Editor’s Note: This is an excerpt from Care and Management by Heather Smith Thomas. 

A horse’s nutrient requirements increase with cold weather; he needs more calories to generate heat to keep warm. Mature horses in good condition usually don’t need grain, however, if they have good winter pasture or grass hay. A little alfalfa hay can be added during cold weather since digestion of protein creates more heat. Young horses and broodmares may need grain and/or alfalfa hay along with their pasture or grass hay to provide the extra nutrition they need. A horse being ridden in winter also will have higher requirements than the idle horse.

You want your horse carrying adequate flesh through winter without losing or gaining weight. If he gets too fat by spring it will be harder to get him back into top shape and he will be more prone to saddle sores, cinch sores, and other rub spots under tack. Soft movable skin over the fat is tender and more easily injured, taking longer to toughen up. A horse that loses too much weight can be equally hard to get into good summer condition because he has to gain weight as well as fitness.

A horse with a thick hair coat may look plump; you can’t always tell by looking at him how fat he actually is. You should check his body condition periodically, using your fingers along his neck, withers, ribs, and hips to determine how much flesh is under all that hair. Stand beside his midsection and run your fingers under the hair against his ribcage. Doing it both directions gives a clue about how much fat covering he has. If he has a thick hair coat, face his head and push your fingers against the lay of the hair until you can easily feel the skin over his ribs, rubbing firmly back and forth over several ribs