Combat Cold Weather Stress in Horses

People combat cold weather by putting on additional clothing, but horses fight the elements by using more energy to maintain body temperature. While most people can address their own needs, horses are dependent upon their owners to provide proper nutrition and protection from the weather, said Dave Freeman, PhD, PAS, Dipl. ACAN, Oklahoma State University Cooperative Extension equine specialist.

Share
Favorite
Close

No account yet? Register

ADVERTISEMENT

People combat cold weather by putting on additional clothing, but horses fight the elements by using more energy to maintain body temperature. While most people can address their own needs, horses are dependent upon their owners to provide proper nutrition and protection from the weather, said Dave Freeman, PhD, PAS, Dipl. ACAN, Oklahoma State University Cooperative Extension equine specialist.

Energy for Body Warmth

"The temperature below which a particular horse starts to expend additional energy for maintaining body warmth (called the critical temperature) will vary," he said. He attributes this to several factors including the amount of fat each horse has, the thickness of their winter coats, how well the horse acclimatizes to the cold weather.

For example, a horse with short hair, exposed to wet, cold weather, might need significantly more energy when the temperature gets below 50° F (10° C). A horse acclimatized to cold weather, with a thick hair coat and fat cover, may not expend appreciably more energy until the temperature drops below 30° F (-1° C)

Create a free account with TheHorse.com to view this content.

TheHorse.com is home to thousands of free articles about horse health care. In order to access some of our exclusive free content, you must be signed into TheHorse.com.

Start your free account today!

Already have an account?
and continue reading.

Share

Written by:

Related Articles

Stay on top of the most recent Horse Health news with

FREE weekly newsletters from TheHorse.com

Sponsored Content

Weekly Poll

sponsored by:

Where do you primarily feed your horse?
280 votes · 280 answers

Readers’ Most Popular

Sign In

Don’t have an account? Register for a FREE account here.

Need to update your account?

You need to be logged in to fill out this form

Create a free account with TheHorse.com!