Cold Weather Care

Sometimes I wonder if Colorado is the colic capitol of the world. This time of year is the worst. Starting in February or so, temperatures fluctuate like crazy.
This month we had a high of 64 degrees on Valentines Day, and this morning it was 3 degrees.

This is not unusual weather around these parts.

Mort was a notorious weather change colic-er. If the temp changed more than 40 degrees in a 12 hour period, he would colic. It could go up or down and he'd react. Once he started showing symptoms he was in trouble. He always pulled through but it took a call to the vet most of the time. I gave him two hours of walking and then would call.

I learned to keep hay in front of him 24/7 when severe weather was predicted. It cut his colic episodes by at least 50%.

In my thirties our horses lived on my husbands family ranch. They had 1200 acres of high quality mountain pasture. I didn't have a single incident of colic. Mountain lions, bears and barbwire, but no colic.

My first job as a full time trainer and riding instructor was at a small boarding and breeding facility 20 minutes up the pass, in Green Mountain Falls. We had a lot of colic. I mean a shitload. After my vet admitted he was called to our barn more than any other for colic I started searching for reasons. Our horses had excellent care. Their water buckets were always full, they were fed like clock work and the barn was meticulous.

One thing stood out. The horses were fed a large amount of complete feed and one flake of hay, 2x a day. They were all bright eyed, shiny and maintained a great weight.

I started to research the feed requirements for a healthy horse. Horses have miles of intestines jammed into their inefficient bellies. They can't throw up. Poop is really important. What makes a horse poop? Roughage. Anywhere from 15 to 30 pounds (alfalfa vs. grass) of it per day. I started feeding my horses an all hay lunch. My colic incidents became fewer, but there were still too many.

Sonita was the worst. Loki would colic, but not as often Sonita. Annie, my old mare, never had a problem.

I started my education in colic by studying poop. Sonita's manure was small, hard and infrequent. Loki's was average. Annie dropped huge, grassy piles. I mean, you'd a thought there was an elephant living with her.

Adding more hay created bigger, looser poop. Sonita's were still dry and hard and her colic incidents were high. I kept asking questions. The B.O. told me she drank very little water. On average less than five gallons a day. Loki was good for almost two buckets or ten gallons a day. Annie lived outside in a pen with a creek and had free access.

I had learned to water Sonita out of white or yellow buckets when we went to shows. If she couldn't see the bottom she wouldn't drink. Her bucket at the barn was dark green. I switched out her bucket and she started to drink like a normal horse. Then, I added an extra water bucket so they had ten gallons available at all times.

My colic issues dropped again, but still were statistically higher than normal. Several years later I learned that recent city expansion upstream had turned the beautiful creek that supplied water to my stable into a polluted mess. I have come to the conclusion that water quality was the primary problem.

I never completely solved my colic issues at that barn, but by the time I switched to another facility I put my hard earned colic education to use. I reduced my complete feed, doubled their hay and made sure each horse had constant access to a clean, half barrel (thirty gallons) of water. I checked our water source to be confident in the quality. I had a few minor incidents of colic during my time there. Annie was kept on pasture. Again, she was colic free.

After a three year stint I went to work with the Big K. My education really intensified there. We had four barns with a total of 30 stalls. We also had kind of a catch-all -- an open pen with shelter for babies, horses out of training, rejects, etc. There were anywhere from two to ten head at any given time. Then there was a herd of six buffalo, and anywhere from 10 to 20 head of cattle.

We watered out of tanks, tubs and buckets. We did not have heaters and Eastern Colorado is windy and cold in the winter.

Colic was extremely rare at K's place. We were crazy ice choppers. Horses drank just fine as long as their water was ice free. The cattle were like the horses. They wanted clean, ice free water. The buffs didn't care. Don't get me wrong, all animals in our care deserve clean water, but I think the buffs would be cool with sucking dirty ice out of each other's beards.

The biggest difference was the amount of hay we fed. We kept them knee deep in hay. Hard keepers and horses in heavy training were supplemented, but many horses ate nothing but hay.

I started to feed my own horses a combination of alfalfa and free choice grass. They had thirty gallon tubs and individual salt blocks. My colic dropped to zero.

Over the years I have noticed a few things. Anxious, crabby and depressed horses colic more than calm, happy horses. It can be their nature or their life style, but how a horse sees the world affects their digestion.

Regular exercise keeps the hay running through them.

Being able to eat small amounts of roughage 24/7 keeps a healthier gut than large feedings a few times a day. Alfalfa is calorie dense so I don't free feed it. Ideally, I like to feed alfalfa twice a day and slow feed grass all of the time. I don't grain or supplement my horses at all. I make sure their hay is top notch, they have salt and clean water. They are gorgeous, have all the energy and stamina I could ever need and have been healthy for a very long time (yes, I am knocking frantically on wood).

The last place I trained out of had pasture, pens and stalls, depending on the situation.

The absolute healthiest horses I have ever known are horses on quality pasture. They need a wind break, access to feed in inclement weather, clean water and salt. They graze and travel all day. They are living like a horse should and colic only comes if the grass is poor, water is scarce or dirty, the ground is wormy or another illness creates the symptoms.

If my horses don't have a free choice hay situation, when bad weather comes, I bury them in grass hay. An eating horse is warm, an eating horse gets thirsty and drinks, an eating horse is digesting. Water heaters are wonderful. I want the water cool, not cold, or warm. If I don't have them, then I want all of the ice removed at least twice a day.

I spent years blanketing my horses because of that stinking show deal. I don't anymore. I don't ride them into a lather when they're hairy. If they get wet, then I'll dry them with a cooler or six. I don't stall anymore. They have lots of room, each other and a shed.

If it's too cold, horses will sometimes not drink enough. This can lead to dehydration. If I'm worried about a horse, I'll feed them sloppy soaked warm beet pulp with some molasses and salt. The molasses gets even the picky ones to eat it, the salt makes them thirsty and the little bit of water they get from the mash encourages them to drink.

I don't like automatic waterers because I can't monitor their water intake.

I'll salt all my horses feed during extended periods of cold. Again, it encourages them to drink.

That's it. Simple, maybe, but it's worked for me for a very long time.

Keep the gut moving with hay, salt and water.

Good health before the cold hits is key.

Keep the ice out and your eyes peeled.