Preparing for a chore-efficient chilly season is a great way to beat the winter blues. Plus, it's rewarding to work on tasks that put you ahead of the horse property management curve. North American winters can be cold, wet, and windy. For much of the continent, you can add snowy and icy to that list. There always seem to be a few storms that bring horse care routines to a screeching halt for days on end, stretching into weeks for the unfortunate. But as with most things, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. This list of preparations can help carry you through months ahead when you least want to deal with winter's surprises.
Review your horse health routine with your veterinarian. Dental care, a vaccination program, and parasite control are important components of a regular horse care routine, but with the start of cold weather they become even more important. Review your horse health management program with your vet, and if your horse needs attention in any of those areas, address it before cold weather hits and he has trouble maintaining body condition.
Buy your winter hay supply. Look for green, leafy, fresh-smelling hay with no mold, weeds, dust, or discoloration. Recent nutritional recommendations (The Basics of Equine Nutrition, 2008) suggest a horse receive 1.5-2% of his body weight in forage per day. For the "average" 1,000-pound horse in moderate exercise, that equates to about 20 pounds of hay per day, or 600 pounds of hay per month. Since hay is usually sold in bulk by the ton (2,000 pounds), one ton of hay will last about 31⁄3 months for an average-sized horse. Do the math to determine how many tons of hay you'll need to maintain your horses through the winter, plus at least 10% extra to account for wastage. If you don't have room to store that amount, perhaps a horsey neighbor might. Two or more of you could go in on the purchase and reduce costs for all.
Add footing material to paddocks, confinement areas, and high-traffic areas. Good footing in these areas allows surface water to drain well, decreasing erosion and reducing mud and pollution from runoff. Alan Shank, a farm planner for the Snohomish Conservation District, in Lake Stevens, Wash., works with many horse owners and owns horses himself. "I like a solid footing such as crushed rock for high-traffic areas such as the fronts of stall doors and walkways," he says. "Other confinement areas can have softer footing such as coarse sand or hogfuel (chipped wood)."
More of these materials are available in the summer and fall before demand is high. Plus, it is much easier for delivery trucks to traverse paddocks and pastures during dry months, before they become a slick and muddy mid-winter mess. Shank recommends putting footing down in a thick layer, no less than six inches deep.
Begin a manure management program. If you don't already pick up manure on a regular basis, now is the time to start, particularly since horses produce an average 50 pounds daily. When mixed with rain or snow over the winter this quickly turns into more than 50 pounds of muck. Picking up manure regularly from stalls, paddocks, confinement areas, and high-traffic areas minimizes the amount of mud on your farm over the winter months, making chore life easier. This also helps minimize parasite load in these areas, reduces flies and odors, helps prevent groundwater and surface water pollution, and improves pasture quality (because you can reapply the composted manure).
Cover manure piles. This will help keep desired nutrients in the compost, rather than allowing them to wash out into ¬surface waters where they can cause potential pollution problems. Be sure to store manure as far as possible from streams, ditches, or wetlands to avoid contamination.
Check gutters and downspouts. Now is the time to repair or add to your roof runoff system. "Some improvements are really basic, like making sure you have gutters and downspouts on all the buildings," says Shank. "That is one of the first things I tell landowners I work with: Make sure the clean rainwater off the roof is diverted away from building and confinement areas, as well as any working areas."
Good places to divert to on your property include grassy ditches, dry wells, rain barrels, stock watering tanks, well-vegetated woods, or unused portions of pasture.
Reroute surface water runoff. Runoff from large, flat areas such as driveways, parking lots, or hillsides can sigificantly complicate mud and ice management in horse areas. Ditches, grassy swales, dry wells, water diversion bars, and culverts are useful means for diverting water away from confinement areas and barns. Explains April LaLande, a Washington horse owner and environmental education contractor, "During the first big storms of the fall we always go outside to check how our drainage is working. We look to see where water is flowing from and to and that paddocks are staying as dry and as well-drained as possible. If not, we make changes."
Bring your horses in off pastures. Pastures grazed too closely in the autumn are subject to winter damage and will be slow to grow come spring. This is because during winter pasture plants become dormant and unable to regrow, and soils are saturated with moisture and easily compacted. Thus, allow grass plants to produce at least four inches of leaf growth for winter protection, and confine your horses in a separate winter paddock or sacrifice area.
Provide shelter for your horses. A healthy horse can withstand cold temperatures, but he needs protection from relentless wind, driving rain, and wet snow. He loses considerable body heat when it's windy, and the situation worsens when he is wet. A simple roofed three-sided run-in shed provides adequate protection if it's well-drained and well-ventilated.
Make sure your barn is well-ventilated. Winter is the time for respiratory disease. Besides vaccinating, one of the best defenses against respiratory disease is good structure ventilation. A closed barn accumulates ammonia fumes and dust and provides a warm, moist environment ideal for mold and germ growth. Keep an outside door or window open near each stall.
Deter rodents. Mice and rats can cause hundreds of dollars of damage per year in feed loss and structural harm. Discourage rodents by eliminating food and water sources and places they might nest. Store all feed in aluminum garbage cans with secure lids. Pick up cat and dog food at night and clean up feed or spilled grain. Keep the barn tidy; piles of towels, rags, horse blankets, and old feed bags are all things rodents would love to spend the winter in and should not be left lying around.