An overweight horse should not be fed less than 1.5% of its body weight in hay per day. Less forage than 1.5% may cause health issues such as colic, ulcers, and wood biting behaviors. Grass hay holds fewer calories than legume hays such as alfalfa and is better suited to a controlled diet.

Forage is the cornerstone of every horse’s diet, and your horse must have access to hay. If you are concerned about your horse’s calorie intake and seek advice on how to reduce your horse’s diet without reducing forage, please read on.

Can Hay Make My Horse Put on Weight?

Certain hay types such as alfalfa carry a higher calorie count than other forage such as grass hay. Horses consume the fiber portion of the hay that generally contains cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin. In the cecum and colon of the horse’s digestive tract, millions of microbes break down the fiber into a usable form called volatile fatty acids. 

These fatty acids pass into the horse’s bloodstream and are transported to the area of energy need or stored as energy reserves in the form of adipose tissue or glycogen. Although certain grain types have higher calorie contents and may contribute to your horse’s weight, you will often find the real culprit of the excess weight lies in your grain feeds, which are high in carbohydrates and fats. 

The next most common culprit of weight gain in your horse is lack of sufficient exercise. So the first place to start reducing your horse’s weight should be cutting back on your grain feed and increasing your horse’s exercise. Horses may survive on only forage with mineral supplements but eliminating forage from your horse’s diet has severe consequences. 

Lowered fiber levels in equine diets have been documented to cause colic, gastric ulcers, and compulsive wood chewing behaviors in horses. Your horse needs fiber to keep the large intestine moving and functioning properly. 

Horses are non-ruminant herbivores or hind-gut fermenters and have evolved as grazers to spend about 16 hours a day grazing on grasses.  Their stomach secretes hydrochloric acid and pepsin to break down the food that enters their stomach, so they are uniquely adapted to a forage-based diet.

How Do I Know My Horse is Overweight?

You may be able to tell if your horse is overweight by certain physical signs. There are many reasons why a horse may put on weight, the most common being lack of physical activity and high fat, high energy grain diet. If your horse is overweight, it will exhibit these visible signs:

• Noticeable crease down the back
• Difficult to feel rib area
• Soft fat around the tail-head area
• The area along the withers is fat
• Noticeable thickening of the neck
• Fat on inner thighs.

How Much Hay Should I Feed an Overweight horse?

If you have an overweight horse, you should continue to provide the bulk of their diet in the form of hay. You should ensure that the hay should be coarse, long-stemmed, and high in fibers. Preferably cut later in the season than optimum hay. This type of hay causes your horse to chew more over a longer time, which keeps your horse from exhibiting hunger behaviors. 

Avoid legume hays such as alfalfa, long leafy grasses, and clover because of their high energy density. The general rule of thumb is to feed your horse between 1.5% and 3% of their total body weight per day, with an overweight horse, the hay intake alone should be 2% of your horse’s body weight if you have eliminated all other feed and forage.

If dramatic weight loss is needed for health reasons, you may reduce your horse’s hay intake to 1.5% of their body weight. This percentage, however, is the absolute minimum you may safely reduce the hay content to without the risk of gastrointestinal problems.

Will Horses Stop Eating When They Are Full?

Horses are generally good at self-regulating their food intake if given a chance. If they are only given a set amount a day, they may eat quickly and exhibit signs that they want more. Generally, if provided with plenty of access to feeds such as hay and without pecking order feeding issues, a horse will regulate their intake if they are not anxious about feed availability.

If your horse tends to overeat, it could be that they do not have enough forage in their diet. Stomach acids may bring your horse discomfort and increase the likelihood that they will overeat. Calculate your horse’s feed on the ratio of between 1.5%-3% of their body weight depending on age, condition, and exercise levels.

Divide this amount of forage between several feedings a day and aim to extend your horse’s chewing/feeding time. If your horse tends to guzzle its forage, you could decrease its consumption rate by pacing your hay net within a hay net or purchasing a hay net with smaller hole diameters. This trick extends their feeding time and has the psychological effect of making your horse feel full.

What Hay Can Horses Not Eat?

Although many horse owners go by eye for hay quality, it is not a clear indicator of the forage’s nutritional quality. However, you may look out for certain signs that the hay is not suitable as feed, including:

• Hay that includes weeds, dirt, or any form of debris
• Hay that has signs of insects infestation or diseases, particularly blister beetles in alfalfa
• Hay that is bleached or smells moldy, dusty, or fermented
• Hay bales that are excessively heavy, damp, or warm to the touch 
• Hay that is a year past one year since their harvest date.

Horses are also sensitive to molds and toxins and should never be fed lawn clippings as they may contain plant matter that is toxic to horses ((tomatoes, potatoes, rhubarb, etc.) Even pure grass cuttings are not suitable for equine consumption due to their high moisture and small particle size, which results in rapid fermentation. Fermented silage should also be avoided due to its high capacity for mold and spoilage. 

Quantitative quality analysis

It is essential to ensure that your hay is of high quality, especially when buying in bulk. You should take core samples from several bales and send them to a forage laboratory, which will provide you with a percentage analysis of:

• Dry matter
• Crude fiber
• Crude protein
• Minerals including calcium, phosphorous, potassium, magnesium 

How Long Can Horses Go Without Hay?

Horses evolved to spend most of their day feeding on grasses. Thus forage is an essential part of the horse’s diet, and without forage, they run the risk of physical damage such as colic, gastric ulcers, and compulsive wood chewing patterns. Forage should provide at least 50% of a horse’s daily intake, which should be 12 to 15 lbs (5.4-5.8kgs) for an average adult horse. 

Grain mixes, even ones sold as complete feeds, often contain less than 12% fiber, far below the 20% crude fiber found in hay. If hay is scarce or you cannot procure hay, you should supplement your horse’s diet with straw for chewing and mixed-grass or corn plant/alfalfa cubes.

These cubes may be used as a forage substitute (15lbs per day) or as a hay extender when poor quality hay is available. or beet pulp, which is high in fermentable fiber and a good source of calcium. Alternatively, you may supplement your horse’s diet with beet pulp, which is a good source of fermentable fiber and calcium. Fiber must be present in your horse’s diet, and lack of fiber may result in:

• Loss of the horse’s ability to move food particles effectively through the gut
• Loss of ability to conserve water and electrolytes
• Develop pack in the gut from high carbohydrate feeds
• Dehydration
• Colic
• Laminitis
• Cribbing and wood chewing behaviors.

How Do I Know If My Horse Is Hungry?

Horses are grazing animals and have evolved to eat forage for up to 16 hours a day, so what we interpret as greediness results from genetics. Signs that your horse may be hungry include:

• Pawing on the stable bed or, in extreme cases kicking of the stable interior
• Facial expressions of distress such as pinned back ears, teeth bared, and eyes fixed
• Cribbing or wood chewing behaviors.

What we interpret as impatience may have a physiological root.

Katheleen Crandell, who works as an equine nutritionist, points out that without a constant supply of forage, horses run the risk of gastric ulceration, which is alleviated by saliva and foodstuffs. The acting out of your horse may be due to gastric discomfort that they understand will decrease with a meal.

Conclusion

Horses are uniquely adapted to be constant grazers, and your feed should always take this evolutionary adaptation into account. Forage not only provides your horse with the fiber it needs to survive but also provides psychological benefits. Before reducing your forage level, ensure your horse’s diet is not grain-heavy, or provide your horse with a challenging hay net to keep it from eating too fast. 

Sources

• Rutgers: The Basics of Equine Nutrition
• Kentucky Equine Research: Advantages of High-Fiber Diets for Horses
• Research Gate: Lignin and Fiber Digestion
• The Horse: The Fat Farm: Nutrition for the Overweight Horse
• Kentucky Equine Research: Overweight Horses: How Much Hay Is Too Little?
• EquiNews: Dealing with a Hungry Horse
• Kentucky Equine Research: Kathleen Crandell, Ph.D.
• Equine Ink: WILL FEEDING TOO MUCH HAY MAKE MY HORSE FAT?
• Agric. Gov: Nutrition and Feeding Management for Horse Owners 

Horse saddles, particularly leather, may last you a lifetime with proper care. Synthetic saddles last up to ten years, depending on use and quality. Your saddle’s longevity depends on its quality; high-grade leathers that are well-tended will last decades while low-grade leather has a short lifespan.

