Horses are well-adapted to cold weather but need careful management of shelter, nutrition, water, and exercise to maintain welfare through severe winter conditions.
Winter welfare failures in horses often arise from owner assumptions that horses naturally cope with cold without management support. Key welfare risks include: water deprivation when troughs freeze (horses may refuse to drink water cold enough to cause oral pain from ice); nutritional deficiency when field-kept horses on poor winter pasture receive insufficient supplementary feed; lack of shelter in open fields during prolonged rain and wind; and inadequate monitoring of body condition under thick winter coats. Horses with clipped coats lose their primary insulation and must be adequately rugged. Regular handling and visual inspection under rugs is essential as condition changes can be masked. The BHS and World Horse Welfare provide evidence-based cold weather management guidance.