A routine affair

There’s no escaping the fact that summer’s on its way out, but what does this mean for our horses? While it’s bound to bring changes to the time your horse is exercised, stabled or turned out, the most important thing to do is consider his welfare before you start making alterations.

Horses thrive on routine and often don’t cope well with the unexpected. Therefore, whatever adjustments you’re planning to make, you’ll need to manage them carefully as sudden differences can have an impact on your horse’s mental and physical health.

The key to success is to introduce lifestyle changes gradually. We discuss some of the considerations you’ll need to make, helping your horse to stay happy and healthy in his new routine.

Careful considerations
If your horse has been living out for longer over summer, it’ll be a shock to his system to suddenly start coming in for lengthy periods of time.

Because this adjustment in routine represents a significant change in your horse’s diet and management, the British Horse Society (BHS) recommends completing this change gradually, over 10–14 days, to help reduce the risk of colic and keep him happy, too. Start by bringing your horse in for a few extra hours a day with some hay, slowly increasing the amount of time to help avoid a sudden change.

Horses are happiest in numbers so if you change his routine, try to make this fit in with his friends. If all his fieldmates are still out at night while yours is coming in, he’s likely to be stressed by being alone.

Make sure you’re bringing your horse in with at least one other equine friend who he’ll be able to see clearly and possibly interact with from his stable. If he associates being brought in with stressful experiences, like being separated from the herd for prolonged amounts of time, it’s going to make the transition much harder. Therefore, it’s important to make sure he’s got access to forage and friends.

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If you decide your horse can live out more than usual this winter, use the money you’ll save in bedding costs to buy a couple of decent turnout rugs. This will give you peace of mind that he’s warm and dry when the weather isn’t.

All change?

For some horses, their winter routine won’t change at all and a good question to ask yourself is whether you actually need to make big changes at this time of year. If your livery yard allows it, could he stay out for longer or even live out all year round? Owners tend to worry more about the weather than their horses do and the pros of a decent daily leg stretch – both mentally and physically – far outweigh the cons of your horse getting wet in the rain.

For more tips on how to smoothly transition your horse from summer to winter, check out October Horse&Rider – get your copy today!