As you may already know, winter is a treacherous time for animals and if you are running a field or a farm, you’d be inclined to agree. Animals need a lot of care and attention, which is costly, and it’s much easier to give them that care and attention if they are happy, healthy and best of all – alive.
Winter is a hard time with low temperatures affecting the health of your animals, but when you are caring for horses in the winter months you need to do everything possible to keep them healthy.
From horse sheds that maximize dryness and health to ensuring the right feed, the preparation that you do for your horses now will make a big difference for them later. Let’s take a look at how you can reinforce the care of your animals in the winter.
Check the structure of their stables
Whether you’re using dedicated horse sheds or not. If your horses currently have stables, you need to check the structures to make sure that they can be prepared for the winter.
Any holes or cracks where water can leak through can cause a lot of issues for your horses, and as the temperatures go below freezing they need to not be also dealing with damp conditions. Fixing small imperfections can be done with exterior putty, but you need to also reinforce the structure and build a new one if necessary.
Prepare their beds
Every horse should have a bed in its stable, where it can sleep and where they can rest. This means it has to be kept dry, clean and warm.
The lighting should be good, it should be well-ventilated, and it should be free from any dirt, moisture or accumulated mould.
Sometimes in cold regions, it is a good idea to have some kind of a heating system so that the temperatures inside the staples or the sheds can maintain above freezing temperatures.
Horses should always also have access to blankets because just because they’re big animals doesn’t mean they don’t want to be cosy.
Keep it clean
Optimising the hygiene of the horse facilities is important throughout any month of the year, but especially in the winter when illness is present.
Daily cleaning that removes any food residue is important to prevent illness. With good ventilation and good natural light, as well as a daily clean, your horse should be so much healthier through the winter months than any other month of the year because you’re paying more attention to their surroundings.
Your horses deserve to be well looked after any month of the year, but in the winter they deserve to come through the other side feeling happy, healthy and relaxed. If you are prepared early, you’ll be able to ensure that your horses get through the winter months in one piece and you don’t have to deal with any illness which can become expensive.