The longevity of your saddle usually comes with a price, both in a monetary and maintenance sense. Synthetic saddles are less expensive, and although they may not make the lifetime mark, they have their specific benefits. If you are trying to decide between leather or synthetic saddles and what you should expect to pay, please read on.

How Much Do Horse Saddles Cost?

Much like car makes and models, saddles come at different prices, from entry-level synthetics to top-quality leather. Synthetics are usually a great entry-level option, and you may find a quality saddle for a fraction of the price of a high-level leather saddle. Even though there are low-cost leather saddle options, it is wiser to choose a synthetic saddle over a low-quality leather option that often degrades faster than synthetics.

New saddles can be found for under 500 dollars, but generally, they are not good quality saddles, especially the leather and fittings. Mid-to-top range leather saddles will cost anywhere from 1500 dollars to 8000 dollars and above, depending on the customization. Used saddles are always an option for the budget-conscious as long as you are cautious about the item’s condition.

For your interest, here are some price comparisons between mid-level leather and synthetic saddles.

• Wintec 500 Flocked all-purpose saddle is a good quality synthetic saddle that is under 500 dollars.
• Thorowgod All purpose Saddle is a well-trusted choice in high-quality synthetic saddles for under 1200 dollars.
• Circuit® by Dover Saddlery® Premier Special EQ Saddle is a great quality leather saddle for under 1300 dollars.
• Bates All-purpose SC Saddle is another top-quality premium leather saddle widely recognized as superlative in the mid-range leather saddle market. It retails at under 2000 dollars.

Are Leather Saddles Better Than Synthetic?

Leather saddles are aesthetically appealing and can conform to a horse and rider over time. Also, leather has an organic quality and feels that synthetic materials cannot mimic, and with the proper care, a leather saddle may last a lifetime. That being said, synthetic saddles do have their advantages.

Price

A new quality leather saddle costs you between 1500 to 8000 dollars, which can be a sizable investment. There are less expensive leather saddles on the market, but they will often not have their premium counterparts’ lifespan. Synthetic saddles are considerably less costly than even their medium-range leather counterparts and are significantly lighter, saving you on shipping fees. 

If your budget is of concern, it would be better to consider a good quality synthetic saddle rather than a low-quality leather option. Inferior quality leather is prone to weakness and becomes brittle and dry fairly quickly in use. However, good quality leather saddles’ resale value is higher than the synthetic variety, so a leather saddle is an investment.

The Fit

Although your leather saddle will conform to you and your horse’s shape beautifully over time, this may have its disadvantages. One person’s saddles tend to conform overly well to your shape and lose their versatility and may not interchange between riders and horses well once properly broken in.

One of the synthetic saddles’ key selling points is the synthetic saddle tree’s interchangeable gullet plate. Gullet plates are u-shaped bars attached to the underside of the pommel arch or head of the saddle. This interchangeable gullet allows riders to change the widths to accommodate horses of different sized withers with just a few screws.

Traditional laminated beech wood springs are expensive to alter, and alterations can only be safely made once or twice by a professional saddler. Also, one synthetic saddle can accommodate various horses without much effort, making the synthetic saddle more versatile.

Durability

It has been noted that adequately cared for high-quality leather saddles last longer than their synthetic counterparts. This fact fails to take into account the ability of synthetic saddles to cope with inclement weather conditions. Unlike leather that can be damaged by soaking, synthetics saddle can easily be drenched and suffer no real consequences.

Generally, synthetics are a lot tougher than leather and hold up well to heavy outdoor use with a fraction of the time spent on care relative to leather upkeep. 

Longevity

High-quality leather saddles cared for with diligence will last a rider a lifetime. Synthetic saddles have not yet accomplished that feat, and generally, riders find that the synthetic saddles do not last as long as leather saddles. However, opinions differ on the subject of synthetic saddle longevity from 10 years to a forum member claiming 20 years’ use of her Wintec synthetic saddle.

Care and Maintenance

Leather saddles are a beauty to behold and become even more so over time with proper care. However, maintaining an organic material such as leather is a time-consuming commitment. Synthetic saddles can be hosed down and soaped with no real sweat, unlike the thorough cleaning, conditioning, and oiling needs of a leather saddle.

Multiple Horses and Beginners

The cost of a leather saddle is a large outlay for riders new to the sport. Children significantly benefit from the lightweight and relatively low-cost synthetic option when starting their riding adventure. Many of us were introduced to riding in leather saddles that we would grow into, and we can all attest that they were heavy and unwieldy for smaller children. 

Moving from a pony to a larger horse often entails the cost of a new leather saddle. In contrast, synthetics can be altered via the interchangeable gullet or replaced without the charge of a new leather tack. Beginners can get a feel for which saddle style most suits their riding style with the synthetic saddles without having to discover their leather saddle does not accommodate changes in riding interests such as jumping or eventing.

Weight

One of the best points of a synthetic saddle is that they are lightweight and infinitely more portable than leather saddles. Synthetic saddles weigh in at an average of half the leather weight and are a hands-down win in the weight division. Not only are the synthetics easier for you to carry, but they lessen the weight on your horses back, which is always a good thing.

How to Tell if a Saddle Is Synthetic or Leather

With the advances in synthetic saddle design, it is not always easy to tell a synthetic saddle from a leather one. Many synthetic saddles incorporate leather and suede into their saddle flaps, making it easy to become confused. Here are some ways to tell the difference:

• The weight. Leather saddles generally make use of a wooden tree, unlike the synthetic saddles, which make use of carbon fiber or fiberglass. Because your stirrups add weight to your saddle, take off the stirrups and feel the weight of your saddle. It should give you a clear indication of whether your tree is wood or fiber.
• The underside of your saddle flaps or the leather closest to your horse on a saddle will generally have a rough leather finish. The feel of the leather fibers is distinctive and not flat or uniform, as in a synthetic saddle.
• Quality leather saddles should bear the manufacturer’s mark or brand name stamped in the leather or on a small metal plate. These are commonly located under the skirts of your saddle on the flap. 

Conclusion

Your saddle may be a lifetime investment, so you should choose wisely. If you are the kind of person who hates maintenance, the synthetic is made for you. If you are a traditionalist and are willing to put in the hours to keep your leather saddle like new, expect to pay a bit more for a great quality saddle. Either way, always remember to choose a saddle to fit your horse first and then yourself, because your horse deserves the best care.

Sources

• Master Saddlers: Saddle safety
• Five Star Ranch: Synthetic saddle vs. leather saddle – Pros and Cons, what is best for saddles?
• Equisearch: Try A Synthetic. We Bet You’ll Like It.
• Horse Forum: Leather VS. Synthetic saddles

Horseback riding will only make your bum bigger in terms of muscles and definition. Much like aerobics, weight training, or spinning class, your muscles will increase during exercise. Riding engages your gluteus muscles, decreases fat through burning calories, and creates a toned, firm behind.

A clever response to the question of whether your bum will get bigger when you ride is, “Have you ever seen a fat jockey?” A large behind is more the result of genetics or excess weight than riding a horse. If you are interested in the multiple benefits of horseback riding on your physique, please read on.

Can Horseback Riding Help You Lose Weight?

It has long been known that Horseback riding is an excellent means of exercise. In a peer-reviewed scientific survey of 40 adults using a horseback riding simulator, the exercise potential exceeded jogging. Most noticeably, the study found increased activity in the:

• Biceps brachii 
• Transverse abdominis 
• Abdominal oblique 
• Adductor longus muscles

Studies have shown that horseback riding causes physical fitness in multiple ways, such as:

• Muscular strength
• Muscle mass
• Cardiorespiratory endurance
• Agility 
• Balance

Dr. Dennis Sigler, horse specialist and professor in the animal science department at Texas A&M University, did a scientific study on the amount of energy expended in horseback riding.

Dr. Sigler pointed out that a 45-minute riding session with a walk, trot and canter can burn up to 200 calories. Horse activities such as cutting and reining increase this calorie consumption up to nearly seven calories per minute for the entire 45-minute training session. 

A 2011 study by the University of Brighton and Plimpton College demonstrated that horse riding and its associated activities used enough energy to be defined as moderate-intensity exercise. This definition means that horseback riding fulfills the requirements of 150 minutes of moderate exercise per week for physical health set by medical standards for health in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Horseback riding has increasingly been a point of interest in treating people suffering from obesity as an alternative exercise. Studies show that obese subjects showed a marked decrease in body mass index after eight weeks of riding and improved gait.

