Editor’s Note: This is an excerpt from Care and Management by Heather Smith Thomas. 

Winter care may be easy if your climate is mild or more involved if you must deal with sub-zero temperatures or wet freezing rain. Complexity of your winter horse chores also will depend on whether your horse is indoors or outside. Even if your horse is on vacation, some aspects of caring for him become more important during cold weather.

During winter the horse needs additional forage to create more body heat, clean unfrozen water, and some kind of shelter or windbreak. In some climates he may need blanketing if his winter hair coat is inadequate. Cold weather is not a problem if he’s had a chance to grow a good winter coat; it’s the wind and wet weather that can chill him.

Horses handle cold weather much better than humans do. Their natural comfort zone (energy-neutral, in which they don’t need to expend extra energy to maintain normal body temperature) is from about fifteen to sixty degrees Fahrenheit if weather is not wet or windy. The horse’s body is better adapted for creating and conserving heat than dissipating it