How to Feed your Horse in extremely cold weather

The last few nights in Cody, Wyoming have been 20+ below zero with the day temperatures only up to 0 degrees. The Nutrition Research facility has been in Cody for the past 25 years so we are used to feeding to keep the horses warm and free of frost bite. Obviously all horses should have blankets on when the weather is this cold. Some of the horses, especially the older horses, of course are in a barn but the younger horses are outside.

I have known for many years that it is the hay that keeps horses warm in cold weather and not grain. Therefore the grain diet of each horse does not change in the cold weather. In general all the horses get 2 lbs of oats with their supplements daily year around.

Every extra 5 pounds of hay that you feed will increase the core body temperature 1.5 degrees. Therefore this is our general recommendation for feeding hay in cold weather. Above 32 degrees feed the normal amount of 2% of your horse’s body weight. For example if your horse weighs 1000 pounds then feed 20 lbs per day broken into two feedings of 10 lbs per feeding. If the temperature is 0 degrees to 32 degrees then feed 10% more or 22 lbs of hay per day. If the temperature is 0 degrees to minus 10 below then feed another increase of 10% or 24 lbs of hay per day. If the temperature is below minus 10 they probably need as much has as they can eat to stay warm, this means some horses need 30 lbs of hay per day. When the weather is lower than minus 10 below I like to feed 4 times per day to help keep the horses warm. For example I will feed the 30 lbs of hay into four feedings of 7 to 8 lbs per feeding, Feeding at 6 AM, 12 noon, 6 PM and Midnight.

Basically when it is below minus 20 degrees I try to have hay in front of the horses at all times. The questions now arrives is what kind of Hay? My preference in cold weather is grass hay in that it produces the greatest increase in body heat when it is being digested in the intestine of the horse.