Access to water

A reduction in your horse’s drinking can have serious consequences including colic:

• Ensure ice broken in all troughs
• Add more water to their daily feeds- ideally warm
• Preferred horse drinking temperature is 5-20OC
• Using buckets with measured lines can help to accurately monitor how much your horse is drinking (a 500kg horse will drink between 25-30L in 24 hours)
• Adding a small volume of salt to your horse’s feed can increase drinking

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Laminitis

Frosty nights lead to a build up of sugar in the grass increasing the risk of developing laminitis

• Reduce hours of turnout in frosty weather even if the frost has melted
• Increase turnout during milder days >50C
• Continue to soak hay and monitor intake
• Monitor body condition score and control diet
• Regularly check your horse’s comfort when walking and trotting on hard ground
• If you notice any signs of laminitis (bounding digital pulses, warm feet, lameness) please call your vet ASAP

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Parasites

This time of year our main concerns for parasites are tapeworm and encysted redworms

• Small redworm activity is reduced <60C so worming at this time reduces the risk of re-infection after worming
• We are aiming to reduce the amount of wormers we use (if not necessary) to prevent parasitic drug resistance and to avoid any disturbance to your horse’s gastrointestinal tract
• Please contact your vet for further worming diagnostic tests and worming advice

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Rugging

Appropriate number and thickness of rugs

• Care not to over rug your horse’s, especially if not clipped
• Horse’s are excellent at thermoregulation so often need less rugs than we think
• Native breeds are designed to live in very cold temperatures and need less rugging than other breeds such as thoroughbreds
• Overheating can be very detrimental leading to increased skin problems and excessive sweating can lead to dehydration

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Routine

More hours in the box and reduced exercise can be detrimental

• Exercise is vital to keep horses supple and reduce stiffness
• It also helps reducing the risk of colic as helps to regulate gut movement
• If your horse is requiring long periods of box rest please ensure they have access to good quality forage

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