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Re: [RC] Feeding in Extremely Cold Weather - Sisu West RanchEmbarass, MN is up on the Canadian Border. It is very often the cold spot of the nation. It never got that cold in WI where I lived. The coldest was below -35 and the coldest on modern records. The unusuall thing was that there was a stiff NW wind blowing that day. On my way back from the 3 side shelter my eyes froze open!Anyway, we had horses in that kind of condition for 35 years. We did not have a barn to put them in, just a 3 sided shelter and later just a couple of places where they could get out of the wind. We never had trouble keeping weight on them, just fed a lot of the cheapest hay we could find. Horses will eat a remarkable amount of hay when it is cold. As qualified people have posted on RC, horses actually get more heat from hay than the analysis of available nutrition would indicate. Fermentation in the gut feeds the microbes. The microbes metabolism gives off heat that keeps the horse warm. The only time our horses seem to get cold is in 35-45 above and raining. That is what we have here in the Bitterroot today. Even with this they are not in the shelter, but walking around the hay field. Since the snow is gone, they will be cut back to one hay feeding a day. Ed Ed & Wendy Hauser 2994 Mittower Road Victor, MT 59875 (406) 642-9640 ranch@xxxxxxxxxxx =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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