Gallyp Equine Nutrition

01/22/2026

Are you prepared for the arctic blast this weekend? 🥶 Here's a quick guide to cold weather preparation. Remember, extreme temperatures are NOT the time to start your horse on any type of "warm mash" if they are not already acclimated to this as part of their regular diet. Constant access to forage is the best way to help your horse keep themselves warm! 🌾🐴 Reach out to me with any questions!

Arctic air is at our doorstep, and that means it’s time to take a few extra steps to keep our horses comfortable and healthy. Here are some practical tips to help your horse weather the cold snap.

🌾 Keep your horse warm with forage - check out our previous post!

💦 Help your horse stay hydrated.

A 1,000-pound horse needs 10 to 12 gallons of water daily. Cold weather may reduce their water intake and increase the risk of colic. Make sure horses have free access to clean water - check that it hasn't froze. Break and remove ice from water sources, especially if it restricts access to water. Remember, snow and ice are not appropriate water sources.

🏡 Make sure horses have free access to shelter like an open-sided shed.

In the absence of wind and moisture, most horses tolerate temperatures at or slightly below 0°F; this assumes horses are healthy adults, are acclimated to cold climates, have a winter coat, and have adequate hay and water. If horses have access to a shelter, they can tolerate temperatures as low as -40°F. Shelter space should accommodate all horses that are housed together with special consideration to herd dynamics.

🐎 Make sure your horse has opportunities to walk and stretch.

Walking supports gut motility and helps prevent stocking up and stiffness. Avoid riding or exercising your horse during very cold weather, which can be hard on their airways.

🐴 Provide a waterproof, insulated blanket if needed.

Many healthy adult horses with a winter coat do well without a blanket if they're acclimated to cold climates. In extreme temperatures, it's important to check every horse and adapt your management practices as needed. If you decide to blanket, make sure it is waterproof and has enough insulation to retain your horse's body heat. Sheets or under-insulated blankets may not retain sufficient heat for your horse and are less effective than a good natural winter hair coat.

Blanketing a horse is necessary when
-there is no shelter available during turnout and the temperatures and/or wind chill drop below 5°F
-there is a chance the horse will become wet
-the horse is very young or very old
-the horse's hair coat is clipped or thin
-the horse has a body condition score of 3 or less and/or
-the horse is not acclimated to cold climates

❄ Looking for more cold weather tips? Check out extension.umn.edu/horse-care-and-management/caring-your-horse-winter

06/13/2025

For most of us, it's getting hot out there! Read this article to learn how heat stress affects your horse on the inside.

An equine nutritionist describes the connections between heat shock and leaky gut in horses and what you can do to prevent these problems.

12/19/2024

What a deal!

Having difficulty with this post so here's the screenshot.

12/08/2024

Who doesn't like free feed?

Christmas is coming early and we want to give you a whole pallet of our new Unbeetable Complete! 🐴

Here’s how to enter:
1️⃣ Like and share this post with your friends
2️⃣ Receive an additional entry when you stop by our booths at either the Convention Center or Southpoint during the NFR and mention this post.

Winner announced December 16, 2024

12/06/2024

Every year, the question of blanketing comes up. I discussed with a client last night how her underweight Thoroughbred would potentially gain weight faster if he had appropriate blankets so he didn't have to burn as many calories staying warm. To my delight, she agreed and bought him some. People who do what their horse needs are my favorite clients!

Jim explains it well in this post. Not all horses need blankets, but there are lots of situations where blanketing can absolutely benefit the horse.

As always, contact me with questions!

So I know that I'm a "feed guy" but I am also a horse keeper and every winter I see a whole bunch of blanket wars some up in various groups so I thought I would add my opinion and observations to the mix.

This photo was taken yesterday as my three Quarter Horse mares stuffed themselves with free choice hay which, as you can see, they are not shy about wasting.

They are standing outside in a steady 30 mile per hour wind with snow blowing horizontally. This is their choice because 100 feet away they have access to their stalls which are bedded with a foot of straw, heated buckets and a pile of exactly the same hay.

These mares would much prefer to be outside than in. However, if they were not wearing blankets they would most likely be huddles in their stalls against the wind.

I point this out because while it is mostly true that horses will survive the cold weather as long as they have shelter and forage it is equally true that blanketing them can be very beneficial.

Every year I see newbies posting advice on blanketing and so many of the comments are from the "I've been around horses my whole life" crowd advising that "horses don't need no damn blankets!".

There are also many comments spewing myths that blanketing is dangerous and will "make a horse sick".

These ideas are, in my own humble opinion, nonsense.

To be sure over blanketing can be a real problem as it can cause some issues with heat stress. The only problem I ever had with blankets was a boarder of mine who had a OTTB and insisted that if she were cold the horse was too. I was constantly removing heavy second blankets because the animal was dripping in sweat while the temperature was 34 F.

Tossing a horse out in 25 F weather with only a thin sheet can be equally problematic.

In general if you use a sensible strategy of midweight fill blankets you really can't go too far wrong.

But why blanket at all? Wild horses don't wear blankets!

Unfortunately the people with this attitude never have the opportunity to see the frozen carcasses of the wild horses that NEEDED BLANKETS.

The ginormous fat ass on the left side of the two in front is my 22 year old AQH mare, Flair. When Flair was young she would be standing outside grazing while covered with ice from freezing rain and not wearing a blanket. She much prefers being a little on the chillier side.

I noticed that when she turned around 15 she would start hanging out in the shelter for much longer periods.

The fat ass on the right is my 32 year old AQH mare, Skippy the Wonder Horse. She is an older lady who prefers being comfortable.

Would these lovely matrons survive the winter without blankets? Almost surely!

So why do I blanket them?

The first reason is obviously to help them be more comfortable.

