On Friday I wrote about the importance of hydration, especially in the winter. It got me thinking about the changes I’ve been making to my horse’s feeding regime.
This is the first winter when I haven’t had my horse in a bank barn. One of the real advantages to that barn was that it stayed cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter. I never had problems with soaking beet pulp or hay cubes there because they didn’t freeze. That’s not the case where my horse is now. While there are advantages (more turnout space, for example), in bone chilling weather like we’ve had for the past week, everything liquid freezes.
4 responses so far ↓
Michelle // December 21, 2009 at 7:54 am |
I’m really fortunate that I’ve never been in a barn where freezing was all that big an issue. For us, getting the horses to drink in the winter was always a bigger job than them losing condition. We never had to make big feeding changes during cold months, just a little more hay and grain in some cases.
Lisa // December 21, 2009 at 8:50 am |
We have our horses outside with a run-in shed. They are exposed, so to speak, to all temperatures. Yesterday it was -22 centigrade (that’s cold).
Yes, everything liquid freezes.
We feed hay, hay and more hay. We have 3 horses and right now they are eating close to 50 kilos per day. We also feed beet pulp, grass pellets and some barley (oats are out of the question). We add oil, freshly ground flax seed, sunflowers and bokashi (fermented feed with activated effective mico-organisms). They seem to do fine, even when it’s bitter.
This is the second year we’ve kept them like this. We too had them in boxes over night before – they were in a cold barn though (it froze at night). Since we’ve switched I find them happier and in better health – but they need tons of hay.
Jane // December 22, 2009 at 2:08 am |
If the barn has electricity, this can help with the oil. I had a friend who wanted to keep feeding oil and had freezing sludge issues. She took an old crock pot, filled it 3/4 of the way with H20, and stuck the oil bottle in it while doing barn chores, come feeding time, she had warm oil and warm water for a nice mash, without the worries of forgetting about an electric teakettle boiling dry.
oneredhorse // December 22, 2009 at 11:41 pm |
I’ve just finished revising Lyra’s nightly feast. The grass of her forty acre pasture is pretty nubby in the winter and doesn’t sustain her. I was and may yet start with cocosoya oil by Uckele. Decided to first try Moorglo – a rice bran, flax, and soya oil supplement. Lyra loves the stuff and she is a picky eater. She gets this with some Nutrena Safe Choice, over soaked shredded beet pulp. Lucky we don’t often have to worry about things freezing here on the coast.