What Else Does Horseback Riding Do To Your Body?

Strengthening Your Core 

Your abdominal muscles, such as the rectus abdominis, internal and external obliques, and the transverse abdominus, work with your spine to help you develop your core. Riding requires our hips, pelvis, and lower back to move in coordination in response to our horse’s movements. 

Your transverse abdominis is particularly involved in stabilizing between your hips, ribs, and pelvis as it wraps around your center and protects your spine. Muscle activity during riding significantly activates core muscle groups for full-body muscle development.

A study on simulated horseback riding for stroke victims for eight weeks showed improvements in balance and thickness in the subject’s abdominal muscles in a scientific survey.

Strengthening Your Muscles 

You will never miss an arm, leg, or core day in your exercise routine with horse riding. Your legs take full benefit of your riding activity, particularly your adductors, your inner thigh muscles used to bring your thighs together. While your thighs squeeze to keep your seat, your core engaged in protecting your spine, your obliques, and abdominals help you maintain balance.

Your quads, hamstrings, and glutes support your thighs’ work and engage in the forward and lateral leg movements to signal your horse. Along with these actions, the arms and biceps are involved with turning and keeping your horse on the bit (not to mention mucking out or carrying feed bags.) All these actions combine to give your body both strength, muscle definition, and tone.

Increased Flexibility

Horseback riding significantly improves flexibility, which increases your range of motion and improves your overall health. Riding in the correct position with your heels down lengthens your hamstrings and promotes a ‘long leg,’ which is crucial to proper riding. The heels down position also lengthen your hamstrings and Achilles tendon when riding in the correct riding position. 

Oblique muscles are used both in riding and mounting your horse, and the shoulders back and spine straight riding position encourage your posture and balance. Pelvic and hip flexibility develop as your movements become synched with the horse’s gait.  

Does Horseback Riding Make Your Thighs Bigger?

Much the same way as aerobics, cycling, or exercise machines, horseback riding will cause your thigh muscles to become more muscular and defined. If your thighs were underdeveloped when you began riding, you might have a more noticeable increase in your thigh muscles. In contrast, if you were overweight, the calorie consumption and activity of riding could recuse your thigh size and define your muscles.

Your thigh muscles are active in the action of riding, particularly the adductors in your inner thighs, which help you maintain your seat on the horse and signal action. Thighs are put into good use with a rising trot, and if you mainly aim to build your thigh tone, a rising trot without stirrups should have you fit with super thigh muscles in no time (if you don’t mind not being able to walk properly after exercise.)

Does Horseback Riding Make Your Bum Bigger?

If muscular growth and toning can be defined as ‘bigger’ THEN horse riding could make your buttocks bigger, much as gym exercise and aerobics would have the same effect. Like squats and lunges’ physical exercise, horse riding will increase a rider’s size if they began with underdeveloped glutes. In contrast, overweight riders may find a decrease in their buttock size from the calorie-burning effect of horse riding.

How Does Riding Affect My Behind?

Riding has effects on both the Gluteus Maximus and the Gluteus Medius of the horse riders behind. The gluteus Maximus muscle is the most superficial gluteal muscle that forms most of your buttock region. This muscle controls the front-to-back movement of your hips, while the medius controls the hips’ inward and outward motion. 

These are the muscles that a rider uses to maintain balance while riding, and squeezing the glutes is used in halting your horse. The squeezing action of your glutes allows you to use your saddle to control your horse, and as you ride, your glutes will flex to keep you in your seat. This repetitive action is what builds up a rider’s buttock area. 

Often, this muscle becomes neglected in our sedentary lives and causes it to become soft and lose tone. Riding causes your glute muscles to expand and contract and become engaged during your ride, increasing firmness and muscle tone. 

Conclusion

Horseback riding is one of the most holistic ways you could ever decide to exercise. The open air, the bond between horse and rider, and the sheer joy of being on a horse in full stride are only a few of the pleasures of riding. The riding activity is physically demanding but offers a range of health benefits, including building up your muscles. Riding won’t create a big behind; on the contrary, a well-toned and muscled should be a point of pride.

Sources

• NCBI: The effects of horseback riding simulator exercises on the muscle activity of the lower extremities according to changes in arm posture
• Digital Commons: Rider energy expenditure during high-intensity horse activity and the potential for health benefits
• Horse magazine: Riding from the Inside Out
• BodyBuilding: 4 Ways to harness the Fitness Benefits of Horseback Riding
• Dressage Rider Training: 8 Key Muscles Involved When We Ride
• AgriLife Today: Study examines the health benefits of horseback riding
• U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans
• NCBI: The effects of horseback riding on body mass index and gait in obese women

You will know if your horse is cold by signs of shivering, huddling for warmth, standing with a clamped tail, and increased appetite. Factors that increase your horse’s sensitivity to cold are age, breed, coat, and condition. Horses with winter coats tolerate cold better than clipped horses.

Each horse’s winter requirements should be determined by their individual conditions, and there is no set rule for when the cold becomes too cold for your horse. If you would like to understand how the cold affects your horses and how to know when you should intervene, please read on.

Do Horses Feel Cold?

Horses are warm-blooded mammals, much like us, and certainly do feel the cold. However, horses have adapted over their evolution to tolerate a greater range of temperatures than we have. Horses grow a winter coat and have specific physiological responses to survive in a range of climates.

If your horse has a decent layer of fat, a well-developed winter coat with a good fluffy loft, they should be able to cope with weather that we would define as extreme cold. However, underweight horses, horses with a clipped coat, or are senior or health compromised should not be exposed to critical temperatures.

Care must be taken when horses are wet. Their cold threshold drops considerably because their coats no longer provide the loft to insulate their bodies. When a horse becomes cold, it will exhibit certain behaviors to alleviate the low temperature. 

How to Tell if Your Horse Is Cold

Your horse will give clear signs if the temperature has become too low for their comfort that will alert you to possible problems. You should look out for the following behaviors:

• Shivering: Shivering is a natural response in horses to the cold. These muscular contractions aid the horse to generate heat in their bodies. 
• Adapting their body posture: Horses tend to place their rumps towards the wind and form huddles with other horses when they are cold. Often they will stand downwind with their tails tucked in close to their bodies.
• Piloerection: A cold horse will raise its coat hairs to trap warm air between the coat and its skin to keep themselves warm, much like our arm hairs rise when we feel a chill.
• Seek shelter: Horses will naturally seek shelter when their body temperature drops. If they do not have a designated shelter, they will gravitate towards a treed area or natural cover areas in their environment. 
• Increase in appetite: Horses generate a fair percentage of body heat by the act of eating and digestion. In particular, hay generates a large amount of internal heat in the digestive process. It is believed that chewing and the increased action by the smooth muscles in the intestine walls during digestion increase the horse’s body temperature.
• Their body temperature is below 99.5℉ (37.5℃): If you are still unsure if your horse is cold, you may take their rectal temperature. Readings of a temperature lower than the above are reflective of hypothermia in horses. Often horse owners feel their horse’s ears for signs of cold, but often that is not an accurate gauge of body temperature.

How Cold Is Too Cold for a Horse?

A body’s ability to cope with a temperature range in the short term without any further energy expenditure is called a thermoneutral zone. Unlike humans with a narrow thermoneutral range of 28°C and 32°C (82.4℉ to 89.6℉), a horse’s thermoneutral range if relatively broad and is between 5°C-25°C (41℉ to 77℉ ).

Without the effects of harsh wind and moisture, horses can withstand temperatures of below -17.78°C (0°F) and even up to -40°F (-40°C) if they have adequate shelter. However, the temperature range that suits horses most lies between 18°F and 59°F (-7.7°C to 15°C) depending on how thick their coat has grown.

For a clipped horse or a summer-coated horse, the cold’s critical temperature is estimated to be below 40°F (4.4°C ). In contrast, thick winter-coated horses’ critical temperature may even be as low as 18°F (-7.7°C). The long winter coats trap warm air next to the skin, which provides insulation from the cold.

If your horse’s coat becomes wet, the critical temperature increases from anywhere between 10°F to 15°F (-12.22°C to -9.44°C.) The influence of wetness on temperature is such that a dry horse can remain warm at 18°F (-7.7°C). In contrast, a wet horse would begin to feel the cold at 33°F (0.5°C). These effects highlight the importance of factoring in wind chill and moisture effects when evaluating the equine environment’s temperature.

