How to help your horse thrive this winter
Keeping condition on your horse during the colder months can be challenging but, at Equimins, we’re not interested in merely surviving winter, we want your horse to THRIVE! In this blog, we’ve put together some top tips to help your horse this winter…
- Forage – forage is an essential part of the horse’s diet. In fact, we’re huge advocates of forage only diets at Equimins. The horse’s digestive system has evolved to digest forage and not the grains that are found in mixes. What’s more, feeding forage has lots of other advantages. Did you know that digesting forage keeps the horse warm and that it takes a horse between 3500 and 4500 chews to eat 1kg of hay in contrast to 850 chews for hard feed? This means a diet high in forage will keep the horse busy for longer?
- Balance – feeding a quality balancer alongside a fibre diet will help to ensure that your horse is receiving all the vitamins and minerals he needs to support health and condition. Our Advance Concentrate Complete balancer is perfect for the job and also comes with a money back guarantee if you don’t see an improvement in condition after adding it to your horse’s diet for two months. It has a high specification and in addition to vitamins, trace elements and bioavailable minerals, it also contains probiotics and saccharomyces cerivisae yeast to support digestion.
- Oil – if your horse needs additional calories, say, if he’s in hard work, oils provide an excellent source of slow release energy that complements a forage diet. We sell three different oils that are ideal for the job: Glow & Shine Omega Oil, Soya Oil and Linseed Oil. Alternatively, why not consider Cooked Linseed? This is high in omega 3 and 6 oils, is presented in a form that’s easy for the horse to digest and combines the benefits of oil with fibre.
- Routine – horses are creatures of habit, so do your best to stick to the same routine each day. Drastic changes in routine can cause the horse to become anxious, and this can lead to him losing weight.
- Turnout – horses aren’t really designed to spend prolonged periods of time inside, so make sure your horse has regular access to turnout, or if this isn’t possible, that he gets a chance to stretch his legs each day in an arena or even enjoy some grass in hand. Giving your horse time to unwind will help his mental state, and this is very important if you want your horse to stay happy and healthy over the winter months.
- Stimulate – it might not be possible to ride as much as your horse is used to, but there are other ways you can help to keep his mind and body busy. Lunging and long reining can be really useful for all levels of horse, and why not consider learning how to get your horse to stretch correctly from the ground? He’ll appreciate the treats and, when done correctly, it can be really beneficial.
- Health – keep a careful eye on your horse’s health during the winter months and make changes as needed to help head off issues. For example, respiratory issues can be more common in the winter, so keep an eye out for signs such as coughing and tweak your management regime if needed. This might mean your horse spends more time outside, or you start soaking hay, or you introduce a respiratory supplement to give your horse extra support.
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