Maintaining appropriate body condition through winter is a critical welfare responsibility for horse owners, with inadequate forage and caloric provision causing progressive weight loss and cold stress.
Inadequate winter feeding represents one of the most common preventable welfare failures for horses in temperate climates. Horses losing body condition through winter experience chronic caloric deficit that causes progressive weakness, cold stress, and ultimately severe welfare compromise. Senior horses with dental disease have additional nutritional requirements that standard hay alone may not meet. The insidious nature of progressive weight loss means owners sometimes do not recognize severity until body condition is critically poor. Regular body condition scoring through winter is a welfare monitoring responsibility.