Making Horses The Best They Can Be: Keep Your Horses Warm

With the weather here in the negatives, luckily a very rare occurrence in the great state of Kentucky, we're scrambling to keep the horses here warm without freezing our fingers off in the process. Here are some articles that I've found the most helpful.

These focus mainly on keeping horses in good health warm.

Keeping Horses Warm -The Horse

Keeping Horses Warm -Hobby Farms

This one is specifically for helping older horses stay warm.

Your Aging Horse: Winter Horse Care- Equisearch

Things that I have done are give plenty of free choice hay, keep the younger, thinner, and any horse that would not be allowed to stand under shelter in the barn, and check water frequently, breaking ice as necessary. The free choice hay is especially important because the horses need all of the forage to regulate their internal temperature. Super high quality hay isn't necessarily as important as a large amount. They need the calories, but they need it spread out during the day, and horses tend to eat higher quality hays such as alfalfa too quickly. As long as the horses have a good, thick winter coat, plenty of hay, and access to shelter, they should be fine. Good luck, and I hope all your horses and your fingers stay warm during this crazy cold spell!

Here are a few pictures of my baby this morning in the disappointing amount of snow we got last night.