How Do You Warm Up a Cold Horse?

The very young or old, thin or unacclimatized horse is more at risk than healthy horses with a good layer of body fat to protect them from temperature drops. The critical temperature for horses is around 40°F (4.4°C) with a thin summer or clipped coat length and 18°F for (-7.7°C) for horses with a thicker coat grown in winter. If your horse shows signs of cold, there are various ways to ensure that your horse is warmed externally and internally.

Increase Your Horse’s Nutrition

With temperatures plummeting in winter, your horse will need extra energy provided by an increased diet to keep its body temperature. Experts suggest an extra 1.3% energy per degree celsius below 0℃ (32°F) with a daily increase of 0.7% to maintain weight levels.

The best type of food to warm your horse is forage, typically in the form of hay. Grain feed does not create the heat increases of hay, which raises body temperature through microbial fermentation. 

An average 1000lbs (454 kgs) idle horse’s daily intake of hay should rise 2 to 2.5 pounds (0.9 to 1.1 kgs) to 18 to 18.5 pounds (8.1 to 8.4 kgs) if temperatures drop below 0°F (-17.7℃). This amount should increase further if the horse cannot benefit from a shelter in the winter months.

Provide a Shelter for Your Horse

Horses should be provided with some form of protection from the elements in the winter months. You should ideally provide covered protection or at least allow your horse trees if you cannot provide shelter. If your horse is not exposed to wind and moisture, a healthy horse can tolerate temperatures as low as 0°F (-17.7℃).

Shelter increases your horse’s ability to tolerate low temperatures even up to the levels of -40°F (-40℃) if their condition is healthy and they have a proper winter coat. 

Blanket Your Horse

Blanketing your horse is an option to warm your horse if it is suffering from the cold. You should seriously consider blanketing your horse if:

• No shelter is available, and the temperature is less than 5°F (-15℃)
• Your horse has a good chance of getting wet 
• Your horse has a clipped coat
• Your horse is not acclimatized to the cold
• Your horse is very old or very young
• Your horse has a poor body condition or is underweight

Can Horses Get a Cold?

Yes, horses can get the equivalent of a common cold, an infectious upper respiratory infection called a URT caused by viruses, bacteria, and stable pathogens. Although cold temperatures do not cause these cold-like symptoms in horses, the time spent indoors in winter may make your horse more prone to infectious diseases. 

Horses may react to several pollutants in their stables, such as ammonia released from bedding, mold spores, and dust. Application of good hygiene, ventilation, and stable management techniques are vital to prevent respiratory disease in your horse. Keeping up to date with vaccinations is also crucial in preventing diseases common to horses.

Symptoms of a URT include many similar symptoms to a bad human cold, such as:

• Coughing
• Nasal discharge
• Lack of appetite
• Fever

Conclusion

Although horses have evolved to cope with climatic conditions that we could hardly survive, care must be taken that your horses do not suffer from the cold in winter. Your winter solutions must consider your horse’s age, condition, coat, and environment to be effective. If you properly consider all the potential factors that may affect your horse, you may easily create a solution to keep your horse from becoming too cold.

Sources

• UNM Extension: Caring for Your Horse in Winter
• AAEP: Cold Weather Care
• Science Direct: Exploring the human thermoneutral zone – A dynamic approach
• Science Direct: Caring for the horse in a cold climate
• Science Direct: Thermoneutral zone and critical temperatures of horses
• Vetstream: Hypothermia
• The Horse: Does My Horse Have a Cold?
• NCBI: Markers of respiratory inflammation in horses in relation to seasonal changes in air quality in a conventional racing stable
• Equisearch: Prevention and Treatment of Respiratory Infections in Horses
• MSD: Equine Respiratory Disease

Horses wear blankets in summer to protect from UV rays and prevent stress caused by stinging and biting insects. Horses with sensitive skin benefit from summer blankets called fly sheets made with large mesh material for breathability and fitted correctly to the horse’s dimensions.

Horse owners may be divided in whether they believe in the benefits of a fly sheet in summer. Despite the naysayers, there is firm support from veterinary experts that a fly sheet may benefit horses. If you are unsure about the benefits of summer blanketing, we have provided you with some information to help you decide whether it is the best option for your horse.

Should You Rug a Horse in Summer?

Choosing to rug your horse in summer depends on a variety of factors. The breed, age condition, and coat of your horse are factors to consider, as well as the material of your blanket.

In summer, dense material rugs impede your horse’s ability to cool themselves by evaporation and trap moisture, increasing your horse’s core temperature.

However, summer fly sheets are often made with a lightweight, breathable mesh that allows airflow to cool your horse and prevent stress caused by flying insects. Summer months can be a joy to both horse and rider, but unfortunately, the summer month brings those annoying bugs such as biting midges, sand flies, gnats, and flies. 

Although horses may thrive in summer without a flysheet, there are some excellent reasons to consider using a fly sheet in summer.

Protection From Insects

Nearly 1,000 Culicoides species are found worldwide and include flies and gnats that bite and sting and generally cause havoc with your horse in summer. The insects of this family can cause hypersensitivity reactions to the antigens found in the insect’s saliva. Stress reactions in horses to insects are common and may include running fence lines or pacing and leading to overheating.

A properly designed, lightweight, and breathable fly sheet protects your horse’s body from most of these bites and reduces stress in the summer months. Particularly horses with sensitive skin greatly benefit from having the protection of fly sheets in summer. An excellent example of a fly protective sheet is the Rider’s International Stretch Micro Mesh Fly Sheet.

Ultraviolet Sun Protection

The sun’s rays may be harmful to your horse, and specifically formulated fly sheets offer the added protection of reflective UV resistant materials. Darker horses tend to absorb more heat in summer months, leading to coat bleaching and overheating. Lighter horses may be damaged by the sun’s full rays and would also benefit from summer cover. An excellent example of a UV-resistant flysheet is WeatherBeeta Kool Coat Airstream Detach-a-Neck Sheet.

Health Benefits

Some insects carry diseases or bacteria that may be harmful to your horse. A summer sheet can keep scratches or sores covered from certain insects that use these areas to lay their eggs. Botflies or Cuterebra fontinella are particularly pernicious, and their larva can burrow into your horse’s flesh, causing infections. 

Some fly sheets are made with insect repellent in the material, which further protects your horse from potential skin lesions or hypersensitivity. A great example of this kind of repellent sheet is the  Rambo Fly Buster Fly Sheet.

At What Temperature Should a Horse Wear a Blanket?

Once again, one should consider your particular horse when deciding on what temperature you should blanket them. Senior horses or horses with compromised immunity may need extra care and be more sensitive to temperature. The breed of your horse is also essential as some breeds such as Thoroughbreds may have breed-specific sensitivities to a temperature that the native, hardier breeds of horse do not. 

The Horse site offers an excellent table to use as a general rule of thumb, but one should always ensure that you consider your horses’ particular needs.

Are Horse Blankets Good or Bad?

Horse blankets may provide protection from the cold or reduce your horse’s stress from insects and ensure that your horse does not suffer UV damage. However, the blanket can be a welfare issue if misused or fitted incorrectly. Horse blanket may be harmful if:

• Your blanket is inappropriate for the season. Placing a dense fiber horse blanket in the summer months may cause your horse to overheat or even cause hyperthermia or heatstroke.
• Your blanket is not fitted correctly. An improperly fitted horse blanket is a hazard as the blanket may slip and cause injuries to your horse. Your blanket must be the proper fit for your horse and correctly attached so that no loose straps or ties may cause your horse to become entangled.
• The blanket is placed on the horse at inappropriate times. One should never put blankets on horses who are drenched in sweat, especially in extreme temperatures. The moisture trapped under dense materials may impede your horse’s ability to cool itself through evaporation or trapped moisture that leads to a chill in colder weather.

How Hot Is Too Hot for a Fly Sheet?

