When you care for your horse, it is crucial to make arrangements for the colder months. Horses must be able to tolerate the chilly weather and stay as healthy as possible. During the winter horses will have special requirements which you as the owner will have to deal with. It is imperative to organize for winter in advance.

Horses are generally tolerant to cool weather conditions. In fact, horses cope with frosty weather conditions a good deal better than scorching weather. Despite this, there are some rudimentary things owners will want to do to ensure their horses remain healthy. Be sure the horse doesn’t have any fleas, and has been fully vaccinated. The expenditure for doing these things will significantly pay off throughout the winter months, as the outlay of feeding the horse will be much reduced.

You may also want to work with your vet in planning up a health plan for your horse. Helping your horse prepare for winter will help it decrease the necessity to eat larger amounts of food in order to maintain its weight. Your horse should never lose weight during the winter. Permitting your horse to gain a small amount of weight will aid them through the colder months, as the superfluous fat will act as a guard to provide the horse with energy if it becomes stressed. In the winter you will want to provide your horse with some extra calories.

The best protection for a horse in the winter is its natural winter coat. If allowed to grow, it will act as a natural heat blanket which will reduce the loss of heat that the horse will experience in cold scenarios. Your horse’s coat is also glossy and will brush off snow and ice. If you keep your horses outside, you should make sure their coats grow long before the cold weather starts.

To monitor the condition of your horse, you will need to feel its ribs. A longer coat may indeed hide the fact that your horse has lost weight Your horse should be lean enough so that you can feel the ribs, but not so lean that you can see them. Your also want to feel the ears of the horse. Are they cold? If so, this is a sign that the horse is cold.

As is the case with every warm blooded animal, horses have to regulate their body temperatures in order to remain healthy. It is crucial that they retain heat throughout the winter, so you should make sure they’re ready for the frost.

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