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Feeding In Winter
By Sarah Gee
©Voice, December 2005
Horse owners should keep two goals in mind when devising a winter-feeding plan: to maintain the horse’s body condition and to keep the horse warm. As temperatures drop, the horse’s energy requirements increase as it tries to maintain its internal body temperature. These increased energy requirements must be met through nutrients contained in feed or the horse will attempt to meet them by drawing on their own fat reserves. When the fat reserves are depleted they will use protein from muscle tissue in an attempt to produce the badly needed energy and body heat. As the horse gets thinner, there is less of a fat cover over the ribs for insulation, and the horse must use more energy to stay warm. If the feed ration continues to be deficient in energy, a vicious cycle will occur with more and more weight loss. Starvation and death may be imminent if the energy drain and weight loss are not stopped.
The best way to prevent this devastating outcome is to keep the horse fed properly throughout the year to maintain an optimal body condition. Before deciding on a feeding plan, an owner should know their horse’s weight and/or body condition score (BCS). The most accurate method of determining a horse’s weight is to weigh it. Weight tapes give a reasonable estimate. Visual estimates are not as accurate. BCS is a visual, hands-on method for measuring body fat. Horses are rated from 1-9 with 1 being emaciated and 9 obese. Table 1 may be used as a guideline for determining your horse’s BCS. It is generally recommended that pleasure horses be maintained at a BCS of 5.5 to 7.5 in winter. BCS should be checked every 30 days to monitor a winter-feeding program. If a horse on pasture and fed hay had a BCS of 6 and a month later still is a BCS of 6, it is getting adequate energy from the winter pasture and hay. If the horse has a BCS of 5.5 after a month, the owner needs to increase the amount of feed.
Because of varying nutrient contents and the way they are digested, feeds vary in the amount of heat the horse can generate from them during the winter. A higher percentage of energy is given off as heat from good-quality hay compared to grain because of the way roughages are processed by the intestinal system. Roughages, such as hay, are digested by microbial fermentation in the large intestine of the horse, and this process generates greater amounts of heat.
Therefore, good-quality roughages should be the foundation of any winter ration. In fact, along with trace mineralized salt and water, good-quality roughages, such as first cutting alfalfa and grass mix, can make up most or the entire ration for an idle adult horse during the winter. Feeding concentrates is necessary only when the horse cannot maintain body condition on a roughage diet or roughages are unavailable due to lack of supply or cost.
Generally, horses require a daily ration of good-quality grass hay equal to 2% of their body weight. If you are feeding good-quality legume hay (such as alfalfa) the required ration will be about 1.75% of the horse’s body weight. This amount of hay usually meets the mature, idle horse’s energy, protein, mineral, and vitamin needs. If the temperature drops below freezing, feed 10%-15% more hay to help the horse maintain its internal body temperature. If your horse is on pasture the amount of hay may be reduced depending on the quantity and quality of the winter pasture
Good-quality hay is hay that is free of mold and dust and contains an abundance of leaves and fine stems. Leaves are more nutritious than stems. Legume hays have higher energy, protein, mineral and vitamin levels than grass hays of similar quality and should be fed to young, growing horses, early lactating mares, late pregnant mares, and horses that are being worked hard. Mature horses that are ridden little or not at all will do fine on good or even average-quality grass hay.
There is no need to feed large amounts of grain to pleasure horses with a BCS of 5.5-7.5 in winter. Horses that maintain their BCS need no grain or only 1-2 pounds daily of a 10%-11% crude protein grain mix. Young, growing horses, lactating mares, late pregnant mares and horses being worked hard require more grain in winter. Horses should be fed a balanced ration that has the proper nutrients in a palatable form based on feeding a high-quality forage (pasture and hay) with minimum grain and supplements. When considering grain, oats are an excellent winter feed as they are high in fiber and produce more body heat than corn. Mature horses can be fed whole oats while weanlings should be given the crimped variety.
In addition to a balanced ration, all horses need trace mineralized salt and clean, fresh water at all times except when hot from work. Trace mineralized salt should be available free choice as loose salt, however a salt block is better than no salt. When the temperature drops below freezing, horses tend to drink less water and this increases the likelihood of impaction colic. Horses prefer warm water to cold water so consider installing heaters in your buckets and tanks or filling your buckets and tanks from the hot water tap.
Sample Winter Feeding Plans
(these are provided only as a guideline, each horse is an individual and feeding plans should be tailored to their specific needs)
1) Idle pleasure horse
BCS 5 and above with adequate pasture
1.15-1.25 lbs. of good-quality grass hay per 100 lbs. of body weight
Free-choice trace mineralized salt
1-2 lbs. grain to supplement possible pasture deficiencies
BCS 4 and below with adequate pasture
1.15-1.25 lbs. of good-quality grass hay per 100 lbs of body weight
Free-choice trace mineralized salt
3 lbs. or more of a 10%-11% crude protein grain mix w/ vitamin A and
phosphorus
BCS 5 and above without pasture
2% of body weight in good-quality grass hay
Free-choice trace mineralized salt
1-2 lbs. grain to supplement possible deficiencies in hay
BCS 4 and below without pasture
2% of body weight in good-quality grass hay
Free-choice trace mineralized salt
3 lbs. or more of a 10%-11% cure protein grain mix w/ vitamin A and
phosphorus
2) Light performance horses
On pasture
1%-1.5% of body weight in good-quality grass hay
Free-choice trace mineralized salt
3-6 lbs. of a 10%-11% crude protein grain mix with added levels of
minerals and vitamins. As performance increases to moderate
or intense levels, horses should be fed less hay and more grain.
3) Pregnant mares (should have a BCS of 5.5-7.5)
On pasture
1%-1.5% of body weight in good-quality legume or grass hay
0.25-0.75 lbs. of grain per 100 lbs. of body weight
Feed a 10%-12% crude protein feed with legume hay
Feed a 14%-16% protein feed with grass hay
Grain mix should contain added copper, zinc, selenium,
phosphorus, and vitamin A
4) Weanlings and yearlings
Feed hay free choice or feed 1.75 lbs. of hay and 1.25 lbs. of a
16% crude protein grain mix per 100 lbs. of body weight.
Feed weanlings and yearlings a legume hay.
References:
Harper, Frederick, Body Condition Scores in Horses, UT Extension Horse Express Volume 24, No. 1, January, February, March 2005.
Harper, Frederick, Winter Horse Feeding, UT Extension Horse Express Volume 23, No. 1, January, February, March 2004.
Marteniuk, Judy, Winter Energy Needs in Horses, News Release, April 2004, Michigan State University College of Veterinary Medicine.
Marteniuk, Judy, Equine Winter Starvation Syndrome, News Release, January 2004, Michigan State University College of Veterinary Medicine.
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