Eastwinds Care To Dance

1. Base diet on forage(chaff,hay & pasture) and plenty of it. Digestion of fibre creates heat production keeping them warmer.

2. Check under rugs- check your horses body condition and for rubs and sores weekly.

3. Adjusting diet according to needs- adding or reducing calories through winter. Also a good time for overweight horses to shed some calories before the spring flush.

4. Keep it balanced- nutrition deficiencies can lead to weight loss, dull & dry coats, muscle wastage or other immune suppressed conditions.

5. Watch out for laminitis in at-risk horses- winter is still a danger period. Continue with management of these horses including low starch & sugar diets, restricting pasture access to early hours of morning and avoiding grain and grain by-products.

6. Keep hydrated- like us some horses drink less water in winter so keep the water clean and available. Additional oil or mash’s to the diet can also help with keeping the gut hydrated and things moving- particularly with the extra hay needing to be fed at the moment.