Horse Care Tips for Cold Weather

Just like there are special things that you need to do to take care of your horse in the hot summer weather, there are things that you need to do in the cold winter weather to keep your horse safe and healthy.  Anytime your horse is exposed to severe weather the horse can develop health problems, but there are a lot of special problems that come with keeping horses in very cold weather. Follow these cold weather horse care tips to make sure your horse is healthy no matter how cold it gets.

If your horse is kept in a pasture, make sure that there is a sturdy shelter that is in good repair to block the wind or snow.  Check the food supplies in the pasture every day and make sure that the water left out for the horses doesn’t freeze.

If your horse is kept in a pasture during the winter you will need to increase the amount of food that you’re feeding the horse.  Grass won’t be available so make sure the horses have plenty of clean, dry hay and you should probably feed them some grain as well to give them the energy they need to stay warm.

To keep the water hose that you use to water the horse from freezing, leave a heat lamp trained at the hose or build a ‘hose box’ that has a heat lamp in it. 

Add extra bedding to your horse's stall when it’s very cold to act as insulation

If you show your horse or need to keep your horse’s coat short, use blankets in the winter to help keep the horse warm.

Use rubber buckets for your horse’s water instead of plastic ones because the plastic ones can freeze and then shatter, becoming dangerous for your horse.

If you are concerned about your horse’s water bucket icing over, use heated water buckets available at most horse supply stores or feed stores to keep the buckets from freezing.

If your horse does wear a blanket, remove the blanket at least once a day for grooming and to make sure that the horse’s coat isn’t dry or irritated because of the blanket. Wash blankets regularly.

Use a cooler to cool your horse down after riding in the winter. When a horse has been ridden and is all sweaty and warm it can catch a chill in the cold winter air or its muscles can stiffen up and cause problems.  Using a cooler will allow your horse to cool down naturally without the risk of catching a chill.

When you’re riding in the winter or your horse goes outdoors in the winter put some petroleum jelly on your horse’s hooves to keep snow from getting into the horse’s hooves and becoming packed in there.  You should always carry a hoof pick on you in case you need to clean the snow out of the horse’s hooves.

If you ride outdoors in the winter ask your blacksmith to put safety pegs on your horse’s shoes. These pegs are plastic pieces kind of like the tread on a boot. They will give your horse more traction and make it easier for the horse to walk on slippery, snowy, and icy surfaces.

If your horse doesn’t wear shoes get the horse’s hooves trimmed more frequently during the winter. The horse will be walking on frozen, uneven ground, which could cause stress cracks or breakage in the hooves so watch your horse’s hooves very closely during the winter

If you must bathe the horse during the winter give it a bath with warm water in an indoor wash stall.  If you can, put a heat lamp in the wash stall to make it warmer.  Put a cooler on the horse immediately after bathing so that the horse doesn’t get a chill.

If you put shoe studs on your horse to make riding in the winter easier then you should put bell boots on the horse to protect the horse’s heels from being injured by the shoe studs.

Both lice and mites can become a problem during the winter so groom your horse everyday and look for any signs of parasites. You will need to deworm the horse regularly.

Horses deal with cold temperatures better than a lot of animals and many horses actually prefer to be outdoors in the cold weather rather than being stuck inside the barn.  Don’t keep your horse locked in the stall all winter.  Even if you are riding your horse regularly during the winter, give the horse a good amount of turn out time during the winter so that the horse can play outside and get some fresh air.

If your horse has a short coat or if it’s very cold where you are, just make sure that your horse is blanketed during turnouts and that the blankets are securely and correctly fastened so that the horse will be safe.