The external environment for the horse is ideal at a temperature of around 15 degrees Celsius. They don’t particularly like when it's extremely hot or cold. However, they can better cope with such environmental factors when management comes into play. There are certain factors that horse owners can adopt to assist in keeping the horse warm over winter and one main factor starts with their diet.
Horses graze anywhere from 12 – 20 hours of the day. Of this time spent consuming food, the horse should be taking in 1-2% of its body weight. For an average 500 kilogram horse, this will be 5 – 10 kilograms of food a day. As a general rule, the minimum amount of roughage a horse should consume in its day is 1% of its body weight, or around 5 kilograms. The horse shouldn’t be consuming more hard feed than roughage.
Benefits of Roughage in the Horse’s Diet
Roughage such as chaff, hay or grass is essential to the horse’s digestive system as it is vital for correct gut function. Many don’t realise that the digestion of roughage generates heat in the horse’s body. Consequently, for the horse that is struggling to keep weight on in winter, extra hay in their diet can be the best thing.
This will help to keep weight on, cater to their digestive needs and provide a food source that generates heat in the horse’s body. An added bonus is that horses tend to take longer to consume a biscuit of hay than they do to eat a feed made up of grain and chaff. This can help to alleviate boredom problems that horses may have whilst in a stable or yard or even a paddock or field that is lacking in grazing.
Rugging the Horse in Winter
Horses can waste a lot of energy shivering to keep themselves warm. This is fine if they are in good to fat body condition. However, if they struggle to keep weight on in winter, the feeding of extra feed can be at an added cost to the horse owner without seeing the results of the horse improving in body condition. In this situation, a rug can be highly beneficial.
Rugging the horse can help to stop them from shivering and using up energy reserves. This will result in any extra feeding of roughage going toward adding extra warmth to the horse’s body as well as toward putting on any extra weight that is needed to improve their overall body score. Avoiding clipping the horse unless absolutely necessary can also assist in keeping equines warm over winter.
Providing hay to the horse isn’t just about giving them something to eat. It is highly beneficial to their digestive system and over winter can be a great resource for providing warmth to the horse.
Source
- Huntington, P., Myers, J., & Owens, E. Horse Sense. Landlinks Press, 2008. ISBN 0 643 06598 9.
Chris Thomas - C. Thomas has studied and worked with horses since 2001. She teaches horse studies part time and is undertaking an Equine Science ...
