Horse Winter Feed And Heat Retention Tips : Sports and Recreation

It can be a challenge to keep a pony warm and snug during winter; I write this article about, and dedicate it to, winter time equine medical care. I am going to talk about methods to keep feed bills low and chiropractic issues at bay.

Equine Health Care in Chilly Weather Conditions

I will be going over some initial aspects before delving more deeply into tips on the best pony feed and other pony care aspects for varied climatic conditions. While what I need to say is relevant all the year round, it is especially relevant for periods before the onset of winter. If you actually know some of the tips here, consider this a review: it would be unforgivable if I ignored essential aspects some readers weren?t conscious of.

Teeth: You need to get your horse checked up and most likely given a float if he?s not had one during the past year. Ramps, hooks and pointed points in the mouth make a pony drop feed and masticate insufficiently. This would open up the doors for an attack of colic or other indigestion. As crucial is the proven fact that your horse can not take the maximum nourishment from his feed. You might land up getting an unexpected and definitely unwanted veterinarian?s bill for treatment of colic.

Parasites: Make it a compulsory practice as winter draws near to get your pony fecal tested for bugs. It is also wise to follow a tactic of taking no risks: whether or not the fecal test comes up negative, you should deworm your horse of any tapeworms with some Strongid-type dewormer in a heavy dose. Fecal tests do not show up tapeworms.

Stress: Stress leads to weight reduction in horses. Factors that cause stress include intense cold, laborious coaching, injuries and changes to environment. Unfit living conditions bring about stress. Horses also get stressed if forced to take up a role that they?re not appropriate for. Horses that are continually targeted by their herd friends may not be able to access feed, or may not be in a mood to eat regardless of whether they may be able to access their feed.

The Best Winter Feed

Maintain your horse?s health over winter with a diet that gives him sufficient calories of the kind that will keep him warm. Make sure he has enough water to ensure smooth working of his digestive processes.

Calories are significant for keeping your horse warm as temperatures drop during cold spells. Feed with high fiber content should be given. This includes hay, beet pulp and alfalfa. Fiber is digested in the hindgut, and since heat is generated when digesting fiber, this is a better feed than grains, which are digested in the small intestine.

While high fiber content feed will help in keeping your horse warm, keep an eye out to watch if he loses weight. If he does, you can let him have some grain or alfalfa.

Corn oil (about a cup a day) also helps retain weight in horses.

You also need to watch out for the indisputable fact that horses drink less water in winter because the water makes them feel less warm. Insufficient intake of water can lead to ineffective digestion, and that in turn may well lead to impaction colic. You need to ensure your pony is taking in enough water.

You can use any of several techniques of boosting your horse?s fluid intake in winter. My preference is to give my horses bran mashes in warm water something horses love. They?re benefited by the water content in the bran mash. The horse also gets a sense of heat from the warm water used for the mash. In a similar fashion, you can feed your horse beet pulp dunked in hot water. Just be careful about this: beet pulp takes over half an hour to soak completely, and the hot water might have gone cold. You might need to top up with some more hot water before feeding the pony.

Winter Care Accessories

Make sure any blankets you use are made of light-weight material. The blanket should fit the pony well, in precisely the way it doesn?t tuck up across the withers, chest or shoulders. Pleats at the shoulder stop this tucking up, and most blankets in the market nowadays are designed with pleats. It?s very important the blanket makes an ideal fit, otherwise when spring comes up you may be having to deal with chiropractic issues that arose from continuous use of ill-fitting blankets over winter.

Stick to the modern blankets of lightweight material. The older style blankets of canvas have a tendency to go flat on the horse?s coat. The more modern blankets permit some fluffiness, that means an insulating layer of air between the blanket and the skin. This keeps heat and keeps the pony more comfortable.

As a general rule, don?t clip your pony in winter. If you have to do it, make it a hunter clip, so that the majority of the winter coat is retained, letting your pony work hard without raising too much sweat.

Horses are Heather Tomspassion and she enjoys sharing her extensive knowledge through her 100s of articles with other horse lovers click here

Source: http://www.theyellowads.com/recreation_sports/horse-winter-feed-and-heat-retention-tips/

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