Ask any horse owner if they love the winter months – not many will say they do! The combination of horses, fresh mud, ice and snow don’t make life easy, whether it’s looking after them or riding them! The MirrorMePR Equine PR team share their favourite winter survival tips to help make the upcoming colder months a little more bearable;
• If you know a cold snap is coming and pipes are going to be frozen at the yard, fill up plenty of containers with water for the horses and wrap external pipes as best you can. Take a flask of hot tea to the yard for that morning mucking out.
• Frozen field water troughs are a pain to try and break through after a very cold spell, so putting a tennis ball in can help keep them from completely freezing over, but a daily check when turning out is still advisable.
• If your horse’s turnout rug gets wet on the outside and you don’t have heated rug racks (we wish) then leave the rug on your horse for as long as possible to allow it a good chance of drying off before use the next day.
• A change of dry warm clothes in the boot of the car are your post winter ride emergency essentials!
• Always wear a hat whenever you are around a horse. In stable/ turning out/leading as well as in the saddle. Even the most placid of horses can become feisty with the colder weather.
• WD40 is a life saver for frozen padlocks and locks but equally a plastic bag tied overnight will also work a treat!
• Rugging up with a few thinner rugs is much better for adapting temperature control, than just two rugs. Apart from a thoroughly good groom and check over each day this means that your horse won’t keep being stripped bare of rugs whilst you attempt to keep up with the changes in temperature, plus it will also save you time during the day if he’s stabled!
• Keep an emergency food stash at the yard and away from mice in your tack box. A Pot Noodle or tin of soup will give you a welcome warming boost if you are delayed at the yard or need something more than just a hot cup of tea and a biscuit.
MirrorMePR’s Equine PR team hope it isn’t too cold this upcoming winter, however if it is, we hope these handy tips will help!
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