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Keeping Your Horse’s Coat Healthy and Shining: 3 Tips

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Your horse’s coat is extremely important to overall health. Shedding and dryness could mean something is wrong, and not enough cover or nutrients could lead to all sorts of health concerns. Follow these few tips to give your horse a shiny and healthy coat:

Run in Horse Shelters

Run in horse shelters are great for providing shade and cover for your horse’s coat. Since too much sun exposure can be damaging to your horse’s coat, it’s important to offer protection during those hot, sunny days. A run in shelter will allow your horse to find cover when they’re too hot or feeling dried out.

Focus on a Healthy Diet 

Make sure you have quality horse hay feeders to keep your horse well-fed. The majority of your horse’s calories must come from hay. Similarly, it’s recommended that your horse eats 1-2% of their body weight in roughage daily. Do a little research and purchase some quality round bale feeders and square bale feeders. Our Hay Saver Horse Hay Feeders ensure that hay stays in the feeder so there is less waste.

Pay Attention to the Signs

Make sure you’re consistently grooming your horse and paying attention to their coat. If you notice strange discoloring, dryness, or brittle coats, that could be an indication that your horse is not feeling too great. Also, a lack of shedding could be cause for concern.

As long as you’re monitoring your horse’s coat as much as possible, sticking to proper nutrition, and giving them enough shelter, your horse should be healthy and able to show off a nice, shiny, and glossy coat!

horse in horse shelter in winter

Caring for Horses in Cold Weather

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Depending on where you’re located, the winter months can bring extended periods of cold weather. While we may feel the need to protect horses during the winter months and keep them inside, they can actually tolerate cold weather very well. In fact, horses tend to be more comfortable in colder temperatures than in very warm or hot weather. And, many horses even grow thicker coats during the winter months to help protect them.

We may be tempted to have them spend more time in the barn, but keeping horses in their stalls all day can actually increase the chances of a winter illness due to poor ventilation in the barn and not enough physical activity. Therefore it’s important to ensure that horses get a lot of time outdoors for fresh air and the opportunity to exercise. Be sure to provide a horse shelter for when your horse may need to be protected from the elements. And, beware of any icy area as horses can slip and fall on icy patches.

When horses are inside the barn during the winter months, there are some things that can be done to help prevent illness. During times of extreme cold they can be covered with a blanket for additional warmth. In addition, barns should be properly ventilated in order to provide good airflow and stalls should be cleaned regularly. Proper nutrition including horse feed and hay is also important to keep horses healthy. Hay feeders can be kept outside so that horses can graze as they spend time outdoors.

portable shade for horses

The Importance of Shade and Shelter for Your Horse

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Giving your horse the opportunity to get shade and shelter from the elements helps to keep them healthy and happy. Wind, sun, and issues with weather can leave horses vulnerable to getting sick or hurt. That’s why the use of a shelter for your horse is so important.

Equine Wellness Magazine has outlined a number of items that should be considered when deciding on purchasing a horse shelter including where to place it on your property. When determining where to place a horse shelter, they discuss the importance of looking at weather patterns as well as the landscape for best protection. In addition, they write that having a sturdy and portable structure is ideal for best protection. You can read the full article here.

Klene Pipe offers many different shelter options for horses, cattle and livestock. Our run-in shelters are some of the toughest frames you will find. In addition, our portable shade and our portable shade kits offer protection from the sun in the hot summer months.

Be sure you are taking the proper precautions to keep your horses safe during the upcoming summer months by giving them the opportunity to get out of the elements. Shelters for horses are a must-have for protecting their well-being.

Wrangler Run In Horse Shelters

What You Should Know About Run-In Shelters

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Given the constantly changing weather, it is important for horse owners to find a means of shelter that will protect their horses from rain, wind and snow, and provide them with a place to find ample shade.

Run-in shelters are an effective and convenient solution to provide the shelter you’re looking for, giving your horse a place to stay year-round, no matter the weather conditions.

Run-in shelters are visually appealing barns and sheds, which are built to be weatherproof and long-lasting. However, positioning of these sheds can oftentimes be a task on its own. You have to keep in mind winter winds, summer sun, drainage, general environment, and of course, convenience.

You’ll want to make sure your shed is facing away from prevailing winds to prevent ice, sleet and snow from blowing inside. This also is standard positioning for warm, summer months. Facing the shed away from the sun will not only shade your horses, but also help with flies and other bugs.

When it comes to rain and melting snow, especially if your shed is on the side of a natural slope, be sure to find a way to direct water away from the shed to avoid flooding and other messes.

Factors to Consider When Calculating Hay Amounts

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Image of horses in shelter.

Winter is here and it’s important to that you have enough hay in your barn until the pastures are growing again in Spring. This may seem like a tedious task, but taking these factors into consideration can make your decision easier.

Take these factors into consideration:

Number of animals is often something that is overlooked because it’s so basic. With more animals, more hay is needed. Be sure to factor in animals you’ll be selling, purchasing or new animals that will be born during the colder months to plan accordingly.

Weight of animals is another basic factor, but important. If your animals are larger they will need more hay to sustain themselves through the colder months.

Length of season is one of the most important factors to consider when calculating the amount of hay you’ll need. This can vary depending on where you are located and the climate of the area. In the southern half of the United States, animals can forage much later in the fall and earlier in the spring. Animals in the northern part of the country are much more dependent on hay to sustain themselves through the cold, winter months. In Indiana, a majority of hay is needed from October through March. It’s best to limit foraging due to pasture damage which can keep animals from reaching peak production.

Temperatures will also impact the amount of hay consumed by animals. In extreme temperatures, high caloric intake is necessary for survival. If the climate of your area reaches below zero for longer periods of time, your animals hay intake may be on the higher side.

Keeping all these factors in mind will ensure that your season is successful and your animals well taken care of.