Preparing for Winter Feeding

Fall is in full swing and winter temperatures are right around the corner.  As temperatures dip low during the winter, a horse's nutritional requirements change along with the seasons.  The ideal situation is to have a horse entering the winter acclimated to the cold with a thick hair coat and fat cover.  The lower critical temperature (LCT) for a horse is the temperature below which the horse will start to use more energy for maintaining body warmth than their normal expenditure.  This will vary from horse to horse and by location depending upon what the horse is accustomed to and if shelter is provided or not.  For example, a lean horse stabled in a heated barn in NC with a clipped hair coat may be have a LCT of 50F, where a shaggy, heavily conditioned horse accustomed to living outdoors in Minnesota my have a LCT of 30F or lower.

Some horses will need extra energy supplement in addition to their forage intake to help them maintain their body temperature without losing body condition or undergoing cold stress.  For each degree Fahrenheit below the horse's lower critical temperature, the caloric needs will generally increase by about 1%.  Some signs to look for to tell if the horse has reached it's LCT:

• If the horse is shivering
• If the hair coat is standing on end instead of lying flat
• Seeking shelter from wind or precipitation

If you see these signs, there's a good chance that your horse's energy needs are not being met and they need some energy supplement to offset that deficiency. 

In winter months, horses should have access to at least 1.5-3% of their body weight in some form of quality forage (long stem hay, chopped hay, cubes, or a combination).  They should also have access to salt at all times and unlimited ice-free water.  To avoid impaction colic, a horse will require a lot more water when consuming dried hay instead of grazing lush pasture.  If cold stress is an issue, the situation may warrant supplementation with grain to maintain weight through the cold months, however, grain shouldn't constitute a majority of the horse's diet.  Many people believe that feeding more concentrates will help keep the horse warmer, however, there isn't as much heat produced as a byproduct of digestion, absorption, and utilization of grains as there is from the microbial fermentation of forages. 

The take home message should be to evaluate the status of your horses (body condition, hair coat, environment, etc), evaluate your pasture for forage availability, figure out how much hay/grain supplementation will be needed, and prepare for the upcoming change in weather.  Making these preparations will hopefully prevent you and your horse from having any problems through the winter!  

For more information on Winter Feeding, see these two articles used as references:

   Rutgers Extension: Winter Feeding for Horses

   University of Minnesota Extension: Feeding Your Horse in Winter