Winter Horse Care: Hydration, Forage and Preventing Colic
Cold weather drops water intake right when horses need it most. Here is how to keep them drinking, eating and moving through winter.
Impaction colic calls spike with the first hard freeze every year, and the cause is almost always the same: the horse stopped drinking.
Keep the water drinkable
Horses drink noticeably more when water sits between 45 and 65°F. A tank heater pays for itself the first winter you do not need an emergency vet visit.
Check heaters daily for stray voltage — a shocked horse stops drinking entirely.
Offer a warm soaked mash once or twice a day.
Add loose salt to every feed so the horse wants to drink.
Forage is the furnace
Digesting hay produces heat; grain does not, to anything like the same degree. Free-choice hay keeps a horse warmer than an extra blanket.
This guide is general information, not veterinary advice. Always work with your own veterinarian on a plan for your horses.