How to keep your horse warm in winter

Another tip to feed your horse so that its body works to save you extra money in feeds!💰

Are you cold today? Do you think your horse is cold?🌧
What should you feed your horse to keep it warm?

Unlike humans a horse doesn’t require ‘hot’ food to get warm.
A horse regulates its body temperature with its own internal furnace = the hind gut!

A horse’s hind gut contains trillions of microbes that are like a little factory of minion workers. They are happiest fermenting non-structural carbohydrates = fibre (think of as like the hard structural components of a house – walls & ceiling).🏛

The fermentation of that fibre gives off a long-lasting heat. Horses use that heat to maintain core body temperature. Its like throwing a log on the fire! 🧨

Feeding hay for internal combustion is the best way to keep your horse warm this winter! This is essential for the older senior horse living outside in the wind.

Good hay keeps a horse chewing and fuelling the body, essentially making it easier to maintain optimum condition and temperature, as opposed to grain. Grain (such as oats or a warm bran mash) is primarily digested in the stomach and produces only a small amount of heat compared to the fermentation of hay in the hind gut.

The general rule of thumb is a horse needs to eat at @ 2% of their own body weight in terms dry matter per day.
So a 500kg horse needs to eat approximately 10kg of fibre to meet his daily requirement. This is made up from your pasture, (which can be only around 20% dry matter for much of the year), plus that needed hay plus other feeds.

Fun fact = An extra 2.6kg of hay will raise a horse’s body temperature by 0.5 degree Celsius for up to four hours.

No need to spend extra $$ on fancy feeds and spend time trying to warm feeds with hot water – just feed more hay this winter! This is a great example of feeding so that the horses body is working for you.

If you want help to feed your horse correctly to maintain optimum health pm me ‘winter’ or hop directly to the website for individual nutrition programme purchase today!
https://dlequine.co.nz/services/