Rugging older horses in winter calls for more thought than rugging a fit young horse, because an elderly horse is far less able to regulate its own temperature and hold its condition through a hard spell. Heavenly Pastures, a specialist provider of horse cremations across the north west, cares deeply about the veteran horses so cherished within this region’s equine community, and getting winter rugging right is one of the kindest things an owner can do for an ageing horse.
Why Older Horses Feel the Cold More
A healthy adult horse is remarkably well built for cold weather, with a natural coat and a thermoneutral zone that lets it stay comfortable at temperatures that feel bitter to a person. As horses age, that resilience fades. Older horses often carry less muscle and body fat, may have conditions such as arthritis or dental problems that sap their reserves, and are generally slower to warm through once chilled. A veteran that shivers, stands hunched or loses condition quickly in cold weather is telling its owner that it needs more help staying warm.
At the same time, rugging is not simply a matter of piling on layers. A rug that is too heavy can cause a horse to sweat and then chill, and a thick rug can hide gradual weight loss that would otherwise be obvious at a glance. The goal is the right amount of warmth for the individual horse, checked and adjusted as the weather changes. A useful habit is to picture the day ahead, a bright still afternoon and a wet windy night call for very different rugs, and to change a horse’s rug as the conditions change rather than leaving the same rug on regardless.
Choosing the Right Rug
Turnout rugs are described by their waterproof outer and their fill, the padding that provides warmth, with heavier fills suited to the coldest, wettest conditions. An older or clipped horse in a hard freeze may need a substantial fill, while a hardier veteran with a good coat may need far less. A well fitting, genuinely waterproof rug matters enormously, because a horse in a leaking rug is colder and more miserable than one with no rug at all. Fit should be checked for rubbing at the shoulders, chest and withers, as sores develop quickly under a poorly fitting rug. Keeping a spare dry rug to hand matters too, because a horse left in a soaked rug overnight can chill badly, and rugs need checking and swapping after heavy rain.
Checking Beneath the Rug Every Day
The single most important habit is to look under the rug daily rather than assuming all is well beneath it. Running a hand along the ribs and quarters reveals whether a horse is holding or losing condition, and a horse that feels cold at the base of the ears or is shivering needs more warmth. Body condition scoring through the winter, done by feel because a rug and a fluffy coat hide a great deal, is the best way to catch a problem early. Owners around Coppull horse cremations and Longton horse cremations often find that a quiet daily check becomes the moment they notice the small changes that matter. Those daily moments are also when many owners first sense that an old horse is tiring, long before any single sign would prompt a call to the vet.
Clipping Coats and the Decision to Rug
Whether a horse needs rugging at all depends a great deal on whether it has been clipped. A horse clipped for winter work has had its natural insulation removed and will almost always need rugging, whereas an unclipped native type with a thick coat may be far better left to use the coat nature gave it. Over rugging a hardy, unclipped horse can flatten the coat and reduce its natural warmth, as well as risking overheating. For an older horse the decision is finer, since age erodes the coat’s effectiveness even when it looks full, and many veterans that were happily unrugged in their prime come to need help as the years pass. Watching how an individual horse copes, rather than following a fixed rule, is always the soundest approach.
Warmth Comes From Forage Too
Rugs hold in warmth, but the heat itself comes largely from within, generated as a horse digests fibre. A steady supply of hay or haylage through the coldest weather does as much to keep an older horse warm as any rug, and veterans with poor teeth may need soaked forage replacers to keep that internal furnace stoked. Trickle feeding, so that a horse is never long without forage through the coldest nights, keeps that warmth steady rather than letting it rise and fall. Warmth and nutrition go hand in hand, and neither works well without the other. Owners across Bolton Le Sands horse cremations, Heysham horse cremations and Cockerham horse cremations know their older horses well and adjust both rug and forage as the weeks demand.
Caring for a Veteran to the End
Attentive winter care can give an old horse many more comfortable years, and it also helps an owner judge honestly when a veteran is no longer thriving. Choosing an individual cremation with ashes returned is a decision many owners of much loved veterans make in time, so that a lifelong companion can be kept close. For guidance on caring for an older horse or on planning ahead, owners across the north west are welcome to call Heavenly Pastures on 01704 776976.