Feet and Legs The horse's feet and lower legs are designed to handle cold without freezing and without chilling the rest of the body. Therefore, a horse can stand in deep snow and not suffer frostbite.
The anatomy of the lower limbs are very well adapted for coping with the cold. As there are no muscles below the knee the cells in the leg require less blood circulation, meaning they lose less heat. Whilst your toes are one of the first appendages to get cold, this is not a problem for your horse.
The tiny piloerector muscles associated with the horse's individual hair shafts have the ability to loft or stand up, lay down and change the direction of the hairs and thus trap air close to the body and insulating the horse from the cold.
In the absence of wind and moisture, horses tolerate temperatures at or slightly below 0° F. If horses have access to a shelter, they can tolerate temperatures as low as -40° F. But horses are most comfortable at temperatures between 18° and 59° F, depending on their hair coat.
Here are some general guidelines: Body Clipped Horses: Start blanketing when the temperature gets below 60° F, or anytime it is rainy or windy. Moderate Hair Coat Horses: Start blanketing when the temperature goes below 40° F. Heavy Hair Coat Horses: Start blanketing when the temperatures go below 30° F.
Horses will often lie on the snow like a huge lap dog in the sun. They're insulated – and fine. Sometimes they will lie flat on their sides if they feel safe. Often, one horse will stand guard.
For horses with a thick winter coat, the critical temperature can be as low as 18°F. Once a horse's coat becomes wet, the critical temperature will increase by anywhere from 10°F to 15°F. For example, a dry horse will stay warm until the temperature goes below 18°F, while a wet horse will begin to get cold at 33°F.
When you put your hand under a rug on a horse standing still it should NEVER feel toasty warm. This is a misconception. It should feel more on the coolish side. The temperature you are used to feeling under the blanket is too hot for a healthy horse.
Horses can get dehydrated more easily in the cold weather, particularly if the water is too cold to drink, so it is important to keep an eye on their water intake. Horses also tend to burn more calories in the winter trying to keep warm, so they will potentially need extra hay to maintain their weight and condition.
Keeping Horses' Legs Clean in Winter
Keeping your horse's legs clean is one of the main ways in which you can minimise the likelihood of mud fever and other skin infections. Clean legs also allow you to spot any problems early.
Leg bandages are beneficial for several reasons: Provide support for tendons and ligaments during strenuous workouts. Prevent or reduce swelling (edema) after exercise, injury or during stall rest. Protect legs from concussion and impact.
Healthy horses can have hot hooves, says van Eps, but not for long periods of time. It's normal for horses to experience large influxes of blood into their feet periodically, which causes hoof temperature to rise.
Whilst a range of factors and definitions influence this definition, a generally accepted zone is between an air temperature of 5°C and 25°C.
Horses are known to be social creatures – herd animals by nature that thrive on a group dynamic. While there are varying degrees of friendship needs, from a large field with several herd members to a trio or even just a pair, horses that are on their own, by contrast, can get lonely.
Horses can do fine living outside through the winter. As long as they are metabolically healthy, receive enough calories, develop a nice winter hair coat, and have appropriate shelter, they can happily ride out a bad winter that has humans groaning.
Proper warm up is essential to keeping your horse fit and muscle tone elastic. Warming up and cooling down will help to minimize muscle stiffness and loss of range of motion.
Rugging horses in hot weather
The horse may sweat under the thick rug put on in the morning as you whizzed to work. Over rugging a horse could lead to overheating, and a horse that can't cool down sufficiently will get heat stress.
For domestic horses the answer is yes, no, and maybe! While it is true that wild and free-living horses survive without rugs, they move more than their domestic counterparts, are able to find their own shelter from bad weather and do not tend to live as long as domestic horses.
Stabling your horse overnight can give both the horse and the field some much-needed recovery time. Your horse doesn't have access to shelters in the field. Horses that are exposed to the elements all night long will often fare better when kept in a stable.
The first sign of a cold in your horse will likely be a runny nose producing yellow discharge. This is usually followed by decreased appetite and fatigue. Additional cold symptoms may include: Watery or irritated eyes.
The sound a metal roof can make when heavy rain, hail, tree branches or debris (or worst case scenario lightning) hits it can be deafening and scary, so many horses prefer to stand under large trees during storms or be out in the open.
Cold weather is often associated with an upswing in the number of horses that colic. This is most likely due to a decrease in water intake causing dehydration and slowing the passage of dry food through the intestinal tract.
Horses don't sleep all night like we do.
Instead of falling into a deep sleep every night, horses typically spend their nights alternating between rest and activity. They might take a short snooze standing up, graze for a while, and then stretch out on their side to get a few minutes of deep sleep.
Cold weather can bring a number of environmental conditions that can increase the likelihood of developing colic during the winter months. Increases in grain, poorer quality hay and straw, lowered exercise levels, and freezing water can all contribute to the origination of colic in horses.