As seasons shift

It is officially winter, but in some areas it's still feeling autumnal. Briony Reed finds out how unseasonable warmth affects equine wellbeing

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AS climate patterns seemingly shift the seasons later, where we would have been dealing with ice and snow at this time of year it is now as often mud and midges.

Such changeable, erratic weather has implications for the management of our horses and their health.

PERSISTENT PESTS

BITING insects may be more immediately associated with summer, but because it is unusually - at least, by historical standards - warm, they are still around.

"It's easy to forget that insects, especially midges, will still be present when the temperature is above 4°C," says H&H vet consultant Karen Coumbe MRCVS, "especially if there is little wind. Insect nuisance at this time of year is an under-recognised but increasing problem."

The ongoing presence of biting insects means that sweet itch remains a problem beyond the end of summer.

"The midges that cause sweet itch belong to the genus