If you have a horse, here are three mistakes that you want to avoid making this winter that could have a negative impact on your horse's health.
Mistake #1: Not Providing Fresh Water
In the winter time, your horse's water could easily become frozen. Depending on how cold it is where you live, the water could get frozen during the night or it could be frozen all day. Eating snow is not a substitute for fresh water either. Make sure that your horse has access to water at all points in the day. That means that if you live somewhere that is really cold during the winter time, you are going to need to invest in some heating devices to keep the water warm and drinkable at all times for your horse.
Mistake #2: Not Increasing Food Portions
During the winter time, you need to pay attention to how much you are feeding your horse. To start with, your horse may not be able to graze as much if the ground outside is covered in snow. That means that you need to increase the amount of feed that you give your horse to make up for the food that they are not getting from grazing.
Next, your horse naturally needs to get more food during the winter time. When it is cold outside, your horse is going to need to eat more food to combat the number of extra calories that they are burning in order to stay warm. You are going to want to provide more feed and more fiber in order to make sure that your horse has enough energy reserves to stay warm.
Mistake #3: Not Providing Enough Exercise
Finally, just because it is cold outside does not mean that your horse doesn't need to exercise. If your horse is usually out in the pasture during the summer and spring and able to move around and get lots of exercise, it can be really limiting for your horse to be inside in the winter. Your horse needs exercise every day. That means you should ride your horse multiple times a week and just take your horse out of the barn and let it walk around its pasture for a few hours every day. Let your horse run around in the paddock or pasture during the day, even when it is cold outside, to help your horse get the level of exercise that it needs to stay healthy.
Avoiding the three mistakes above will help protect your horse's health during the winter months. For more information, contact local professionals like Edisto Equine Clinic.
Share4 January 2017
Do you know the types of diseases that are most likely to cause death in dogs? My name is Anne, and I have owned several dogs in the my lifetime. I enjoy training, playing with, and caring for dogs of all sizes and breeds. Throughout my time as a dog owner, I have discovered that there are several illnesses that are common causes of death in dogs and that some breeds are more likely to get these diseases than other breeds. This blog will explain various common deadly diseases in dogs and give advice about how to prevent and treat these illnesses.
