Feeding in the winter

This weeks Tips are to help you with feeding in the winter months, and some of the considerations to keep your horses digestive system functioning well.

Here in the UK winter really feels like it drags on, the ground is either wet or frozen, the grass loses it’s quality and quantity, and a lot of horses are stabled more so their feeding regimes change significantly.

We always need to consider how to maintain a natural management system for our horses, so that we are working with their digestive system rather than against it.

Tip 1: Digestive system health

Horses are trickle feeders, this is how they have evolved to eat, little and often rather than big meals. They are flight animals too, so having a half full stomach instead of being full enables flight when necessary - this is totally natural for them.

So ensuring that our horses are able to trickle feed when the winter months enforce changes, is essential. Here are a few things to consider:

• If stabled more, split your hay/haylage into smaller nets and feed them through the day
• Position your nets in different areas and at different heights in your stable to encourage movement
• Small holed haynets can slow down eating, making the hay/haylage last longer
• If your horse is turned out in the snow, put hay out for them to make sure they can access enough food for the day

Simple but really effective!!

Tip 2: Gastric ulcers

Because horses are trickle feeders, their digestive system produces gastric (stomach) acid continually to start the process of breaking down their food within the stomach. This is an issue when our horses have long periods without food, as excess acid in an empty stomach can cause gastric ulcers, and it’s recommended that 4 hours is the maximum time that they should be without food.

So translating this into our horses winter environment, here are a few things to think about:

• If there is snow on the ground, can our horse access enough grass to keep their digestive system trickle fed? If not put out hay in a few piles around your paddock to encourage movement
• If there is minimal grass on your winter grazing, you may need to look at feeding hay in the field
• If your horse comes in from the field hungry due to lack of grass, a handful of chaff before exercise can help buffer gastric acid in the stomach
• The old saying ‘don’t turn your horse out on frosty grass on an empty stomach’ applies to the stabled horse! So always give your stabled horse a small fibre based feed and/or a small haynet prior to turnout onto frosty grass, to protect the delicate stomach lining

Tip 3: Grass quality and quantity

Over the winter months in the UK, the grass isn’t really growing, so once your grass has been eaten off your field, you can be left with a minimal amount of grass, not enough to sustain your horses digestive system for the time they are turned out, and the quality of the grass is much reduced, so these are 2 important factors to consider.

It takes some individual planning, especially if you have weight issues with your horse, but again ensuring that your horse is being trickle fed is really important for their digestive health.

A nutritionist or your vet can help you with an individual feeding plan for your horse, taking all of this into account.

The main considerations in the winter months (in the UK) regarding grass are:

• Does my horse have enough to eat? If not put some hay in the field to keep the digestive system stimulated
• Is the grass quality suitable for my horse? If low quality you may need to consider a balancer or vitamin and mineral supplement (contact nutritionist, vet or feed company for specialist advice that is individual to your horse)

Tip 4: Natural weight loss

Horses and ponies in a climate such as the UK - let’s take a Welsh mountain pony as an example - should naturally lose weight over the winter months due to reduced quality and quantity of grazing available, ready for the spring and summer grass.

This is a natural cycle and we should allow it to happen. If your horse goes into springtime on the ‘heavy’ side, how will he cope with more/‘richer’ grass?

The difficulty is allowing natural weight loss over the winter, but maintaining trickle feeding!

If there isn’t enough to eat we run the risk of digestive system imbalances, slowing the system, and gastric acid/ulcer issues.

If we feed too much hay/haylage/feed to counteract the lack of quality and quantity of the grass, we run the risk of our horse putting on weight over the winter, which is the opposite of what we want.

Something that I can advise is to have a weight tape for your horse and take their measurement weekly to monitor weight loss/gain. Then at least you can take action straight away if your horse goes in the wrong direction!

I have written an Ebook all about weight loss, which explains the natural weight loss cycle in more detail. The link is at the bottom of this article. 

Tip 5: Lack of movement

Lack of movement can be a real issue for horses in the winter months in the UK. If they are stabled more/for longer, or hanging around the gate waiting to come in etc.

And this affects the digestive system - if a horse is stabled for longer than usual without any exercise, the internal systems aren’t stimulated, and can result in a slowing down of the system, and unfortunately in horses, they can develop colic.

Again it takes some planning on an individual basis, but incorporating movement and trickle feeding into your daily routine over the winter/stabled months is hugely beneficial for your horses digestive system.

I know how difficult it is with horses over the winter months, but have a brainstorm so that you have plans for different ways that you could exercise your horse if the weather is bad, to maintain good digestive health. Here are a few ideas:

• Yard turnout
• Arena turnout
• Half day turnout instead of none
• Hand walking
• Horse walker
• Long reining
• Lunging
• Core activation / in hand exercises

I hope these tips are helpful for you to keep your horses healthy through the winter. 

And if you would like some new ideas for winter exercises, I have developed an Online Learning Platform and VIP members group where all of my training modules are now located. Includes core activation and core mobilisation exercises, groundwork, training aids, nutrition, and MUCH MORE! CLICK HERE FOR DETAILS: Membership

Weight Loss Ebook: Ebooks