To determine whether the environment is too hot for you to use a fly sheet depends on several factors. With the variety of horse breed, condition, colors, and coats, it is essential that you never use general temperature guides without factoring in the specifics of your particular horse. When deciding whether a flysheet is appropriate in hot weather, you should consider:

• The weight and material of your flysheet. Fly sheets with a dense weave fitted closely to your horse’s body will not allow your horse to cool its core temperature from evaporation. Lighter sheets with larger mesh and loose fitted designs enable your horse to breathe and are more suited to warmer temperatures.
• Your horses breed and condition. Your horse’s BCS or Body Condition Score should be considered when determining whether your horse is likely to overheat. For example, a draft horse with a BCS of 8 would have more difficulty dealing with high temperatures than a lighter horse with a lower BCS.
• Access to shaded areas. You should factor in your horse’s access to shade or whether there is access to a breeze or an area where fans are installed for cooling.
• Take note of humidity levels because temperature alone is not always an accurate reflection of the heat index. You should consult a weather app to ensure that the humidity levels will not drive the heat factor upwards considerably.
• The temperature does not exceed 90°F (32.22°C.). If the temperature exceeds 90°F, you should ensure that you provide a cool environment for your horse to tolerate the wearing of a flysheet.

What Happens if a Horse Gets Too Hot?

There are typically two reactions if a horse’s rectal temperature exceeds 103.5°F (39.72°C), and they are heat stroke and heat stress. Typically, heatstroke occurs over a short period, such as when a horse is confined in a high-temperature environment with little to no ventilation. Heat stress often occurs during exercise when the horse’s cooling mechanisms are overwhelmed or inadequate. 

Physiological Response to Overheating 

Heat stress or heat exhaustion occurs when a horse suffers from prolonged fluid and electrolyte loss during intense exercise. High ambient temperatures and poor fitness often work in combination to overwhelm your horse’s ability to cool itself down. A horse’s normal rectal temperature during exercise should be between 101-103°F (38.33°C-39.44°C.). If your horse’s temperature exceeds 103.5°F (39.72°C), your horse is overheating.

As your horse exercises, the blood from its heart is diverted to the skin away from its muscles to provide cooling. The temperatures continue to rise, and the surface evaporation no longer keeps pace with the heat build-up. In that case, their muscle fibers’ action becomes impaired and leads to fatigue and exhaustion.

When the horse loses fluids through sweating, the horse will begin to dehydrate. The blood flows to the skin’s surface areas diminish and limit the cooling provided by sweating if the exercise continues without any means to rehydrate. 

If the body temperature exceeds 106°F (41.11°C), the horse’s oxygen needs might exceed the respiratory system’s amount of oxygen, resulting in hypoxemia. Hypoxemia may lead to heart, liver, kidney, heart, and brain damage. Above 107°F (41.66°C) may result in convulsions, coma, or death.

Conclusion

If your horse is sensitive to insect bites or has a dark coat or a very light coat, summer fly sheets are a great option. If your horse has plenty of shade or facilities with fans or adequate ventilation, fly sheets are unnecessary. However, they provide practical benefits, and if they are fitted correctly and are made from a lightweight and breathable weave, they may provide comfort for your horse in the summer months. 

Sources

• New Mexico State University: Help Your Horse Handle Heat Stress
• Triple Crown Feed: Thermoregulation in Horses
• The Horse: When is it Too Hot for My Horse to Wear a Fly Sheet?
• Schneiders: Can My Horse Wear a Flysheet in Summer?
• Colorado State University: To Blanket or Not to Blanket? That’s a Good Cold-Weather Question
• The Horse: Horse Blanketing FAQs
• Veterinarian Key: Insect hypersensitivities
• Wikipedia: Cuterebra fontinella
• The Horse: What’s Your Horse’s Body Condition Score?
• The Horse: Heat Stress in Horses
• Pubmed: Mechanisms of Exercise-Induced Hypoxemia in Horses

Most vets and farriers suggest that an unshod horse has its hooves trimmed and checked every 6 to 10 weeks. Routinely shod horses need their hooves and shoes tended to every 4 to 6 weeks for good health.

Several factors contribute to scheduling a farrier to trim and inspect your horse’s hooves. These factors apply to horses who go unshod and shod horses. We’ll help you understand the factors contributing to your horse’s foot health and what is key to making wise decisions about the scheduling.

The Big Difference – Shod or Unshod?

Hoof care for unshod horses is different than for horses who are kept shod.  Horses who don’t wear shoes require different hoof care schedules and present different wear patterns that should be understood. There are many factors to consider when deciding on a hoof maintenance schedule.

• Seasonal Variations
• Terrain and Conditions
• Your Horses Health
• Movement and Activity

What Happens if you Don’t Trim a Horses’ Hooves?

If your horses’ hooves go untrimmed, they continue to grow.  Horses’ stabled continuously can’t self-trim their hooves running or walking. In extreme cases, a horse’s hooves may grow and curl so badly that the horse can no longer walk. Untrimmed hooves can be a deadly situation. 

• Overgrowth can allow infections that lead to more serious problems.
• Unrepairable damage to the internal structure of the hoof may occur
• Remodeling of the bones in the feet and ankles is not uncommon
• The misshapen hoof doesn’t allow the horse to walk properly

Unshod Horses – Schedules and Care

If the situation is right, keeping your horse unshod may be the best option for general good hoof health. Many factors contribute to this decision.  Some of the more important include

• What is the terrain your horse inhabits? – Many horse owners must stable their horse. If a horse gets infrequent use and doesn’t have a large and open expanse to exercise, the time between farrier visits is usually shorter. Wild horses or those kept pastured in large areas wear their hooves down naturally and don’t require direct attention as often.

• How about nutrition and health? – Your horses’ diet can make a big difference in hoof health, translating into less frequent visits from the farrier. Studies have shown that high-quality feed can help many hoof problems.

• Seasonal concerns – The time of year can contribute to trimming and caring for your horse’s hooves. Horses hooves tend to grow faster in the summer than in the winter and your hoof maintenance schedule should reflect this change.

• How often do you ride? – Stabled horses need regular exercise, and the best exercise is riding. A regular riding pattern wears down the hooves of an unshod horse and can lengthen the time between farrier visits. 

The Importance of Trimming Unshod Hooves

As a horse’s hooves grow, the weight distribution and angle that the hoof presents to the ground can change as well. Improperly trimmed hooves don’t provide the proper presentation and cause a host of problems with your horse.

• Keeping a straight hoof-pastern angle can help keep the bones in the horse’s feet and legs aligned for proper support.

• Proper toe formation allows your horse to move easier without excessive break over.

• Balanced hooves make lateral support equal as the horse walks.

• The entire leg is supported when hooves are properly trimmed and balanced.

Scheduling for Good Hoof Health

Typically, an unshod horse should have its hooves trimmed every 6 to 10 weeks. In winter, the length of time between visits with the farrier may be longer. In summer, you may need to shorten the time between hoof trimming and care.

The best advice will come from your farrier. As he gets to know and understand your horse, he will learn your horse’s characteristic hoof growth and patterns. Your farrier can make recommendations on scheduling and care needs for your horse’s hooves based on that knowledge. 

Shod Horses – Keeping Those Shoes in Top Condition

Many horse owners prefer to keep their horses shoed. There are many reasons for shoeing horses, mostly due to poor conformation or hoof problems. These reasons can include;

• Hoof Durability – Most working horses are kept in shoes to help the durability of their hooves. The keratin that makes up your horse’s hooves is relatively soft and easily wears away.  Horseshoes help keep this wear to a minimum and protect the other parts of the horse’s foot.

• Trail Ride Protection – Horses used for trail riding or on hard surfaces such as streets or sidewalks need additional protection for their hooves.  Preventing abnormal wear and giving the horse a better grip when walking can make riding much safer.

• Prevention and Correction – A good farrier can design and apply horseshoes that correct such imperfections as uneven wear, limb deviations, and conformation faults. 

It is vital to your horse’s health and well-being that the horseshoes are in top condition with properly trimmed hooves.   

The Importance of Trimming and Shoeing Regularly

Horses’ hooves grow continually. As the hooves grow, they get wider and longer. A horse’s hoof that has a shoe prevents the hoof from expanding.  The eventual result of this restricted growth is to put more of the horse’s weight on the outside of the hoof, causing the horse to become lame.

Properly fitted shoes on a horse’s hoof offer additional protection from bruising and cracking. If you routinely trail ride or compete in jumping competitions, properly fitted and applied horseshoes are a must.

How Often Should My Horse be Re-Shod?

The scheduling of re-showing and hoof inspection has a lot to do with how often you ride or compete with your horse. Typically, a shod horse should have a visit from the farrier every 4 – 6 weeks.

