Key Factors for Feeding Horses in Winter

Most horses have some “down time” in winter, when adverse weather will not permit much riding or showing activity. A reduction in your horse’s activity level usually means a reduced need for calories, and requirements for grain or concentrate feeding can be lowered. During the winter season, temperatures typically fall below that necessary for pasture grass to grow. Pastures become rapidly depleted of natural forage and horses must increasingly rely on their owners to provide them with a nutritionally adequate diet. To properly feed a horse during the winter months the key factors of water, fibre, and essential nutrients must be addressed. 

Water should always be the first consideration in the diet for any horse. An adult horse (1000 lbs.) that is not working or lactating, in a cool and comfortable environment, requires a minimum of seven to ten gallons of fresh clean water per day. Impaction colic during the winter months is a major concern. This form of colic is mainly due to a horse becoming dehydrated because it consumes less water due to cooler temperatures (no sweating), less water availability (frozen ponds, cold water, etc.) and a diet of hay at 10 percent water content instead of pasture at 80 percent water content. When horses drink cold water during the winter, their bodies must expend additional calories to warm their tissues again due to the heat loss that has incurred, so they instinctively drink less. Warming water or using insulated or heated buckets that keep water temperature above freezing will allow horses to consume more water.

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 percent of their body weight in hay (fibre) per day. For a 1000 lb. horse, this equates to 15 lbs. of hay per day. Horses can consume up to three percent of their body weight per day in hay (30 lbs. for a 1000 lb 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 heat during digestion.

Another problem that may arise during the winter months is chronic weight loss. This can occur either by not feeding enough hay or by feeding poor quality hay. In both cases the