This past weekend we got a taste of colder, wetter weather. As usual, the East Point Horspice critters never once uttered a single complaint as they wandered the corrals and pastures unaware of the moisture falling from the sky. While a few will stay under shelters and only peer out when there’s a possibility of hay being delivered – we joke that they prefer to stay inside and watch cable like some of us do with our hands wrapped around a warm cup of cocoa – most of the herd willingly stands out in the weather without a care. As I am searching the closet for another warm layer of clothes, I am reminded of the reasons why horses can exist in weather that would send most humans scurrying for the heat of a woodstove.
While I am zipping my jacket up around my face, the horse’s well-designed fur is offering a plush thick coat to protect them from the elements. Their winter coat consists of two layers, a short dense undercoat, and a long overlying outercoat. As the temperature becomes more frigid, the undercoat can increase insulative value by standing up on end, like human goosebumps. Since we have such little hair, this action doesn’t provide much warmth to our relatively naked bodies. The outercoat’s function is to provide protection from moisture. This hair is surrounded by a thick layer of fat, which means that horses in the rain are not affected; the moisture has almost no chance of penetrating through to the skin. The use of blankets on horses that are not kept solely in temperature-controlled buildings should be a consideration during the winter months, and while it remains a case-by-case situation, these blankets have the possibility to lessen a horse’s ability to develop the necessary coat to help them do what their bodies were engineered to do when the mercury drops. A good indicator of your horse’s thermoregulation and coat condition is to go out after a storm and see if there is snow piled on the horse’s back. If their body is keeping the heat deep inside and the coat is acting as an efficient insulation layer, the snow will not be thawed from the horse’s body temperature.
One of the best nutritional efforts humans can offer horses is hay. The act of chewing this roughage and subsequently digesting it can be useful in helping a horse maintain body temperature in frosty winter weather. The greatest amount of heat is released when microbes in the gut digest high-fiber feeds such as hay. While it is tempting to supplement with grains, these provide extra calories but are not as efficient at maintaining the necessary internal temperatures to endure the cold. It is also important to keep a consistent supply of salt and fresh, clean water that is not too cold, preferably in the 45–55-degree Fahrenheit range.
Another handy adaptation of horses is their ability to thermoregulate. The horse’s most important organs are located deep inside their body, where they are well protected from hypothermia, surrounded by fat, muscles, skin and fur. The horse’s blood circulation works with this anatomy in that when the temperature drops, the horse’s body draws blood back from the outer layers, especially the skin, to conserve the heat of the inner core.
As winter is slowly creeping in to our Midwestern lifestyle, remember to keep your livestock well fed and watered to give them the best chance to tolerate what we all know is coming. Also remember to get out and enjoy this season with your horses; you’ll be glad you did.