• If you ride a lot or compete regularly, the time between the farrier visits will probably be closer to the schedule’s four-week end.

• Normal growth rates require a visit from an inspection and reshoeing no less than every six weeks.

• Seasonal changes in hoof growth can change this schedule from summer to winter.

Just like an unshod horse, as your farrier learns your horse, his or her advice will become invaluable when making your hoof care schedule. 

What Should I Look for to Know if my Horse Needs Hoof Care?

As you spend time with your horse, you will begin to learn how to judge if there are problems or just time for a hoof trim. Your farrier can teach you a lot.  In general, you should watch these things about your horse.

• Inspect your horse’s feet regularly and look for damage, cracks, or other problems.

• Check the toe of your horse’s hoof.  It should be almost circular.  If the toes look longer or oval, the hoof probably needs to be trimmed.

• Look for the uniform length of the hoof.  The distance between the toed and the coronet band on the hoof should be equal.

• A hoof in need of trimming may have an incorrect angle.  The angle of the coronet band with the horse’s elbow should describe a straight line.

• Any sign of lameness or a horse who favors one leg should be an immediate indication that there may be a problem with a hoof or a shoe.

Does it Hurt Horses to Cut Their Hooves?

Horse’s hooves are much the same material as your fingernails.  Like your fingernails, they grow continuously.  There are no nerve endings in the hooves themselves. When properly trimmed, the horse feels no pain at all.

However, trimming too aggressively or improperly trimming can leave your horse tender footed several days after a trim. Watch your horse carefully.  What may seem like a tenderfoot may be an abscess or other problem. 

How Much Does it Cost to Trim a Horses’ Hooves?

Farrier services vary widely around the country. The skill and reputation of the farrier also affect the cost. Average costs of farrier services typically are:

• $25 to $30 per horse to trim hooves.
• Shoeing and trimming averages $125 to $150 per horse. 
• Corrective custom shoeing and trimming usually start at about $150 per horse and can go much higher depending on the problem’s severity.

Your Horse Depends on You

Your horse depends on you to make judgments and decisions that keep it healthy. Routine care is part of the responsibility that you have for your horse. Foot care is one of the most important aspects of keeping your horse healthy. A routine trimming schedule is vital, as is proper and regular shoeing if that is your choice.

Don’t neglect your horse’s hooves, and your horse will repay you with many years of companionship and enjoyment. Set up a schedule with your farrier for a year-round hoof and foot care regimen. Go take a ride. Both you and your horse will benefit from it.

When you consider if a horse with arthritis can still jump, it will depend on the severity of arthritis, overall health, and figuring out if the exercise is helping or hurting. Horses can still jump with arthritis. But learning more about their condition first will help you understand just how much jumping they can handle.

Because arthritis is an inflammation of the joint, the pounding element of landing a jump can cause arthritis flair-ups. But the health benefits horses receive from daily outings are also instrumental.

At What Age Do Horses Get Arthritis?

The age that horses start to get arthritis can vary widely based on the horse breed and their daily activity levels and uses. Like humans, there are plenty of risk factors that can affect the age that a horse may or may not get arthritis.

Many horses will begin seeing symptoms of arthritis around 15 years old. This is due to a metabolic shift, according to Equisearch. This shift causes faster cell death in their bones, fibrous tissue, and cartilage. Around that age, and for a few years after, they also lose some elasticity in their ligaments and tendons.

While cartilage thins and bones lose some of the density, it can easily lead to arthritis from the constant pounding that is no longer being cushioned as well.

There are still plenty of horses who get arthritis much younger. So, don’t be alarmed if your horse begins experiencing arthritis even as young as 4 or 5 years old. Many horses will see early-onset osteoarthritis around this age, especially if they are used to excessive jumping or labor.

How Conformation Can Affect When Your Horse Gets Arthritis

Your horse’s structural deviations can have different impacts and implications on when they may experience the early signs of arthritis. With better confirmation comes a better chance that they won’t get arthritis or get it very late in life. It could also mean they just have a minor form of it.

Whereas, if your horse has a poor conformation, this could mean they will get arthritis earlier or will, unfortunately, have worse symptoms, which would further affect their ability to jump.

Even standing can cause minor joint degeneration in horses due to their size. Their conformation is so important because it will either help delay those deteriorations or escalate them.

Horses with Arthritis Continuing to Jump

Horses can continue jumping if they have arthritis. But you will want to consider their age, severity of arthritis, and how they are reacting to jumps. If they seem to be in pain or have trouble clearing a small jump, you will want to ease up. Continue getting them daily exercise but keep it less stressful on their joints.

If they seem to be having an easy enough time with jumps, continue letting them do them, but monitor and make sure you are listening to your vet with treatment plans and anti-inflammatory measures.

How High Can Horses with Arthritis Jump?

This question will best be answered by your vet. Most likely, smaller jumps will be all your arthritic horse should try to conquer. But you will need to understand the severity of arthritis before being able to determine just how high those little jumps can be.

It will also depend on the conformation of the horse, their weight, age, and other factors that your vet will want to advise on before deciding to let them continue jumping.

But plan for smaller, easier jumps than they were once used to.

Exercise and Arthritis

Exercise is key for horses of any age or condition. But a horse with arthritis will greatly benefit from additional exercise. Regular walks on easy trails, riding, and small jumps will help their circulation and muscles stay in strong shape.

The increased circulation helps to promote healing, and a continued routine of smaller jumps or exercise will help build stronger muscles to help keep their bone structure in line.

And above all, the exercise will be most helpful in keeping extra pounds off. If your horse has arthritis, the last thing they need is to put on unnecessary weight.

What Are Signs of Arthritis in a Horse?

Understanding the signs of arthritis will help keep the symptoms at bay for longer and can even lead to early prevention, which we will talk about a bit more later in this article.

According to VCA Hospitals, joint inflammation increases fluid in the joint when arthritis is present. This will typically cause a bulging in the joint capsule. But keep in mind, that is not a definite sign that it is arthritis. There are other reasons the joint could swell, which could be as simple as a strain.

When the swollen joint is also causing pain when bent, that is typically a good indicator that the horse is suffering from arthritis. In cases of acute arthritis, the joint may also feel warm to the touch.

You will also notice a limited range of motion in many cases. There is surface damage caused by the bone due to the thinning cartilage. New bone will form over the area, and it won’t be protected by cartilage anymore.

The absence of a protective layer can cause a range of motion to be slightly limited. So, you will most likely notice discomfort from the horse during certain movements, but you will also see a smaller range of motion.

With that range of motion is limited, you may also notice stiffness. And with older horses, you may see them having issues standing for long periods, as well as having a hard time standing up after sitting for a long time.

When you see these symptoms, you can still allow the horse to jump but only if it seems to not be causing too much pain. Listening to what your horse is telling you through their body language and actions will help you determine if they should still be jumping or not.

Should You Buy a Horse with Arthritis?

When it comes to buying a horse with arthritis, you should ask yourself why you are getting that horse. If you are hoping to have them for jumping or labor, you will want to consider how advanced or severe their arthritis is. While they can still do these things with arthritis, it can be more difficult, and they may not be able to do it for as long.

At the end of the day, horses can still do a lot with arthritis, and they would love and appreciate a good home. Even if they are dealing with some pain or stiffness from arthritis, they will still appreciate the exercise and will be able to complete many tasks.

If you want to have a horse to ride occasionally and not do anything too strenuous, you can still buy a horse with arthritis.

Keep in mind their age. If it is an older horse with arthritis, you shouldn’t expect vigorous jumping or exercise from them. But if they are younger and have a more mild arthritis case, you can still expect to get some good years of jumps as long as they are easier jumps, and you aren’t pushing them too long or too hard.

How Do You Prevent Arthritis in Horses?

Through healthy exercise, avoiding repetitive pounding on their joints for long periods, and supplements, and a healthy diet, you can help prevent arthritis in your horse.

According to The Horse, a study done at Texas A&M University suggests that prevention is very doable if you are paying attention and being very deliberate in your decisions for your horse.

When exercising your horse, make sure you don’t push them too long or too hard. Exercise will help them prevent things like weight gain, causing additional pressure on the joints, leading to arthritis. So it’s important to keep them active, but always consider the wear and tear you are inflicting on their joints during a certain exercise. 

