Winter tips for managing competition horses
When managing our horses towards competition, it’s natural for our attention to be focused our horses fitness and training, but it’s important to remember that the time your horse spends training with you is only a small proportion of their day. The way your horse is managed during downtime will have a significant impact on fitness and performance.
As the nights begin to shorten, many of us will be turning our thoughts towards our winter routines, and planning ahead towards the winter competition season. ADAS Equine experts share their top tips on managing horses to maintain optimum performance during the tricky winter months.
Making the most of turnout
Turnout is essential for keeping our horses competition fit, by providing them with additional movement over varied terrain. It is also essential to our horses mental wellbeing, and helps our horses to arrive at a training session in a contented, trainable state.
In the UK, most of us need to restrict turnout in winter to avoid deterioration of ground conditions that could affect health and soundness, but with careful management it is absolutely possible to maintain turnout for at least part of the day, giving your horse the benefits whilst minimising the risk of injury and damage to the land.
Top tips:
- If possible, allocate more space for your winter than for your summer turnout. By giving each horse more space in winter, the pressure on the ground is reduced, and turnout can typically be maintained for a longer period of the year
- Make sure that your winter paddocks have time to rest during late summer and autumn, allowing grass cover to develop which will protect your field from damage.
- Consider whether horses can be turned out on a surfaced area in the worst of the weather. Access to an arena, surfaced yard or dedicated turnout pen helps keep your horse moving on a safe surface.
Keeping safe from injuries
During winter, there is a significant risk of injury in deep, muddy areas or slippery ground, ranging from superficial scrapes to pulled tendons requiring significant rehab. This is especially true if turnout time is limited, as horses turned out for shorter periods tend to be more prone to throwing a few shapes!
Top tips:
- Choose winter fields which are easily accessed and well drained.
- Start early winter grazing (before fields are too wet) at the point furthest from the yard, saving grazing land closer to the yard for the worst of the winter and early spring when ground is wettest.
- Supplement forage in fields – hungry horses cause trouble! Provide hay in small piles, in haynets, or in a feeder which is regularly moved. Avoid using fixed feeders, unless on hard standing areas, as these can encourage loitering and poaching resulting in mud.
- Protect the ground in high traffic areas (e.g. gateways, water troughs) with a surface to stop deep ruts developing.
Maintaining Appropriate Nutrition
In winter, we have to remember that there is minimal grass growth, and pastures cannot be relied upon to provide the required nutrition to your horse, especially if you are training for competition.
Start providing additional forage slightly earlier in autumn. Don’t wait until your grass becomes overgrazed and the horses are waiting at the gate hungry. By this time, it is too late to maintain enough grass cover for winter.
Consider having your hay or haylage analysed. Forage forms the basis of your horse’s diet. By analysing it you know exactly what you are building on, and you can tailor any supplementary feed to meet your horse’s precise requirements.
Be honest with yourself about your horse’s workload! While top level competition horses can require significant supplementary feed, the workload of amateur competition horses is often overestimated, leading to a risk of overfeeding. Consult with a nutritionist if you are unsure.
By following the above tips, you can keep your horse in tip-top shape for the winter season, allowing you to make the most of the time you spend together with your horse.