Hay Burners: Feed is the fuel

Hay Burners:

Feed is the fuel that fires your horses’

'furnace'

Snow on your horses’ backs indicates it has superior insulation from the cold. Photo by BCHBC member, Christine Marshall.

In 2021, Rene Capps of Reno, Nevada, received a thermal imaging camera as a Christmas gift. The camera was purchased to help her diagnose any inflammation or hot spots, in an effort to prevent injuries in her horses. (She barrel races on the Women’s Professional Rodeo Association circuit and has some very high-calibre barrel horses.) To practice with the camera, Rene took some before and after photos of her horse Roman eating his feed.

“R oman is an 18.3 HH, 2,500 lb. Percheron,” explains Rene. “He lives outside and has a covered shelter. He has the winter coat of a wooly mammoth and is clearly in no danger of starvation. But I always wondered if he gets cold. I have bought him blankets in the past, but they didn’t fit him very well and he destroyed them, so that was the end of that.”

It was about -10°C (-18°F)

Before Roman was fed his morning when Rene snapped the two rations. You can see along his back, in thermal imaging photos the area more bluish than red, that he published here. is not as warm as the rest of his body. Photo by Rene Capps. “It was interesting to see that when Roman started eating, he generated a ton of body heat and it did warm him up,” recalls Rene. But what REALLY surprised her is that her Facebook post showing the two photographs garnered 8.8K likes, 25 comments, and 8.7K shares. So, this was obviously something of interest to all horse owners.

“I had no idea that my social media post would generate so much interest,” reported Rene. “I’m so happy that it helped educate people and advocate for horses. This wasn’t a post ‘for or against’ blanketing horses, it was just me, being curious, and wanting to share my findings with my followers.”

Obviously, keeping our horses warm, well-fed, and healthy is a top priority in Canadian winters, so we did some research into how best to ‘feed the furnace’ that fuels our horses.

“In my opinion, horses that are exposed to winter weather need shelter from wind and rain so they can conserve their body heat,” stated Everett Dixon M.Sc., a Mill Nutritionist with Top Shelf Feeds Inc. in Duncan BC. “They also need to increase their energy intake during cold weather by eating more grain or hay. Easy keepers should have access to coarse hay, as the digestion of fibre in the gut produces heat.”

Providing extra feed is especially important when some of your horses’ other thermoregulatory mechanisms have not yet adjusted to sudden changing weather conditions such as a rapid drop of temperature. This extra demand for feed is called climatic energy demand. In the cold winter, the energy demand of the horse increases to counteract the heat loss to the surroundings and they increase heat production through continuously consuming and digesting long fiber.

“Horses need extra forage when the temperatures drop and grazing on pasture as their sole source of nutrition is not sufficient,” adds Dixon. “Winter pastures lack adequate vitamins, minerals and, in some cases, energy. A horse that needs to clear snow to find grass to eat is burning up calories that could be used to keep warm.”

Hay contains much less moisture than grass, so provide an unlimited source of clean, warm water to encourage additional water intake. If you notice your horses’ water consumption is down and/or their manure is dry and hard, take steps to increase water intake or your horse could develop ‘winter colic’ due to impaction of dry feedstuff in their digestive tract. Options to increase moisture include providing warm water, wet hay cubes, steamed hay, or soaked beet pulp. Clean your water buckets regularly. Try using a minty (alcohol-free) mouthwash to rinse them. And consider adding a little apple cider vinegar, molasses, caffeine-free soda, or an equine-friendly commercial water additive to the water. A salt

The darker red along the back indicates that Roman is completely warm everywhere, about 20 minutes after he had started eating. Photo by Rene Capps.

block should also always be available.

For a clipped and blanketed horse, or one with a summer coat, increase feed when the temperature starts to dip below 5°C. For a horse with a thick winter coat, feed more once the temperature is -8°C, or colder. An easy guideline to follow is that a sedentary mature horse will need two percent more high-quality forage for every degree the temperature falls below the lower critical temperature. Smaller horses, ponies and older equines are less tolerant of cold temperatures and may need even more feed. Free access to a roughage of a suitable nutritive value for horses in a group provides them the opportunity to freely adjust feed intake. Horses that become too fat with free access could still get some straw or branches to chew on, since the act of digestion itself produces heat.

Those new to horses (or folks unfamiliar with keeping ‘outside’ horses) are often concerned when they see snow on their horses' backs. Does this mean they are cold? On the contrary, snow or frost accumulated on their backs shows that their hair is thick enough and trapping heat inside their bodies. It’s the same idea as a well- insulated roof on a home. Natural oil tends to let rain and snow slide off, keeping moisture from penetrating deep into the coat. If you see snow building up on your horse's back, it's proof that his body heat is not escaping through the hair to melt the snow. That said, if you live in a rainy and wet climate, like the lower mainland or Vancouver Island, blanketing may be necessary to keep the horse dry. A soaking wet horse will be a cold horse.

As with all horse husbandry advice, it’s always best to discuss your feeding concerns with your veterinarian and/or a qualified professional at your local feed store as overfeeding can result in a myriad of health problems and can also be a waste of expensive hay!

Reference source: Caring for the horse in a cold climate—Reviewing principles for thermoregulation and horse preferences by Cecilie M. Mejdella, Knut Egil Bøeb, Grete H.M. Jørgensenc. Published 2020.