The next reason is that they will stay out of their stalls moving around which is great for both their physical and mental well being. As an added benefit for mois, less mucking to do.

The third reason is that they will consume less hay which is a great budget consideration. Why spend money on hay if I can prevent them from burning calories just to stay warm?

The final reason is that blanketed horses will drink more water which avoids things like winter impaction colic.

One horse that is not in this picture is my beautiful Raven. Ray was an OTTB mare, granddaughter of Secretariat that unfortunately, at the ripe old age (for an OTTB) of 28, succumbed to an old tendon injury this past August.

Blanketing for Raven was not optional. She was a typical thin skinned Thoroughbred.

She was 14 years old the first winter she came to me and she grew a luxurious, thick coat as beautiful as any sable cape ever worn. We had one night where the temperature was 40 F with a light drizzle of passing showers. When I went out for morning feed she wouldn't come up to the barn.

Fearing the worst I grabbed her halter and walked out to lead her in. She was shivering so violently that she could barely walk. From that moment on Raven was blanketed any time the temperature dropped below 50 F and she was always a plus one so if the Quarter Horses needed a blanket Raven had two.

In my travels as a "feed guy" I encountered so many owners who refused to blanket their horses while complaining that they were hard keepers. I was forced to stand there with their miserable, shivering horses in cross ties and restrain myself from beating them with a dressage whip.

This message is for the owners who have been shamed or misinformed out of blanketing your horses. Just do it if you believe that your horse will be better off.

If you go to the barn and your horse is huddled in the run in shed or shivering slightly or is a dripping muddy mess blanketing them will be a benefit.

I feel the same way about shoes. If a horse will benefit from them then put them on.

This is only my opinion, other opinions are welcome but I've cared for lots and lots of different horses over the years and I've never had one that didn't benefit from a blanket.

Cheers!

12/05/2024

Reposting as a reminder 🙂

We've all heard about horses colicking more this time of year. Here's an article explaining the reasons why that happens and what you can do to minimize your horse's risk.

TL;DR:
- Make diet (including forage) changes slowly! And don't offer extra meals (like "warm mashes") if your horse doesn't regularly consume that feed.
- Encourage water intake! Make sure your horse is receiving salt as part of his daily ration and offer water that isn't too cold, especially as the temps drop.
- Keep your horse moving! Cooping them up for bad weather might seem enticing for you, but it does not encourage gut motility (or water consumption). Even if you just hand walk on the coldest or wettest days, get your horse moving.
As always, contact me for nutrition advice, diet balancing, or questions about all of the above.

https://thehorse.com/19107/fall-colic-prevention-for-horses/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR2Tdez3i9390K0ta6im5PQmFCgLu-HtCVmxnPwT9mb-CvVjlaiIpsb69co_aem_YmeX7j2nXaXS9IjgKb6j6w

Nutritionist Dr. Clair Thunes shares advice on how to reduce your horse's risk of colicking this fall.

11/06/2024

For anyone dealing with ulcers right now, this is THE man to talk to! Also, let me know if you sign up for a consult and you want me to sit in so I can work with you going forward. 😉

Thank you for your interest in an EGUS consultation.I charge $USD250 for the 50-minute consultation. 💯 goes towards my private research fund to support future studies. It can be paid via PayPal to [email protected]. In preparation, please send through any relevant details, including any gastrosco...

10/16/2024

❄🐴🌾 Is it safe to graze horses after a hard freeze? What do I need to consider before turning them back out on pasture? Also, what defines a hard freeze?

🌡 A hard freeze refers to a frost that is severe enough to end the growing season. The National Weather Service defines a hard freeze when temperatures fall below 28ºF for a few hours. Cool-season grasses commonly found in Midwest horse pastures go into dormancy for winter and conserve their energy stores (starches and sugars) following a hard freeze.

❄️ We recommend keeping horses off pastures for at least 7 days after a hard freeze. Frost-damaged pastures are higher in nonstructural carbohydrates (starches and sugars) because plants can not use up their energy stores as efficiently. It can take plants 7 days to return to more normal nonstructural carbohydrate levels. Higher levels of nonstructural carbohydrates can lead to an increase risk for laminitis, especially in horses diagnosed with or prone to obesity, laminitis, Cushings, and Equine Metabolic Syndrome.

The decision to graze again after a hard freeze depends on the condition of your pasture. After a hard freeze, no additional regrowth of the pasture will occur, even though the pasture might appear green in color. If your cool-season grass pasture is

✅ taller than 3 to 4 inches, then grazing can resume 7 days after a hard freeze and can continue until the pasture is grazed down to 3 to 4 inches.
❌ shorter than 3 to 4 inches, then no grazing should occur after a hard freeze. Grazing below 3 inches can harm the plant and may be a health concern for horses sensitive to nonstructural carbohydrates.

🌾 Plants rely on stored nonstructural carbohydrates in the lower 3 inches for energy. Therefore, the 3- to 4-inch minimum height recommendation is necessary to help maximize winter survival and can help predict a vigorous and healthy pasture come spring. We do recognize horses rarely graze uniformly and pastures tend to have areas of both over and under grazing. You will need to base decisions on the average appearance of your pasture

09/11/2024

09/06/2024

As the nights get cooler, pay attention to your fields, even if you think there's nothing for your horses to eat. The safest time of day for sugar-sensitive horses to have pasture grass is early morning. The longer the sun is out, the more the grass photosynthesizes, and by evening it has a night's worth of sugar stored up. Cool weather stresses the grass and makes it hold onto all the sugar it can, especially if it's already short.

09/05/2024

Follow up article to my previous post about monensin poisoning in horses

An equine nutritionist explains how you can protect your horse from monensin contamination in horse feed which can be deadly.