Managing horses through winter requires balancing cold weather challenges against behavioral needs for turnout, with poorly managed winter housing creating significant welfare compromise.
Winter horse welfare involves navigating a tension between the welfare costs of cold, wet outdoor conditions and the welfare costs of confinement in stables. Many horses are rugged and stabled for extended winter periods in management systems designed primarily for human convenience rather than horse welfare. Horses kept stabled for most of winter lose the social interaction, movement, and environmental stimulation of turnout - welfare costs that are real but often invisible to owners focused on keeping horses clean and warm. Horses are generally better adapted to cold than owners appreciate, and the provision of adequate forage for thermoregulation allows most healthy horses to maintain welfare in winter conditions that seem challenging to humans.