Navigate seasonal shifts with expert checklists, management tips, and related tools.
Spring Horse Care Guide
Spring brings warmer weather and lush green grass, but also rapid changes in nutrition and health risks. It is the peak season for parasite management, vaccinations, and limiting starch/sugar overload to prevent laminitis.
Spring Checklist
Schedule annual spring veterinary wellness exams and core vaccinations.
Perform a fecal egg count (FEC) before deworming to target specific parasites.
Begin pasture turnout gradually, starting with only 15–20 minutes per day.
Thoroughly groom and inspect skin for rain rot, mud fever, or sweet itch as coats shed.
Expert Management Tips
Manage Pasture Access
Spring grass is loaded with non-structural carbohydrates (NSC), which can trigger laminitis or founder. Use grazing muzzles or restrict turnout to dry lots during early spring growth.
Core Vaccination Time
Administer spring core vaccines—Tetanus, Eastern/Western Equine Encephalomyelitis, West Nile Virus, and Rabies—before mosquito populations multiply.
Summer care focuses on managing high temperatures, maintaining hydration, and mitigating biting flies, mosquitoes, and sweet-itch-inducing midges.
Summer Checklist
Ensure 24/7 access to fresh, cool water and plain white salt blocks.
Apply high-potency fly spray or put on lightweight fly sheets/masks.
Exercise horses during cooler hours (early morning or late evening).
Provide well-ventilated run-in shelters or indoor stalls with high-velocity fans.
Expert Management Tips
Monitor Hydration
An average horse needs 10 to 15 gallons of water daily, which can double in hot weather. Pinch the skin on the neck; if it takes longer than 2 seconds to snap back, your horse is dehydrated.
Beat the Bugs
Flies, midges, and mosquitoes spread disease and cause allergies. Keep dung cleared, spray pastures, and use breathable fly armor to keep horses comfortable.
Autumn is a transitional period to prepare your horse for cold weather, evaluate body weight, check teeth, and transition pasture grass safely.
Autumn Checklist
Evaluate your horse's Body Condition Score (BCS) to ensure they have adequate fat reserves.
Schedule a semi-annual farrier visit and check for strong hoof walls.
Clean, inspect, and repair winter blankets before temperatures drop.
Perform a fall fecal egg count and deworm for tapeworms after the first hard frost.
Expert Management Tips
Beware of Fall Pasture Spikes
Cool fall nights followed by sunny days cause grass to store high amounts of sugars (fructans), mimicking spring laminitis risks. Continue using muzzles on prone horses.
Assess Weight and Teeth
Older horses struggle to chew coarse winter hay. Get teeth floated now to prevent weight loss and impaction colics from unchewed winter forage.
Winter care is centered on preventing dehydration colics, maintaining core body heat through quality forage digestion, and managing frozen or muddy footing.
Winter Checklist
Check water heaters or stock tank de-icers daily to ensure water is not frozen.
Increase hay rations—the fermentation of fiber in the hindgut is a horse's primary furnace.
Check under blankets weekly to monitor body condition and skin health.
Provide mud management near gates and run-in sheds to prevent scratches (mud fever).
Expert Management Tips
Heated Water is Crucial
Horses drink up to 40% less water when it is freezing, leading to a massive spike in impaction colic. Ensure drinking water is maintained between 45°F and 65°F.
Forage is the Best Heater
Feeding extra grain does not keep a horse warm; feeding extra high-fiber hay does. Digesting fiber produces significant metabolic heat inside the cecum.