Thankfully, here in the UK we only have to deal with snow at most a few weeks a year. - If you read my blog post earlier on in winter you will remember me saying you need to stock up with lots of food before the bad weather hits. Your horses won’t be able to graze in deep snow, so ensure you feed lots of hay to replace this.
- Occasionally our water drinkers freeze when the cold weather hits. Always be prepared with water containers filled or ensure you have a tap inside that you can get water from if your outside taps do freeze. If you do have water drinkers, be prepared and buy water buckets in just in case.
- A friend of mine who keeps her horse out 365 days a year has just admitted to putting her thicker rug on today. Temperatures are set to fall to -15 in some parts of the country and you need to be prepared. Horses spend a lot of time in this weather just stood about. They won’t be able to move about a lot and therefor will need thicker rugs or more rugs on to keep warm. Be careful not to over rug though.
- There is a lot of speculation that snow is dangerous and can cause lots of damage to horses limbs. Personally I wouldn’t ride in the snow because you don’t know nor can you see what is underneath it. However, this doesn’t mean to say that you cannot still turn your horses out in their paddock. Ensure their feet are well greased with something like lard and this will prevent the snow from compacting in their hooves. Picking their feet out as soon as you get them out of the field will also help ensure there is no danger of tripping up.
- Stock up on salt and grit. On my yard we have boxes of grit ready to use at any time should we get hit with lots of ice and snow. If you’re wanting to turn your horses out then make sure the path to their field is well gritted to prevent and dangers of slipping over.
- Putting something like a tennis ball in a water bucket will prevent it from freezing.
- Watch your horses weight in weather like this when they can’t be exercised - They will still be getting the same feed as usual so ensure your equine doesn’t get fat. This could cause laminitus!
- Mud fever loves weather like this. If you are turning your horse out still, don’t forget his legs will be rather wet when it comes to bringing him in. Don’t leave them wet - dry them off with a towel if you can to prevent any skin conditions.
- Emma Lebutt, a follower of mine on Twitter also recommended that once you have broken the ice in your water buckets, ensure you sieve out the chunks still left in so it will not freeze so thick and fast.
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As I see your horse is out in what I think is a menage. Is this a good way to let them have a good leg stretch as my horse has mud fever and I wouldn't like to put her in a muddy field? Do you allow your menage to be rented for my horse to have a good walk around?
ReplyDeleteYes, my horse is in a menage but sorry we do not hire it out nor let clients horses in there to run around - it is simply the owners horses allowed to do as they please and that is all. There is far more to mud fever that simply stopping him from going in the mud. Maybe you should have a read of my mud fever blog post which tells you all about how to cope, preventions and exactly what mud fever is? Here is the link: http://sianlovatt.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/give-me-that-mud-fever-mud-fever-we.html . Feel free to ask any questions you may have about mud fever, I fear people aren't as educated about it as they should be.
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