5 Ways to Keep Your Horse Warm When its Really Cold

Brrrrrr……

Taking care of your horse during cold weather can be tricky, but with a few smart strategies, you can keep them warm and comfortable even when temperatures plummet. I get it. We want to make sure they are warm and cozy, too right? So here are five of my favorite tips on keeping your horse warm when it’s really cold outside.

When most people listen to the local weather and hear that it’s going to get really cold, they may grumble a little. Or even get excited.

When I listen to the weather report and hear that the temperature is going to be -25 degrees, the first thing I do is think about my horse and how I am going to make sure he gets through this cold spell healthy and hopefully happy. Well, the happy part is probably putting too much human emotion into the equation. But I do want to do everything I can to keep my senior citizen horse safe during the winter. And right before Christmas this year, my wintertime planning was put to the biggest test I have ever experienced. And thankfully, Plezant made it through just fine.

I think that having a plan and being prepared for that storm was so important, which is why I wanted to share this with you. It may help you to prepare for an intense winter storm in your own area.

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5 Ways to Keep Your Horse Warm When its Really Cold

Alright. Let’s get into the tips, shall we?

Have a Shelter

From everything I have read or been told about horses is that if they have a shelter to get out of the weather and can stay dry, they will be ok. The most important thing is that your horse has a shelter to protect them from the wind, and snow/or rain. It doesn’t have to be fancy, but it does need to be safe.

Take my barn for example. I wish that I had a ‘real’ barn. But my horses have always done just fine in their little makeshift stalls in their open front barn. Plezant has a roof over his head and 3 sides of protection from the wind and snow.

Keep the Water Warm(er)

One of the biggest problems with winter is horses tend to drink less, which makes sense. If their water source is frozen, how can they get water? So having an ice-free water source is essential for your horse during the winter.

For my little barn, I have a large water tank that is shared between two runs. And during the winter months, I put a floating tank heater in. This helps keep the water unfrozen (mostly) even when the temperature is below zero.

And then in each stall, I have a bucket insulator that holds a regular 5-gallon bucket.

How To Keep Your Horse Warm When it’s Really Cold

I have found the trick to making this work is to fill the bucket halfway with hot water. Then I add room temperature water to the top. This has worked wonderfully every winter for my horses. Even when the temperature dropped to -25 degrees during this last storm, there was only a thin layer of ice on the top in the morning. I have had these bucket insulators for the past 3 winters, and they have held up very well. For me, they were worth the investment. Unfortunately, finding them now has proven to be nearly impossible. I think the style has been changed because now they look like this:

And it’s the same 5-gallon size. But now it is called a non-freezing thermo bucket. And it works on the same principle as a thermos bottle. The water within the 5-gallon removable bucket is insulated on all sides, including the drinking surface. And after filling the bucket with ground-temperature water (approximately 50ºF year round), the insulation retains the inherent heat for several hours (time depends on outside temperature, initial water temperature, and the volume of water within the bucket). Generally, during a 0º outside temperature day, minor freezing will occur after 6-12 hours. It does have a float in it too. The ones I have had this, and my horses wouldn’t drink out of the buckets with the float. So I just removed it. I know the float also helps to keep the water warmer, but if they won’t use it, it’s pointless, right?

Provide Extra Hay

Making sure they have good quality hay in front of them when the temperature falls is also a way that horses stay warm. I like to use a hay net to feed. This helps to keep the hay off the floor, so there is less waste.

Now some horse people don’t like hay nets. But they work well for my horse. He is barefoot and is accustomed to eating from it. And my hay lasts a lot longer when I use these for feeding. So for me, hay nets work great. But no matter how you are feeding your hay, making sure your horse has plenty during really cold periods will help him to stay warm. Horses get warm from eating – ever heard of the phrase hay burner? It’s true! As your horse eats, he is warmed up literally from the inside out.

Consider Blanketing

I can hear it now….people reading this who are devout anti-blanketers are screaming… “Nooooooooo!!!!” But hear me out. I respect each person’s right to blanket, or not blanket their horse. But my horse, he gets a blanket, especially when it is super cold. If you are curious about reasons to blanket your horse, I wrote a blog post about it.

For starters, he is a senior citizen, so it’s more difficult for him to keep himself warm. Secondly, he had been used to blankets long before he came to live with me. So I have continued to blanket him whenever the weather gets cold.

Plezant actually has quite a collection of blankets. He has a very light sheet all the way up to a Rambo super heavy-duty winter wug blanket that has 400 grams of fill. Yeah, super heavy-duty. And it was definitely expensive. But, I have had this on him for the past 3 years, and it is still in fantastic shape. I have been very impressed with the Rambo brand of horse blankets.

How To Keep Your Horse Warm When it’s Really Cold

So adding the appropriate blanket for the temperature has worked very well for keeping my horse comfortable, even when it’s below zero.

Bring on the Mush (Mash)

I have a lot of horse friends who give their horses a bran mash when it gets cold outside. And I had considered it in the past. But then I learned from a vet, and several articles, that giving a bran mash isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be. But thanks to my horse’s special needs, he gets a sort of mash (more like a mush) for every meal.

One of the biggest problems when the temperature drops rapidly is that horses don’t drink enough water. This can cause problems in their gut. Like, life-threatening problems like colic. And how do you prevent this from happening? You make sure they are getting enough water when it’s cold. And with Plezant having bad teeth, all of his meals are prepared with LOTS of water!

Let me show you. This is what Plezant’s morning and evening main meal looks like when I prepare it:

This is beet pulp pellets and alfalfa-timothy pellets. He gets about 2 cups of beet pulp, and 3/4 of a full feed scoop of hay pellets in the morning and in the evening. I add in about 3 1/2 gallons of water to the bucket, and about 45 minutes later, this is what it looks like:

BIG difference right?!?!? So now all of that water has soaked into the pellets. And I make sure my horse is getting water, as well as his meal. I call that a win-win! And when it’s cold outside, I do make the water a little warmer. Then I mix in his senior grain and supplements. And he finishes the entire bucket every time.

How To Keep Your Horse Warm When it’s Really Cold

So if you are considering giving your horse a bran mash, maybe talk to your vet about preparing a meal like this for him. I know for my horse, it has worked very well. The beet pulp provides calories and fiber. Which is what the bran mash is supposed to provide as well. But by consistently feeding my horse in this manner, I am certain that he is getting the water that he needs every day.

And he sure does enjoy eating his mush!