In The Saddle with Anita Marsh: Banish winter, bring back summer!

It’s been a really tough time for equestrians in the last few weeks as temperatures fail to rise above zero; hitting lows of up to -5 where we live in the UK.

The problem with the icy weather isn’t just about the cold and having to don the neoprene wellies and thermal long johns, it’s about trying to make sure my horses get access to water which they will drink.

If horses don’t drink enough it can cause worrying problems for their health; most notably colic.

Colic for horses isn’t the same as it is for babies. They don’t just get a bad tummy ache. Colic can be a killer for horses and it’s this what worries us.

What is colic in horses? It’s usually caused by problems in the gastrointestinal tract.

Horses are super sensitive creatures and lack of water can cause impact in the tract.

This means they don’t poop. It can lead to emergency surgery if early diagnosis is found. It can lead to major problems.

According to the Liverpool University Equine Hospital there are symptoms horse owners can watch out for. Horses may display some or all of these but it’s best to be aware.

In mild cases:

Lip curling

Flank watching

Restlessness

Pawing the ground

In moderate cases:

Posturing to urinate frequently

Lying down and getting back up

Lying on their side for long periods

In severe cases:

Violent rolling

Sweating

Rapid breathing

Injuries to body and face from rolling and thrashing around.

Icy water isn’t very desirable and horses naturally drink less in colder weather which can cause gut issues and compaction as I mentioned earlier. If you suspect colic in your horse then don’t mess about. Call the vet.

At home we break the ice in the field troughs and pull out the ice particles as much as we can. As it’s been super cold we have also been boiling water up in the kettle at home and pouring it into the outdoor troughs.

We have found our outdoor tap has been frozen for five days now, so we’ve also been ferrying water from an outdoor building which has a tap inside it or from the house to get hot water from our kitchen taps.

It’s been so bad that despite ensuring water is tepid warm for our horses on an evening - it’s actually frozen by 6.30am inside their stables. I can’t ever recall this happening.

We’ve been making our horses teas up with warm water and ensuring their feeds are sloppy to encourage fluids into them.

My young Appaloosa seems to be drinking fine, but my older horses Mara (age 19) and April (age 17) are both veterans now and aren’t drinking as much.

We’ve shortened their time outdoors so they are warmer and have access to unfrozen water but it’s so frustrating to find their troughs iced over in the morning.

I asked my equestrian friends for their tips – some have put their water troughs into tyres and stuffed with straw or hay.

Some have put balls into their troughs but I’ve found this hasn’t worked outside, plus I couldn’t trust my Appaloosa with this as he’s fairly playful to say the least.

He has recently tried swallowing a pair of gloves out of my pocket, so I had fun (not!) taking them out of his mouth a few weeks ago. He thought it was a great game of tug of war. He definitely can’t be trusted with a ball in the water.

Looking ahead at the temperatures it’s set to rise and be out of the freezing weather before Christmas. Finally we will have a working tap, be able to exercise our equines and not have to break our backs getting water.

There are many of us counting down the days until the winter solstice on the 21 December where this marks the start of lighter nights returning. It’s literally better than Christmas for equestrians and those who hate winter.

Although I’m still looking forward to Christmas, just before that I’ve got a big birthday coming up which I’m not so happy about. I’ll not tell you how old I am as I refuse to speak about it.

Thank you for following me and my horses. I’d just like to wish you all a very merry Christmas and a cracking new year. Feel free to follow me on Facebook on ‘In The Saddle - Anita Marsh’. I’m always happy to hear from anyone who loves horses.

Best wishes and see you in 2023, love from Anita and her horses - April the thoroughbred cross Irish Sports Horse, Mara the Connemara pony and Sully the comedy Appaloosa.