Any anti-inflammatory supplements or treatments will help minimize swelling and help keep their joints in health condition, which will help to prevent the possibility of arthritis.

Arthritis and Jumping

Your horse should still be able to jump if they have arthritis. But you want to speak with your vet and have a full picture of their arthritis stage and understand their specific situation.

Your horse will need to do smaller, easier jumps with arthritis, but that will be perfectly fine for most horses. Jumping will help them keep off weight, invigorate circulation, and build strong muscles, which all help a horse with arthritis as well.

A combination of lower body position, feet position, and ankle position during riding can cause knee pain in equestrians. There are, however, simple posture changes that can prevent knee pain during horse riding.

This article will not only address the proper lower body, feet, and ankle positions horse riders should know; it will also provide information on knee gripping and exercises that focus on strengthening these parts of your body.

Does Horse Riding Damage Your Knees?

Many horse riders report feeling knee pain akin to walking up the stairs or having a prolonged hiking trip. Improper horse riding has the potential to cause this pain.

The correct posture is important when you are riding a horse. Every part of your lower body, legs, and feet needs to be set in a certain way to avoid causing pain.

The damage that you incur from horse riding is usually not severe. In more cases than not, knee damage requiring corrective surgery is due to a direct impact from a fall of some sort. So, you do not need to worry about needing knee surgery from improper horse riding.

How to Treat Your Painful Knees at Home

If you are experiencing knee pain while riding your horse, and it so painful you feel you cannot ride, you should get off your horse. You will need to take steps to heal your knees so you can get rid of the pain.

Usually, ice packs and rest are good ways to help the pain subside. Pain relievers like ibuprofen and acetaminophen will help with pain too. Keep your knees elevated for a long time and maybe take a nap. Keeping pressure off your knees for a while should help a lot.

If the pain persists, however, it would be wise to visit your doctor and get professional advice on what you can do to cure it. If you do visit your doctor, you will likely be told to set up an appointment at a physical therapy center nearby to help strengthen your knees.

How Do I Stop My Knees from Hurting When Riding A Horse?

There are three running themes when it comes to knee pain in horse riding: lower body position, feet position, and ankle position.

The key is to remain in balance with your core muscles, your seat, and your horse.

Check Your Lower Body Position

One of the most common causes of knee pain is a bad leg position. There is a sweet spot that all equestrians should try to achieve when riding a horse.

While riding a horse, your hips are always meant to be directly below your shoulders. If you are doing a sportier event and your horse jumps, your ankles need to be directly below your shoulder as well.

Of course, all of this will be taught to you if you have a good horse-riding trainer, but having an online guide is still good for those who are experiencing knee pain.

Change Your Foot Position

Stirrups should be placed underneath the ball of your foot (the section of your foot that is right under your toes). This is to make sure your ankle flexes with the movement of your horse. However, if your saddle is not secure, your feet will slide forward, which makes the bar of the stirrup rest on the arch of your foot rather than the ball of your foot.

Your ankles lose the ability to flex when the horse moves, and the entire leg will slide in the stirrup with each move the horse makes, causing incredible pressure and pain on your knee.

To prevent your arch from sliding down on your stirrups, you need to be secure on your seat. Your body needs to be balanced, and you need to maintain control of your horse.

Fix Your Ankle Position

As mentioned earlier, you need to have your ankles directly below your shoulders while your horse is jumping. But it is also important to focus on your ankles.

One early lesson you may have been taught as a horse rider is to keep your heels down while riding. This lesson is taught early so you can maintain control of your seat. If your ankles and heels go up while your toes point down to the ground while riding, the seat becomes unstable, causing you to bounce like crazy while riding your horse.

Also, when your heels are up, they can hit onto a horse’s side, which causes background noise that the horse does not want to hear. Horses will become confused by the sudden noise caused by your foot.

Part of being an equestrian is being flexible enough to keep your ankles and heels where they are supposed to be as you ride your horse. Check out these exercises from theridinginstructor.net for information on how to improve your flexibility when you ride your horse.

Should You Grip with Your Knees When Horse Riding?

You may think that you need to grip onto your horse, but to grip while horse riding is a bad idea. This can cause a variety of problems for you and your horse.

If you grip your horse with your knees, you will end up pushing roughly against the horse, which causes a restriction of the horse’s movement. The horse will become jittery and jerky, and you will be tossed around in no time.  

What Should You Do to Maintain Seating on Your Horse?

Maintaining your seating is simpler than what you’re thinking. There aren’t any secret techniques to keep a steady grip on your horse while riding. Just don’t grip your horse.

Think of it as a church song with a call and response framework. The horse moves. As your horse moves, your seat and your body move with the horse naturally, flowing like the wind.

Whiteroseequestrian.com has a few exercises that can help you maintain your seating better on your horse and build up your strength.

Exercises to Help Strengthen Your Knees

Having strong knees before horse riding is possibly the best way to prevent your knees from pain and possible damage. As I’m sure most of us know, physical therapy is costly. There are, however, some exercises that you can do at home to help strengthen your knees.

Bridging

While lying on your back, bend your knees and push your heels into the floor. Tighten your glutes and abdominal muscles while lifting your hips off the floor. Hold that same position for 5-10 seconds. Repeat 15-20 times.

Clam Exercise

Think of the clam exercise like a sideways bridge. Lie on the side of your body with your knees and hips bent together. Raise your upper leg (not with your foot) slowly, keeping your feet touching each other during the process. Hold for a few seconds and lower your leg slowly. Repeat for about 20 times.

Quad Sets

While on the floor, keep one of your legs straight. Bend your other leg. Press the back of your straight knee on the floor by tightening your upper thigh muscles. Keep this position for about 10 seconds, and then let go. Start again and repeat about 20 times. Then, do your other leg.

Conclusion

Now you know why your knees hurt after horse riding and many ways to stop the pain! We hope that the tips and information in this article will help you move toward a pain-free horse-riding experience.

A horse can eat with a bridle, but it is not recommended. Often, horses interpret the harness as a sign it is time to work. Allowing the horse to eat with it on can lead to training and behavioral issues, harm the animal, and make the bridle challenging to clean for the owner later.

Although it’s natural to assume a bitless bridle can be a solution to some of the above issues, this is not the case; there are some drawbacks associated with these types of harnesses as well.

Below, we’ll discuss the reasons why riders shouldn’t feed a horse with their bridles and tips to prevent them from trying to eat on their own while wearing one.

Can You Feed a Horse If the Bridle Is Still On?

There are many different types of bridles, but their general purpose remains the same: It allows you to engage the horse during training and work exercises.

The bridle contains components that can restrict your horse’s ability to chew and eat in a way that it would normally, although it still certainly can eat if it wishes. However, allowing your horse to do so is not recommended.

Why You Shouldn’t Feed a Horse with a Bridle

There are a few reasons why feeding is discouraged while a horse is wearing a bridle:

Bridle Components Make It Difficult to Eat

First, a bridle has a piece called a “bit,” consisting of a solid bar that runs across the horse’s tongue. This feature helps the rider apply pressure and reinforce commands. However, this component alone can make it difficult for the horse to chew.

There is also a piece called the “throat latch” that runs underneath the horse’s throat. Along with the bit, this component may restrict the horse’s ability to chew and swallow (although to a minor degree). A properly-fitted harness should not be overly restrictive to movement but should not allow a horse to put its tongue over the bit.

It May Harm the Horse

Some studies suggest that horses can be hurt if their teeth frequently chomp down on the bit of a bridle; some veterinarians have observed bone spurs and dental issues. Usually, this issue is more related to horse or handler riding behavior, but you still don’t want to encourage your horse to eat while wearing the bit to avoid the problem further.

Bitless bridles are not necessarily the answer to this problem, either. This is because bitless bridles often contain a thick nosepiece to compensate for the lack of a bit; this can still cause harm to the horse if overused. For this reason, they’re usually reserved for young horses.

It’s Harder to Distinguish Work and Feeding Time

Bridles are a piece of equipment that should be exclusively associated with working time. Once the bridle and bit come off, then your horse should be able to take this as a sign that work and training activities have come to an end, at least for the time being.

It cannot be understated just how vital repetition and consistency are in equine training. Any time that you try breaking a negative pattern, you will only be met with crankiness. Letting your horse pick up food whenever it wants has the negative effect of leading your horse to believe that it is okay to always beg for a goodie, even though it’s time to work.

