Winter weight-watch

Whether you're feeding a poor-doer or a good-doer, many factors need to be considered when planning their winter ration especially this year - discovers Catherine Welton

- Catherine Welton

CHANGING from a summer to a winter feeding regime can be challenging, especially for owners with good- or poor-doers. This year, the impact of an unusually dry summer on hay yields and winter grazing means managing the changing seasons may require more creative solutions than usual.

"The reduced grass growth in many areas may mean that poor-doers don't have extra weight they can afford to lose this winter. These fields will also be prone to poaching, so forage will need to be supplemented sooner," explains Tracey Hammond, senior nutritionist at Dengie Horse Feeds.

"In some areas, there may be forage shortages, which could mean you have less choice over what forage you use," she adds.

This can be problematic for poor-doers if the only hay available is low-quality, or for good-doers if it's calorie rich.

Milder winters mean it's no longer possible to rely on the old adage that colder months will naturally take the pounds off an overweight horse. And, as Vanessa Allen, nutritional content manager at Spillers points out, domesticated horses tend to be well protected from winter's natural challenges.

KEEPING a horse at a healthy weight all year round is preferable and regular body condition scoring is the easiest way to work out if a horse's diet needs adjusting.

"It may help to score your horse's neck, middle and hindquarters separately, and calculate an average. Horses with a large tummy may not necessarily be overweight as this could be due to lack of work, meaning their core muscles are slack, or large amounts of indigestible forage sitting in their hindgut," explains Lucy Baskeyfield, equine nutritionist at Baileys Horse Feeds.

"It's always important to body condition score the whole horse, to give a better idea of overall fat coverage."