During the colder months, your dressage horse’s nutritional needs might change depending on a number factors including his workload, environment, age and overall health. It’s essential to discuss these variables with your veterinarian to create a tailor-made nutrition program based on your horse’s particular needs to ensure he stays healthy and performing his best throughout the winter.

Mind Your Pastures

As cold weather approaches, there are some special considerations for horses who have access to pastures. In certain situations, such as the warm, sunny days and chilly nights of fall, plants may store higher levels of sugars as polysaccharides, including starch and fructans, which can be problematic for some horses. This means that horses with sensitivities to soluble carbohydrates may need to have their access to pasture grasses restricted or removed entirely.

Throughout the fall months in most regions, pasture grasses eventually go dormant and the vegetative portions of the plants lose much of their nutritional value. Dry, brown grass is less digestible for horses and provides fewer calories, less protein and lacks some vitamin content. At some point, you’ll likely need to provide your horse with additional hay to replace the pasture in his diet. 

Hay, which contains a higher level of fiber than grains, provides more of a warming effect internally, because greater heat is released during the digestion of fiber than of starch from grain. Horses need at least 1 percent of their body weight per day in roughage (on a dry-matter basis) to maintain a healthy digestive tract, but 2 percent or more may be appropriate during cold weather, especially for horses who lives outdoor.

When to Feed More Grain During the Cold

Many horse owners believe that when the weather is cold, horses need to be fed grain rations containing more corn, because they think of corn as a heating feed. However, corn and other cereal grains don’t have a warming effect on horses; they simply provide more calories. Although grain doesn’t provide as much of an internal warming effect as hay, it is often necessary to supplement a horse’s winter ration with additional feed to boost calorie demands, especially if he remains in work during the colder months.

Cold temperatures increase the number of calories a horse needs to maintain body weight and support athletic activity. It’s also important to maintain your horse at an appropriate body condition score (5 to 6, or moderate to moderately fleshy), because a layer of fat under the skin provides insulation against the cold. 

In general, feeding an additional quarter pound of grain per 100 pounds of body weight to nonworking horses will provide adequate calories during cold, windy and wet weather. Hard-working, upper-level dressage horses may require up to an additional half pound of feed per 100 pounds of body weight, depending on the intensity of their workload.

Bear in mind that while straight grains are good sources of calories, corn, oats and barley, they don’t provide adequate balanced amino acids, minerals and vitamins to meet your dressage horse’s nutritional needs. Be sure to choose a well-balanced feed that is fortified with essential nutrients as well as proper calories to meet his requirements.

Takeaway 

Careful monitoring, simple planning and attention to changing weather conditions will help your dressage horse stay healthy and comfortable all winter long and allow you to continue your training even when the temps drop.

About Katie Young, PhD

Katie Young, PhD, is the lead technical equine nutritionist with Purina Animal Nutrition. Her responsibilities include formulation of branded horse feeds, support of Purina equine research and development projects and technical support for customers and dealers. She works closely with plant-quality assurance and manages all in-bound horse-owner inquiries from customer service. She received her PhD in equine nutrition from Texas A&M University. In her free time, she enjoys her four horses, gives riding lessons and competes in dressage and eventing.