Winters Coming

Being able to get your horses out of the weather and mud in winter is important, but are you still meeting all of your horses behavioural needs.

As Autumn is drawing to a close the evenings are getting darker and the gateways are getting muddy. There is no denying that winter is on the way and the balancing act of keeping a horse during winter begins. To rug or not to rug. Stabled or out in the field. When to start supplementing their feed, even finding enough hay looks like it might be a problem this year.

As well as balancing your horses physical needs it is important to meet their behavioural needs to the best of our ability, there are many inventive ways to meet their needs and enrich their life as we trudge through winter.

Horses and mud go hand in hand during winter, horses tendency to walk fencelines, have favoured places to relax and need extra hay in the field during winter can often create areas of poached land and thick mud which damages the land for the following year and can cause skin problems for the horse. If you have limited space it can be very detrimental to allow an area to become heavily poached and horses need to be able to come out of the mud at times.

Some yards operate on limited turn out time or even no turn out time during winter. This will obviously have a large impact on a horse mental well being. Horses are social animals and will choose company over food in preference tests. Horses need to have social interaction and physical contact with other horses to meet their needs. This can be hard in a stabled environment but some small changes can make a difference; turnout in a school or hard area with a horse friend for some time each day, being stabled next to their regular friend, hacks out with company, stables which allow mutual grooming with a neighbour and if you can then a small outdoor area outside the stable can be a great way to add movement, social interaction and choice to your horses day.

Access to forage for 16 - 18 hours a day is very important, a horses digestive system is designed to be almost constantly digesting food. If you have a horse who has a weight problem increased exercise, slowing their rate of consumption through small holed nets and reducing the energy of the forage available should all be measures put in place to reduce the chance that they will run out of forage each day. Spreading a horses forage ration into different height hay nets, some small holed and some large will create choice, reduce frustration and increase movement in the stable. Having some hay free on the floor to stimulate a natural grazing position is also great for the horses.

There are several new land management systems to reduce mud and land damage during the winter, whilst meeting your horses behavioural needs. Hard core tracks can allow horses to stay out in social groups for winter, without the mud. Another system which works to meet horses needs as well as ensuring the land remains healthy is the Equiculture system. This system can work on large areas of land and also on small parcels and can help you get the most out of a small area. It can seem like an impossible task to make dramatic changes to your horses stables, but a few small changes could make your life easier (and less muddy!) and your horses life easier as well. More information about the Equiculture system can be found on their website.

If you can meet your horses behavioural needs this winter you will encounter less behavioural problems and have a happier and healthier horse. Good luck !

Kayna Prescott