Winter Blues

Anna**

Anna**

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May 25, 2000
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I have noticed a pattern develop in my mare which I am going to refer to as the winter blues.

I brought Daily in August last year and throughout the winter she was quite grumpy and often tried to nip / bite when putting on tack and rugs etc. Then when summer arrived and the nice warm weather was back (hurray) she was a totally different horse - I put this down to getting to know each other and thought we had become a great new partnership. But....as the cold weather has started again she has become grumpy again. Has anyone else had this problem? Is there such a thing as winter blues for horses?

I have had the vet look at her recently and her back checked so I am sure there is not a physical problem and riding is fine.

Could it be to do with the fact that when the cold weather starts so does her food. (she is on horse and pony cubes and soaked sugar beat - last year she was on a course mix)

Any comments?
 
Do you stable her during winter but not during summer? If so then she could be feeling confined and missing the close contact of her friends. Remember horses are herd animals and crave for contact with other equines and open spaces.

If she isn't stabled then it could be the equine version of SAD...?!

Fiona
 
Thanks for the reply fiona.

Daily is stabled during the winter and not during the summer, maybe this could be part of the problem.

She does not have any equine companions although she does share her field with a cow (who she is not that interested in). I did think when I first got her that it was because I have not got any other horses around her but then she was so much better in the summer. Also we go out riding with other horses (one in particular) and she is even naggy with them this time of year, ears back and pulling faces.

This idea of confinement is good though, I'm not one to leave a horse in their stable unless necessary, I think that they should be left out in space and fresh air as much as possible but when it gets to this time of year she does come in at night and shes always waiting for me (probably because she relates it to food). On occasions she has come in over the summer with no problems but daylight is now shorter so she is in her stable longer.

A friend of mine knows someone whose horse is exactly the same over winter I will find out if he is stabled at night (I'm sure he is).

Thanks again.
 
She may be bored in the stable, especially if in during part of the day (it's raining cats 'n dogs here and fields flooded so the horses at our livery are only out for a couple of hours leg stretch a day becaue they are on new winter grazing that's getting clagged up instantly). Make sure she has enough hay to play with, buy her a lick for the stable. Can you leave a radio on for part of the time?

My brat has just discoved how to hurl his water bucket across the stable into his bedding (and as this is expensive paper so not very funny!) so I've just been out to the farm's pile of old tyres and found two to stand the bucket in - we have a bet that it'll take about 48 hours no more till he finds a way to get the bucket out.

All the horses are short-tempered and I'm sure this is due to being inside.
 
I would agree with the stabling being a possible cause. If it is at all possible, leave her out at night. It will not hurt her (unless she is clipped, then you are out of luck). My horses live outside full time year round with no problems at all. If you must stable her, I would suggest you give her enough hay that she always has something to eat. You can reduce her grain if you need to to keep her from getting fat, but the hay will keep her occupied atleast. Hay will also keep her warmer than grain.

Allie
 
Beth

My horse, beth, also seems depressed, but i cant turn her out at all as she has an injury to her leg. There is a little fenced off concrete coral thing infront of the stable, and i can let her roam abit when im mucking out.

The thing is, there is another horse called eree who is also allowed to raom when beth is in the stable, and he bites her over the stable door. Lately he seems quite interested in her, curling his lips etc. But beth is having none of it. We keep finding her water bucket either outside the stable, or in erees stable. We hav the idea that she is throwing it at him, and hes taking it into his stable! It is all broken round the rim where thier teeth hav been!!

luv horsy xxx :)
 
Allie I note that you leave your nags out all year, might be ok in Kansas, in fact probably be great because the horses can herd all the time. Unfortunately not a possibility in the UK,even with the thickest of rugs some horses cannot cope with the temperature drop ( a few exceptions though Wally?) Anna** I think that some of the previous suggestions may help, eg Lickits or Kickball (the ones that dispense food) Hope you have some luck anyway.
 
Exactly how cold does it get in the UK? We get below zero (Farenheit) occasionally here. Average temp here is probably something around 15 F (not sure). The horses will be better off with no rugs at all as long as the have a natural, unclipped coat. A rug just flattens the natural hair coat and takes away the insulating properties. That said, I do agree that some breeds are better adapted to cold, and will grow thicker coats. Unless the horse is realy thin skinned (like a TB or Arab) they should be fine. My friend's half-arab mare actually gets woolier than my QH's. What breed of horse are we talking about here?

Allie
 
I am unsure of the exact temperature but frost is common, and throughout winter Ice forms regurlarly, have you ever had a frozen waterbucket? By the way if anybody wants a way to overcome this leave a miniaure football in the bucket, don't know why but it stops it freezing. Another problem I get is slipping on Ice when leading a horseMost of the horses I encounter are in heavy work so are clipped (no photos-sorry Mike!, but the rests coming soon.) then rugged up. Claires old horse used to get one of her mums (previously best) quilts underneath the rug, in the stable. (Welsh mountain winters).
Anyway, any ideas about the winter blues? I think I'm coming down with them too!!!


[Edited by DaveB on 11th Nov 2000 at 04:20 AM]
 
Our water has already frozen over this year, and the water heaters are out. I have heard of putting any sort of a ball in the ater tank, because it will float around and make the ice take longer to form, and once it forms, you can push the ball down into the water, leaving you a nice hole from which to start chipping. My vote is definitely for water heaters (much less work for me)...plus horses like water no cooler than 40 degreees, so if the water is too cold they might not drink enough. I think we should just have spring year round, because I am a definte cold weather wimp.

My best suggestion for winter blues? Be smarter than me and board your horse somewhere with an indoor, heated arena! barring that , buy some thermax long underwear (basically anything WITHOUT cotton in it will keep you warm), and put on plenty of layers. As for horses, try not to change their schedule during the winter. Keep the same turnout schedule (regardless of how much we people enjoy heated houses, horses would rather be able to roam in the cold than be warm in a cramped box stall), ride at about the same times, etc.

Allie
 
My horses don't mind however cold it gets, Allie - their coats stand on end and sparkle, and they're toasty inside - but the old boy and the thin-skinned mare are jolly glad of their rugs when it's windy and rainy as well as cold.
 
I'm down in Georgia - but use to live in Kansas (Manhattan, KS) and am from Kansas City (Missouri side) and YEP boyo - it gets pretty darn cold there in the winter time. It normally starts snowing in November, and will snow intermittently thru April.

My little girl (15.2h Quarter Horse) just got back today from the Poconos (upstate Pennsylvania - she was up there getting trained) - and boy is she a furry little beaver! I stable her and my barn manager and I agreed - no blanket for her - she felt it was a heat wave down here & its cold today (42 degrees)...

One thing different about the UK and KS (and I've lived in both places) is that the cold is more bitter/wet in the UK than in Kansas. It seeps into your bones and no amount of heat can help. I've actually wanted to crawl into the fireplace after coming in from a cold dismal day in Liverpool - brrr... Makes me cold to even think about it.

So, I'd probably tend to be a little 'marish' myself if I was in the UK, Cold and some fool neck rider wanted to go riding instead of leaving me alone! :) My show mare (she's retired at 25) acts like that all the time. I have good days and bad days with her. But, man the stuff she has taught me about horses.
 
Brrrrr........

I live in the NW part of N. Carolina in the mountains, and keep my horses out year round on 8 acres of pasture.They get yak coats. If it gets wet though I stall my older horse (23yrs) until the rain lets up. It snows here and sometimes goes down into the 20's. (Had a blizzard in "93.) But they actually seem to enjoy the dry cold and run around (horsing around) chasing each other, but the rainy cold stuff none of us like. Marge...
 
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