It Affects Their Herd Mentality

Horses use feeding opportunities to signal their standing within a group. Access to both food and water is used to determine who the top members of the herd are.

Any horse that is eating or drinking will be perceived as the dominant member of the herd when the others don’t currently have access to the food or water. If these are not the type of signals you want to send during training, you want to avoid allowing the horse to graze with the bridle.

It Requires Extra Cleaning

As mentioned, the bit of the bridle is the piece that fits across the horse’s tongue. While this will not completely impede a horse’s ability to eat and breathe properly, you are still advised to avoid feeding while it wears this piece.

This is because the bit will become dirty from the horse eating while wearing it. When you remove the bridle and bit from your horse, you will notice a green gooey mess across the bit, which can be challenging to remove.

The Horse May Become Unsafe to Ride

If a horse is not fully broken in or trained, it will be a hazard to kids and inexperienced riders. Letting a horse eat with a bridle on will lead them to believe that they can stop and chow down whenever they please.

Inexperienced riders, in particular, need to be given a horse that you are confident won’t give them too much trouble. Poorly-trained horses become a danger to themselves and others when they become opportunistic feeders during work time. They may become so sidetracked by food items that they may inadvertently step into a hole or walk their rider into a fence.

How to Stop a Horse from Eating with a Bridle On

It is not uncommon for a horse to become a notorious “grass grabber.” This type of behavior should be nipped in the bud as soon as it arises. Horses that feed on grass while on the trail won’t see you as a figure of authority, and as previously mentioned, can also be a danger to riders because they will become distracted easily.

With that said, proper training is key to protecting yourself as the rider and your horse. Here are some things you can do to discourage them from eating while the bridle is on:

• Make them hustle: Let your horse know that you expect them to move forward at a steady pace.
• Squeeze the horse with your calves: If the previous tip doesn’t work, you can make warning noises by clicking your tongue. If all else fails, pop your horse with the ends of the reins. Continue to do this every time they try to deviate from the path to eat.

Note: When giving negative reinforcement, be as gentle as possible while still being firm. Your horse should know it is doing something wrong, but there is no need to be excessively harsh.

(Source: Horse & Rider)

Can I Give My Horse a Treat with a Bridle On?

Positive reinforcements are indeed another aspect of horse training and are often offered in the form of food. In these instances, it is safe to provide your horse the occasional treat while its bridle is on, but there are some things to keep in mind when doing so.

If you are going to give your horse a treat while still wearing a bridle, you are encouraged to provide them with a treat that will dissolve in their mouth, like a sugar cube. Treats like sugar cubes can be a good reward for your horse during training activities, particularly for short-term task training.

However, although dissolvable treats are safe, remember that food should not be used as the sole reinforcement tool; this will prevent your horse from becoming distracted by food while working later.

In Summary

Although your horse will technically still be able to graze and eat while wearing a bridle, you are generally discouraged from allowing this to happen.

Not only will it mess with your training and lead to behavioral issues, but it can also harm the horse or make it dangerous to ride. Additionally, letting your horse eat with a bit on can create a bigger mess for you to clean up later. 

The only instance in which a horse should be able to eat is for positive reinforcement during training. Still, even then, it should only be offered dissolvable treats every so often rather than regularly, so you don’t accidentally reinforce negative behavior.

You can train a horse to poop in one place. Horses are naturally clean animals and potty training them is fairly simple. They may require more than one spot, however, using two to three different areas as designated piles. The areas where they live, sleep, and eat being the most likely.

Horses of all shapes and sizes can be trained to have good manners when it comes to pooping, from mini-horses that spend time inside the home to giant draft horses that can produce up to a hundred pounds of raw waste in one day.

In this article, we will look at how you can get a horse to poop in the same spot as well as some other fecal facts about these animals.

Training A Horse To Poop In One Place

Left to their own devices, horses will poop and pee nearly anywhere they like, whether at a full trot or standing still, it doesn’t matter. Even though they can be a bit messy in this way, most horses will try to avoid going potty wherever they lay or too close to their food, though it’s not always the case.

It is entirely possible to train a horse to go in the same spot or spots, over and over. This will not only help to keep your horse’s area, and your horse, cleaner, but it can make mucking out your stalls or barn a much quicker task. There is more than one way to get a horse to poop where you want them to.

Here are some of those ways:

Use Stud Piles

Even in the wild horses like to poop in the same place. These piles of dung are referred to as stud piles. Why do wild horses poop in the same place? Well, the stud piles get their name because they are where the dominant stallion, or stud, chooses to poop. Wherever he decides to drop his dung is where the other horses in the herd choose to do so as well.

But how does this help to potty train a horse? It is pretty simple. Even if you don’t have a dominant stallion in your home herd, you can use this trick.

Simply locate a spot, say the rear corner of your horse’s stall, and pile up a bit of another horse’s poo there. That’s all there is to it. By creating a precedent inside the stall, in the form of an existing poop pile, your horse will most likely get the hint. In this way, some horse owners say it is much easier to potty train a horse than a dog.

Most likely though, you will have to choose a couple of spots for these dung piles, as a horse will likely drop dung in more than one location during the day. For this, just choose a couple more locations to start piles. Choose locations that aren’t in the middle of horse, or human, foot traffic, and places that are not too close to food and water areas.

Unfortunately, you can’t make it too far from where they eat because as gross as it may seem, horses don’t like to travel too far from where they dine to eliminate waste. For more on the concept of stud piles, check out this interesting article from listentoyourhorse.com.

Reward Good Bathroom Manners

Thankfully it shouldn’t be too difficult to train a horse to use a certain corner of their stall as a bathroom, though there are always those stubborn animals. If you have a horse that just seems to always make a mess of their living area, you may need some reinforcements.

Some high-value treats can go a long way to reinforcing good behavior. Reward your horses when you see them poop or pee in the correct area. It is important, especially for stubborn animals, that you reward these good behaviors immediately upon execution.

Rewards are much more incentivizing and humane than punishing a horse for pooping where you don’t want them to. Always choose to reward the good rather than discourage what you dislike – as it isn’t truly bad.

Use Shavings To Reduce Splashing

This can be a problem for any horse but seems to be especially prevalent in mares. Some mares will go out of their way to urinate in unfortunate locations to avoid getting their pee splashed on their legs. Can we really blame them for this?

Luckily for us, it is a simple problem to fix. If constant urination in the wrong location is a problem, try putting a nice pile of shaving where you would like your horses to relieve themselves. The shavings absorb the urine and reduce the splashback. It is really as simple as that.

While there is no consensus on the greatest ways to get a horse to cooperate with their bathroom behaviors, there are many different methods that have worked well for others. In this, her article on the topic, Stacy Westfall of stacywestfall.com collected the anecdotes of many a horse owner on their plights of potty training their horses.

Horses And Their Pooping Habits

Horses are impressive animals in many ways and their waste productions can certainly be considered impressive based solely on the amount.

Sure they are large animals, but people that are just researching whether or not they should own a horse can be shocked when they look at the poop data. Here are some interesting, and impressive facts about the elimination habits of horses.

How Many Times A Day Should A Horse Poop?

A 1,000-pound horse can poop anywhere from 4 to 13 times per day. Let us not forget that they also urinate around that same amount.

How Much Poop Does A Horse Produce Per Day?

Considering a 1,000-pound horse can poop upwards of 14 times a day, they can make up to 37 pounds of dung. When you take into account that that same horse will likely produce 2.4 gallons of urine in that same day, that makes around 50 pounds of excreted waste in one day!

Double that bodyweight with say a draft horse and you will be dealing with twice the waste.

If we do the math, it means that your average half-ton horse will produce over nine tons of feces and urine per year. So, if you were on the fence about training your horses to do their business in the same places, this might just change your mind.

Cleaning up 9 tons of feces is hard enough work without it being strewn about all willy nilly throughout a horse’s living area.

Potty Training Your Horse Is Relatively Simple

In conclusion, it is possible to train a horse to have very good manners when it comes to pooping in the same spot. It might not be in one singular spot, but you can definitely cut down on the many piles that a horse can produce.

Remember, that can be upwards of 100 pounds of raw waste per day if you are looking after draft horses. Using the stud pile method can work wonders in managing multiple horse’s feces and even instill good training inside an individual horses stall. For even more information on manure management, check out this article.