The winter months can gnaw away at the pleasure of having horses.

Cold, wet and dark days bring the frustration of lost shoes, skin problems, coughs and colds, and the struggle to keep them in good condition. While there isn’t a magic wand that makes winter better – although an indoor school, dry fields and all weather gallops would help – there are ways of lessening the toll that it takes on horses’ health.

Starting with feet, where it’s not just lost shoes that cause trouble. Horn quality can deteriorate quickly over the winter leading to weak hoof walls, thin and soft soles, and collapsed heels. It is easy to forget that horn is a living tissue and as such requires proper nutrition and care.

Feeding a dietary supplement rich in nutrients essential for horn growth can dramatically improve the structure and health of hooves. Biotin, the amino acid DL-methionine and zinc are all important factors for the production of proteins and connective tissues that make up horn. Other key nutrients include copper, cobalt and iodine. These nutrients are plentiful in the market leading hoof products, and are also present in other supplements such as seaweed.

Winter also bring the paradox that, while horses spend much of the day standing in water, their feet can become dry and crumbly. This is explained by the fact that wet conditions wash away the horn’s natural waterproofing so that the dry stable bed, which we lovingly prepare, acts like blotting paper and draws moisture from the hooves.

Horn reacts poorly to such dramatic shifts in moisture content, with the result that it loses its structural integrity, cracks and crumbles. Frequent application of hoof oils and hardeners will help maintain a waterproof barrier, meaning that the horn retains moisture and resists the drying effects of bedding as well as certain arena surfaces.

Oh how I dread the phone call: “Dad, she’s lost a shoe”. It always seems to happen just after the horse has been shod, or when you’re all set to go for a lesson or to a show. At best it requires a call to the farrier, hoping he’s in our area soon, and at worse the foot may have been damaged as the shoe came off causing lameness and making it difficult to replace.

Shoes are lost in two ways: either by a back foot catching the heels of the front, probably because the lifting of that foot is delayed slightly by the pull of mud, or by shoes literally being sucked off in deep mud. Turning your horse out in over-reach boots, covering up the heels with gaffer tape, or using turnout boots can help prevent shoe loss. Fitting shoes neat under the heels, with little steel protruding ‘out the back’, will also help but carries the risk of upsetting the balance of the foot.

Ensuring that the hooves are healthy, with good quality horn, can play an important part in preventing lost shoes, since there is a sound base into the farrier can drive nails. Going barefoot is also an option, especially for horses having a winter break, although it is important to continue trimming and balancing the feet even when shoes aren’t being fitted.

Next on the list is mud rash. This is a bacterial infection that occurs on the lower limbs and is associated with wet conditions. While the bacteria responsible inhabit mud, especially where horses congregate around gateways and feed troughs, infection only occurs when the skin’s normal barrier defences are broken down by the wet conditions.

Unfortunately some horses seem to have naturally poor skin defences and suffer recurrent episodes of mud rash, while others go a lifetime without being affected. The condition is easily treated by daily scrubbing with antiseptic washes and shampoos, making efforts to ensure that any scabs – under which the bacteria reside – are removed. The exposed skin should then be protected with udder or nappy cream, or by using specific boots or leg wraps, prior to turnout.

Clients occasionally ask whether it is better to hose the mud off legs as horses are brought in, even though this makes the legs wetter, or to leave the mud to dry and then brush it off. My personal preference is to hose to remove the bacterial load and, while I do not necessarily recommend it, I have seen one of my most fastidious of clients actually uses a pressure washer for this purpose.

Occasionally very severe cases of mud rash, as well as those that prove resistant to topical treatment, may require a course of antibiotics. The condition can also be easily confused with pastern dermatitis or cracked heels, which often does require treatment with antibiotics and steroid anti-inflammatories.

Winter stabling, with increased exposure to other horses and dust associated with feed and bedding, brings with it a spectrum of respiratory disease from bacterial and viral infections to allergic disease. The most difficult of these to manage is recurrent airway obstruction (RAO) or, what we used to call, COPD.

Recurrent airway obstruction is an asthma-like condition that is usually caused by moulds associated with dust in hay and straw. It may also be triggered by a viral infection. This is a disease of adult horses, with an average age at onset of nine years, and it is estimated that some 12% of horses in the UK suffer from RAO.

Signs of RAO vary from severe respiratory distress, with nostrils flared and difficulty breathing, to poor performance with little outward evidence of the disease. Breathing is laboured or more rapid in the majority of cases and there is often a distinct ‘heaves’ line between the ribs and the abdominal muscles.

Endoscopic examination of the airways may be necessary to definitively diagnose RAO, with samples of mucus revealing inflammation characteristic of an allergic condition. Initial treatment with steroid anti-inflammatories and a bronchodilator (Ventipulmin) may be required to ease any respiratory difficulty.

Longer term management of RAO involves reducing the allergen burden by using dust-free shavings, paper or cardboard for bedding, and feeding haylage or hay that has been soaked or steamed. It is also important to consider the stabling of the horses in the immediate vicinity, since there is no point in making these changes if the neighbouring horses continue to be bedded on straw and fed dry hay. Finding an end stable, with an open outlook away from the hay shed, can be helpful in this regard.

Despite the most stringent of management some horses with RAO do require on-going therapy. This is best provided in the form of metered dose steroid inhalers – the same as those used by human asthmatics – that are administered through paediatric spacer devices or specifically designed equine inhalers. Dietary supplementation with anti-oxidants has also been shown to reduce the inflammation associated with RAO and there are several products marketed for this purpose.

The last big winter concern is the horse that struggles to maintain body weight or condition. Essentially this is due to the horse either not getting enough food, failing to properly digest that food, or a combination of the two reasons. Occasionally a horse may simply be too cold – especially if he or she is clipped and not rugged sufficiently – and so uses food energy to stay warm rather than maintain body condition.

The nutritional quality of grass during the winter is poor and problems can arise if this is relied upon as the sole source of food, especially if grazing is limited. Some horses and ponies appear to cope well with the barest of wet pastures, but others will require additional hay or haylage and concentrate feeding. The latter should provide sources of both energy and protein, for example using a combination of high fibre cubes, sugar beet pulp, and a conditioning mix. Giving multiple feeds throughout the day may also help horses make more effective use of the nutrients provided.

Dental problems, worm infestations and previous parasite-related intestinal damage can all cause weight loss, since they prevent the horse extracting the full nutritional value from the food offered. A thorough inspection of the mouth is necessary to identify certain dental conditions and, just because a horse isn’t quidding or dropping its food, it shouldn’t be assumed that the teeth are healthy.

Dormant or encysted cyathostome worms can be a particular problem during the late winter months and are the reason that we recommend a five-day worming programme or the use of a moxidectin-containing wormer at this time of year. This is important since these encysted parasites are not identified by faecal worm egg counts.

While there is no magic cure for the problems that winter brings, being particular about your horse’s feet, feeding and stabling, as well as seeking the advice of your farrier, vet and feed supplier, can go a long way to helping ‘beat the blues’. And on that optimistic note, remember the shortest day is December 21 and that means spring is on its way!