Managing Horses During Winter Storms

Unexpected ice and snow can make the usual barn work and horse management a real chore. To minimize the impact of winter weather, plan ahead and be prepared to meet the animal’s basic needs—feed, hay, water, and shelter—on your own.

Keep enough hay and grain on hand and in an accessible location to feed all your animals for several days without restocking. Avoid the urge to provide more concentrate feed than usual. The digestion of hay and other fibrous feeds in the equine hindgut produces a constant supply of heat from microbial fermentation. Owners need to be sure horses have an adequate supply of hay, increasing the amount as the temperature drops.

If the barn’s electricity goes out, have a plan to provide your horses with fresh, unfrozen water. This might require toting water from the house or store, or running an extension cord from a generator to heated buckets. Whatever approach will work in your situation, be sure to assemble the necessary equipment and supplies before the first flakes fall.

A few more tips for handling snowy or icy weather on the farm:

• Spread sand on ice and frozen ground to help with footing for horses and humans.
• Watch for shivering, and provide shelter or a windbreak (hay bales stacked outside a fence can cut wind chill significantly). If animals are brought into a barn, be sure to provide adequate ventilation. Barns should not be air-tight, even when the weather is frigid.
• Give animals extra bedding in stalls and run-in sheds. Spreading hay outside will help to insulate animals that lie down on snow or ice.
• Check fences, dangling tree limbs, and downed power lines during and after the storm before turning horses out.