Hi everyone,
It's freezing and miserable where I live and I know for members in Australia, it's really hot right now.
How do you handle extreme cold and extreme heat with your horse? How long do you turn out for? How long do you ride? Do you alter the feed in any way?
Is is kinder and more "natural" to leave the horse out for hours at a time in extreme weather, or to leave them in the stall for hours at a time, without their normal turn-out?

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Barbara, I have always found that horses require turn-out to stay mentally and physically healthy. My horses have always received turnout whether rain snow sleet or sun. although sometimes I did shorten their turnout. During those days that they started the morning in, they were always grateful to go out for the hour or two in the late afternoon or evening...even during a blizzard. Providing they are blanketed if need be or in a proper winter coat themselves...freezing rain is their worst enemy!!!
My horses get turn out whatever the weather, almost every day (the exception being if it's too icy to cross the yard safely, or when there is a heavy thunderstorm looming). If I left them stabled all the time during the bad weather, even having exercised them under saddle or in hand, they quickly become bored and cantakerous. They let me know when they've had enough of the weather when they are turned out, coming to call to be tucked up with a hay net. In summer, they are out over night, and come in during the hottest part of the day.

I have many friends in the UK who have their horses turned out full time, year round. So long as the horses have access to shelter, clean water, and quality forage, they are more than happy to live natural lives. However, I hate to see horses standing in fields that have turned to mud through the wetter months or deserts when the sun bakes all the grazing away, with sparse shelter and no feed provided. In my mind, that's just as neglectful as keeping a horse stabled all the time...
Very informative answer. Thank you so much!
I have a 1 year old colt and I am a new owner and he is turned out during the day and has access to round ring w/hay and water. Then around 6 he is brought in with all the other boarders. It was 35 degrees today... not cold like the North... but in Dallas Texas.. that is cold.
I went to visit him and he was eating hay and seemed fine. I have a question? I read from another reply that drinking cold water on a cold day could bring on colic?? What is your opinion.

Also where I board my colt, he will be let out at night and come in during the hottest part of the day too.

Thanks,

Kay
I like to give as much turn out as possible!
My horses are out about 9hrs/day, moreso in summer. I'll keep them in only if there's a cold winter rain, or freezing rain, or if the footing is just too bad. But I know they want and need to get out, so on the other types of bad weather days, I'll get them out for a shorter period of time. Even if it's only an hour or two on a really nasty day, at least then maybe they'll appreciate why they're inside after that.

It's really icey out there now, so I've had to sand my paths to walk them to the paddocks, and anywhere in the paddocks that needs it. It's not the greatest walk to the paddocks right now (have to be extremely careful), but if I didn't keep putting them out, they'd have been inside for over a week straight so far due to ice, and i am certain they'd be going absolutely stir crazy by now if I kept them in that long. Usually I only keep them in for a day or two when really bad weather then I have to find a way to get them out.
If you have an arena, then you're lucky, at least you can use that as a backup to ride, lunge, or for turnout on these bad weather or footing times. In the summer, I end up turning them out overnight and keeping them in during days when the bugs start to get too bad. Mosquitos can be tolerable at night, but those horse flies are so nasty when it's hot and dry out, in addition to not wanting to have the horses standing baking and dehydrating in the sun all day in summer.
As long as they have proper blankets for rain and snow and wetness, they should be alright out there in the bad weather. I remember we had a really cold, dry, windy winter where it was below -20 + major windchill for weeks. (I know that's nothing to people in AB and northern BC etc). I found that the horses were better off to get outside with some sunshine rather than sheltered in the barn where it could be even colder inside during the day than outside. (my barn is not insulated).
Now a horse that's been clipped for winter, or doesn't have much of a coat because it was blanketed early to keep from getting too much coat is an entirely different story. (these being the show horses, or where people have an arena) These horses I would give them a small amount of turnout for their mental state until the extreme conditions pass.
Overall, outdoors as much as possible vs indoors going crazy is my preference.
My own horses are out 8-12 hours a day no matter what the weather. In the winter they have a round bale to eat free choice to give them the heat they need on those cold days. The barn is in the paddocks so they can get under the overhang or flatten against any of the 3 sides to block the wind and snow. But for the most part they just crowd round the bale and are reluctant to come inside when it is time. None are blanketed/

The barn I manage has some horses out 24/7 with run-in sheds, heated water troughs and round bales (plus manually fed grain 1-2x daily). They seem hearty and healthy enough outside and when needing a bit more energy to stay warm they will run around plus I will increase grain by as much as 1/2 scoop (1-2 kgs) daily.

The inside horses may or may not get turnout depending upon weather conditions. There is a small paddock just off the barn so I can turnout for the length of time it takes to do stalls. However a couple of weeks ago with the extreme cold, the water pipes in the barn were in danger of freezing so almost all of the horses were kept in. Only those who drove the human (me) nuts got turnout for the full day. By the second day even the most annoying horse got the hint and settled down to stabled life. Once the weather turned nice (above -15 degrees C including wind chill) out they went again for 6-8 hrs turnout. Only 3 stabled horses are blanketed - 2 layups from the track and a young gelding in work with a non-hairy coat.
Great questions... I am a brand new owner of a 1 year old colt. And I look forward to hearing the answers to your questions.

k
Hi Barbara
i live in New England and we have had a pretty tough winter..cold sub zero temperatures, snow and ice storms.
I turn my horses out daily for 8-12 hours, except during the sub zero days. I do, however have in and out stall and heated water both inside the stalls and out. I find that the horses drink more from the heated buckets and there is no "ice chopping" in the morning. i do keep them blanketed as well.
We have lots of sub-zero weather, but I think that's because our numbers are in Celsius!

Our horses go out for four or five hours/day during the summer and three in winter. In summer, they often end up standing at the gate looking forlorn, if there are too many flies, or if it's too hot, but in the winter, they are blanketed and don't seem to mind the cold. Because my horse is clipped, I am always walking a fine balance, but I definitely agree that fresh air and movement is number one.

I also really like the idea of a warm drink for them.
Catherine, what do you use to heat the outdoor waters? I found that the horses will grab any cord that might be there when I tried a water heater. But I agree, warm water outside is the best idea, and would save me a lot of ice smashing every morning, and sometimes through the day when it's this cold!! (-25 C before windchill today)
Well I don't how you guys handle that sort of weather! Here in South Australia we are having a bit of a heatwave .Yesterday it was 43 degrees C , I rode in the morning, early, and it wasn't to bad. This morning however , it was 33C at 9.30am .I started at 6am ,and finished pretty soon after. Looking after horses in that heat, if you are working them, can be a bit of a trick. Short bursts of activity with lots of rest , the hard work starts after the work . When hoseing them of you realy need two people, one to hose , the other to scrap the water off. If you don't get the water off strait away you can actually heat the horse up, as the body temp will heat up the water, witch will increase the horse's temp. I have seen horses temp increase a degree and a half by not scraping the water off
Wow, we have just had the hottest day in 70 years! 47degrees C . The horse's are all fine , they just find a shady tree and hang about. The old dog is looking a bit sad though, she might not survive! SHE'S 23YO .
A 23 yr old dog? Gee they make them hardy in Australia!:)
As for the heat, hhmm either that or our freezing -17c. I'm not sure...

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