood, leaving a small area free for drinking and putting a football or rugby ball into a trough will stop the surface completely freezing over.

If you are able, offer your horse warm water in cold weather because it will encourage it to drink.

When temperatures plunge the best heat source for a horse is hay – and plenty of it.

Every autumn make sure your barn or hay store is well-stocked or you may regret it when there is a covering of deep snow in the yard and dangerous roads prevent anyone delivering a new supply.

It is best to increase the amount of hay you give your horse rather than offer it a larger amount of hard feed because hay is digested in the cecum and colon which results in heat production by bacterial fermentation.

An adult horse should consume between 15 and 20 lbs of hay a day in order to maintain a healthy body.

Concentrated feed is digested mostly in the small intestine in a short amount of time and does not produce much heat.

This means a greater amount of heat is produced through the feeding of hay as opposed to grain.

This makes hay a more desirable way to meet a horse’s elevated energy requirements.

Supplementation with grain is only necessary if horses cannot maintain their body condition, or is kept with minimal shelter for a long time in cold conditions.

Always make sure you feed your horse clean hay, that is hay with no white or fuzzy patches or a supply which smells musty.