Hot Hints for a Healthy Horse During Winter

Without a doubt, this winter has been extremely testing. Driven by great ambitions, our training has seen a fair few set-backs from this miserable weather and I have found myself seeking ways to 'stay strong' against mother nature. Essentially we break our backs all winter to prepare in the most effective way for spring and summer so that we can do what we love most.

Subsequently, I thought it would be useful to share my 'hot hints for a healthy horse during winter.'I figured it could inspire you to try a new strategy, add to something that you already do, or just make for some easy sunday reading. So, here goes...

1. hydrate: It's a well known fact that (apparently) horses don't like to drink water in the winter because it's cold. Umm, no. that's not the case for us. Lily doesn't like boring water. That water straight out of the tap that screams 'drink me because mum wants me to!' Apple bobbing is the way forward for us. Every day in the winter, Lily has a sliced apple in her water bucket. I shit you not, her intake has increased 5-fold since I started doing it and in turn her energy levels are up.

2. Balanced diet: You are what you eat? Yeah, literally. Eat McDonald's for a week and tell me you feel full of beans. I'll call 'BULLSHIT' and you'll take a nap.

3. Variation: Working 9-5 is a hardship. NOt saying I hate it, but the same monotonous tasks become ardous after a while. Flatwork six times a week? round and round on a circle? walk a bit, trot a bit, canter a bit? No thank-you!

4. Hooves: Lily's hooves have never been the best but with the prospect of bigger fences and more challenging terrain on the horizon I have started to pay a lot more interest to them... After all, they are what keep us upright. The transition from Dry hard ground in the summer to soft wet ground in the winter has left us with a bacterial infection that just won't seem to shift. Take your horse to the beautician and offer a year round mani-pedi, They'll thank you for it (KEvin Bacons is magical).

5. Worming: If I draw attention to this then that'll be enough I hope.

6. Objective: Have an objective for winter. If we didn't have one, I wouldn't be half as motivated and the last few months would have been a ginormous ballache.

7. Reward: Equally, if you make progress in achieving your objective then give yourself a reward! Winter is tough, all of us horse owners know that, so recognise it and take some time off.

Much Love X