It is a very cold and wet winter this year in Australia. Brrrrrrrrr!!!!
Horses do feel the cold but not like us, they have the luxury of growing their own jumpers lol.
However it is important to understand that in order for horses to stay warm they require a good amount of roughage in their diets. This can be in the form of either hay or grass from their pasture.
When horses digest the roughage in their hind gut it produces heat as a by product. This heat is what they use to keep their core body temperature steady. This is an essential step in the horses thermoregulation.
If they don't have this roughage you will notice that your horse will be prone to being cold a lot easier.
In order to maintain body temperature if they do get cold they will shiver, (this is normal) however this does use a lot of energy. If you aren't providing the horse with enough food for them during the colder months you will see them starting to loose weight.
All you have to do is give them more roughage to meet their dietary requirements. It's that simple.
Rugging horses can help reduce the impact of the cold to them, but it does not replace the need for extra feed and roughage throughout the winter months.
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