Horses are incredibly resilient animals and have evolved to tolerate even extremely cold temperatures with their insulating hair coats and heat-generating digestive systems. While they have the tremendous ability to acclimate to colder environments given the opportunity, many of the ways we manage sporthorses including keeping them stalled, clipping their coats, blanketing and various feeding routines interfere with that opportunity.

It’s also important to keep in mind that exercising in cold weather puts additional stress on your horse’s musculoskeletal and respiratory systems. Research has shown that exercising in temperatures below 23 degrees F can cause damage to a horse’s respiratory tract.

You can’t control the winter weather, but there are certain measures you can take to ensure that you and your dressage horse are safe and as comfortable as possible when training in cold weather. Here, we provide advice and guidelines you can apply to your winter-weather riding routine.

Dress Wisely—You and Your Horse!

Especially if your horse is clipped, consider outfitting him in a quarter sheet before your ride to keep his haunches and flanks warm and promote blood circulation. Polo wraps can also be useful, as they offer moderate tendon and ligament support as well as skin protection. But, more importantly in cold weather, polos will encourage mild vasodilation (widening of the blood cells) and corresponding increased blood flow to the lower limbs, which can hasten your horse’s warm-up process.

Make sure you also dress appropriately. Layering is always wise, so you can shed layers as you start riding and warm up. Always protect your hands, feet and head, as heat escapes these areas the fastest. To reduce bulk in the saddle, as we all know attempting to use your upper body effectively in 10 layers and a puffy coat proves challenging, try finding warm, insulating base layers to keep your core warm. For extreme cold, some manufacturers even make jackets with built-in electrical heating systems.

Adopt a Longer Warm-Up Routine

When the temperatures drop, it’s essential to give your horse a longer, steady warm-up to avoid putting too much stress on his musculoskleletal system. Taking a few extra minutes to warm up in cold weather helps promote blood flow to heat crucial structures and will prepare his tendons, ligaments and cartilage for the work ahead. Start with lots of walking and trotting sets and gentle bending and stretching exercises; do these for about twice as long as you would in milder temperatures.

If your horse is older or has arthritis or any other existing joint issues, he’s going to feel even stiffer in the cold. In extremely cold temperatures, it may be best to only walk and/or trot with these horses. As a general rule, keep your cold-weather rides to under and hour or even shorter, especially if you’re dealing with harsh winds in addition to the cold.

Protect Your Horse’s Respiratory Tract

Studies have shown that extremely frigid air—in the single digits—can lead to inflammation in the lungs. If your horse has a respiratory condition like equine asthma, cold air could exacerbate the situation, so it’s best to skip your below-freezing rides. However, it’s not advised to keep him locked in the barn in an effort to protect his lungs; dust and mold from hay and ammonia fumes inside the barn are more harmful to his respiratory tract.

As far as the lower respiratory tract is concerned, horses tend to be well adapted to extreme conditions. Millions of years of equine evolution have solved the problem of frigid air potentially reaching the fragile alveolar sacks that transport gases within the lungs.

The distance of more than five feet from the nostrils to the deepest part of the lungs creates ample opportunity for heat exchange to take place between cold air and the warm lining of the nose, pharynx, larynx and bronchial tubes. In much the same way that heat is added, so is moisture as the air is inhaled into the lungs. This means that due to his tremendous ability to exchange heat, your horse can exercise both on the frigid Tibetan plateau and in the sweltering Arabian Desert without major concerns about his airways.

Mind the Footing

When riding outside the arena, be extremely mindful of the footing. If you’re riding over flat snow (without divots or slippery ice), you can do low-impact flatwork at the walk and trot for about 30 minutes. Cantering or galloping over frozen footing, however, can be hazardous and harmful to your horse’s legs. It leads to a greater ground-reaction force on your horse’s hooves and a faster deceleration of the entire limb, and this mild jolt during the stance phase of each leg’s stride at high speed can lead to more significant problems down the road.

If you live in an area that’s plagued by heavy snowfall and frozen conditions for much of the winter and enjoy riding out of the training ring, ask your farrier about any suggestions he or she might have to help increase your horse’s grip. 

Top Tips for Safe Training in Cold Weather

If you and your dressage horse plan to brave the cold to maintain your training this winter, use the following guidelines to ensure both your safety and comfort:

• Do not ride on icy or uneven ground.
• Pay attention to your horse. He can’t tell you if he’s uncomfortable, so regularly check in with him and keep a careful eye on his body language, his breathing and how he’s moving.
• Especially if your horse is clipped, outfit him in a quarter sheet that covers his flanks and haunches to keep those large muscle groups warm.
• Apply polo wraps for tendon and ligament support and to promote blood flow to the lower legs.
• Dress yourself appropriately with layers and be sure to protect your hands, ears and feet.
• Prevent your horse from sweating excessively in cold temperatures by avoiding heavy work and taking lots of walk breaks. When a horse sweats in the cold, he’ll begin to lose valuable body heat and can quickly become chilled.
• If your horse does sweat during your winter rides, towel him throughly afterward and apply a cooler to help wick away excess moisture. Only turn him out or put him back in his stall with his regular blanket after he has thoroughly dried.
• In general, avoid riding when the temperatures drop below 20 degrees F.

For More:

• Learn more about managing equine asthma and other equine respiratory illnesses in dressage horses here.
• Read more about caring for your dressage horse in cold weather here.
• For top tips on blanketing your horse, click here.
• Learn how to safely bathe your dressage horse in chilly temps and how to use properly use a cooler to help him dry after exercise, click here.

About Charles C.M. Arensberg, VMD 

Dressage Today thanks Charles C.M. Arensberg, VMD, for his technical assistance for this article. Arensberg graduated from the University of Pennsylvania’s veterinary school in 2003. A licensed FEI veterinarian and member of the American Association of Equine Practitioners and the International Society of Equine Locomotor Pathology, he is based at Equine Veterinary Care at Fair Hill Training Center in Elkton, Maryland.