Winter is a challenging time of year when it comes to feeding your horse. With so many variables, it can be hard to know how best to support your horse’s needs. Check out our helpful hints for winter feeding.
Winter brings many challenges for horse owners, none more so than the conundrum of feeding at this time of year. It is important to assess your horse’s current body condition, age, health and formulate a plan to fulfil his nutritional needs. Here are a few helpful hints to assist with nutritional support for the colder, winter months:
✔ Feed plenty of forage
Forage is absolute vital in keeping your horse warm as it generates heat as your horse chews and digests it. Access to forage is essential for horses stabled indoors as well as those outside.
✔ Consider concentrated feed
Forage alone can be unable to provide enough heat when the temperatures really drop so consider concentrates. Correctly provided, concentrated feed can assist in keeping a horse warm as well as reduce the risk of weight loss due to cold. Consult your equine nutritionist for the best concentrates to provide your individual horse.
✔ Ensure water consumption
Horses are not inclined to drink water in colder weather owing to the water being too cold and unpleasant. Water is essential to prevent impaction colic in winter so encourage water intake by increasing water temperature or including a small bit of salt in concentrated feed.
✔ Boost the immune system
During the winter, a horse’s immune system can become depleted and so supplementation should be considered. Equine Gold from NutriScience is a pre and probiotic supplement that contains a live yeast Saccharomyces Cerevisiae formulation. Equine Gold includes a balanced combination of Mannanoligosaccharide (MOS) and Beta-glucans to help achieve maximum vitality, health and energy.
✔ Introduce changes gradually
Any dietary changes should be introduced gradually to reduce the risk of digestive upsets. It will help your horse’s digestive system adapt as his nutritional needs adjust as the cold weather approaches.
For more advice or assistance, please contact us here or call +353 (0)51 304 010.
