Winter Feed for Outdoor Horse

[Akane]

BOSS-black oil sunflower seeds are better than grain for horses. More protein, more fat, better calcium to phosphate ratio, digest easier, much less chance of causing founder or colic, and the list goes on. Any good horse forum will have posts that go on and on about BOSS. It surprised me how much horses love these things. Even my picky mare that I had tons of issues keeping weight on loved BOSS and went from looking half starved after her last foal at 18years old to almost a bit chubby the next spring. Another thing that comes up very frequently on the horse forums is beet pulp. This can be used to replace hay since it's high in fiber and it tends to keep on weight and keep them warm better than hay. Beet pulp pellets with added vitamins and minerals can be mixed with BOSS to make a complete feed that complements your hay.

As for hay you want something that is grass based. Where it gets really cold though there is something to be said for legume mixes. A 25% alfalfa seems to be good for horses that have weight issues over the winter. Alfalfa though has too much protein and calcium to be the only hay fed. You need to counter the calcium by giving a high phosphorous feed like straight oats (what we used to do before we fed BOSS and grass hay) and some use apple cider vinegar. Then the high protein leads to more water intake and more urine output which makes your shelters messier and increases the odds of dehydration and colic which can be a problem in winter.

Which leads to another winter issue. Horses don't like to drink really cold water. Try to keep the water as warm as possible or offer a bucket of room temp water every now and then. Otherwise some won't drink enough and with the increase in dry roughage they have a higher risk for colic.

 

[alokpaul]

Investing in a turnout is a good idea for any horse owner that lives in an area with changing seasons and unpredictable weather. A healthy horse with adequate coat and weight is very good at retaining heat. Eating also provides heat for the horse when fermentation digestion occurs in the cecum. If you're on the hunt for a useful turnout, TuffRider offers a CoolMax sheet(https://www.breeches.com/collections/horse-blankets) that keeps horses protected from changing weather throughout the day; this keeps the horse warm when temps start to drop and cool during the day. Here is one which is best - https://www.breeches.com/products/tuffrider-bonum-1200d-ripstop-coolmax-light-weight-turnout-sheet

Here is an amazing guides as well- https://www.breeches.com/blogs/blog/guide-to-turnout-horse-blanket-and-sheets