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06.10.20
During cold weather, the horse requires additional energy to maintain its internal body temperature and keep warm. The exact amount of energy depends on the severity and extent of the cold period.
When environmental temperatures (including wind chill) drop below 0°C (referred to as the critical temperature), significant amounts of energy are used by the horse to maintain its internal body heat. For each 1°C decrease below the critical temperature, the horse requires a 1% increase in digestible energy to maintain a consistent body temperature. Wind chill, moisture, and coat thickness will affect the critical temperature. The horse’s thick winter coat has an insulating effect against cold and wind. Due to the falling temperatures in winter, it inhibits the grass pasture to grow and it becomes rapidly depleted of natural forage. Horses must increasingly rely on their owners to provide them with a nutritionally adequate diet. To properly feed a horse during the winter months several key factors must be addressed: water, fibre and essential nutrients.
Water should always be the first consideration in the diet of any horse. An adult horse (500 kg) in a cool, comfortable environment that is not working or lactating requires a minimum of 25 – 35 liters of fresh clean water per day. Impaction colic in horses during the winter months is one of our greatest concerns. This form of colic is mainly due to the horse becoming dehydrated because it consumes less water due to cooler temperatures (no sweating), cold water and a diet of hay (10% water content) instead of pasture (80% water content). When horses drink cold water during the winter, their bodies must expend additional calories to warm their tissues back up from the heat loss that is incurred, so they instinctively drink less. Research has shown that horses drink the most water when the water temperature is between 7 and 20º C. Optimum water consumption will keep the fibre in the horse’s digestive system hydrated, allowing it to be broken down efficiently by intestinal bacteria and to be pliable, and less likely to “ball up” and cause a blockage in the large intestine. The water requirement is higher if the horse is in training, nursing a foal, growing, or pregnant.
Adequate fibre intake is the next consideration in feeding horses during the winter season. It is recommended that horses receive a minimum of 1.5% of their body weight in hay (fibre) per day. For a 500kg horse, this equates to 7.5 kg of hay per day. Horses can consume up to 3% of the body weight per day in hay (15 kg for a 500kg horse) if the hay is of good quality. The fibre obtained from hay is necessary to keep the digestive system of the horse functioning properly. Without this hay fibre, horses will seek out other sources of fibre including bedding and wood fences or trees to satisfy their needs. Adequate fibre from hay is even more critical during the winter months since it is the feed ingredient that keeps horses warm during cold weather. Digestion and fermentation of hay produces heat that helps the horse maintain its body temperature during winter.
Unlike hay, consumption of grain does not produce large amounts of body heat during digestion.
One problem that may arise with horses during the winter months is chronic weight loss. This can occur either by not feeding enough hay or by feeding poor quality hay to the horse. In both cases the horse will have trouble getting enough calories to maintain body weight. In the case of not feeding enough hay, the simple remedy is to provide all the hay the horse will consume during the day. If the horse is being fed all the hay it will consume and weight loss is still an issue, better quality hay must be fed.
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