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It happens to all of us sooner or later. Even those of us who love to see those first white snowflakes touching the ground eventually have to face the winter woes. For the lucky ones, it's just maybe frozen fingers, or even just the dreary feeling you get after the third week of overcast skies and low temperatures. But others have to deal with some of the more serious problems winter can bring to us and our equine friends. So before winter gets you down, sit down next to a warm fire (or heater if you don't have a fire!) and pour up a nice cup of hot chocolate and take a look at some of the more common winter worries I've listed here. Don't worry, I've also included the bright points - what to do about the problems!!

People Problems:

Frostbite

You've no doubt heard about this one, and possibly had the misfortune of experiencing it. It's actually pretty common with riders who tend to forget their feet are dangling in the stirrups - at least until they dismount and can't stand for several minutes!

What is it? Frostbite is the actually freezing of your skin and underlying tissues due to prolongued exposure to the cold. The skin is often very pale to blue colored, stiff and rubbery to the touch, and feels very cold and numb.

If you or a riding buddy are affected by frostbite, the first thing you need to do is get warm and out of the wind. Then you need to thaw the frozen skin. Do NOT Rub the skin - this will cause more damage than the frostbite. You can warm the skin with your warm breath, or tucking your hands if they are affected into your shirt near your warmer body. You can also warm affected areas with lukewarm, not hot, water. Again, too warm of water will cause more damage. You can also wrap them lightly in a warmed blanket or towel - get one right out of the dryer. If the area blisters, or is seriously painful and frozen, go to the emergency room!

How do you prevent it? Wear several layers of clothing, with windproof and waterproof outerwear. Wear a hat to help keep your core temperature up - your head loses more heat than any other place on your body. Stay out of the wind and extreme cold whenever possible. And always have a spare set of warm, dry clothing close by if you ride away from home.

Hypothermia

What is it? Hypothermia is when your body temperature drops below normal. It happens when your body loses heat faster than it can produce it. Mild to moderate hypothermia causes shivering, cold and pale skin, impaired judgement and listlessness. These progress to a noticably cold body (even your abdomen and chest will be frigid), slowed pulse and respiration, weakness, drowsiness, and noticable confusion. Even the shivering will stop once the body temperature drops to about 96 degrees Farhenheight.

Consider hypothermia an emergency! Get the person affected into a warm area as quickly as possible. Remember, this person's body has lost it's ability to properly maintain enough heat to warm itself so it will need to be warmed, but slowly - ideally you want to warm them about 1 degree per hour. Give them warm liquids, and/or high - energy foods like candy, fruits (especially dried ones like raisins), etc. if they are conscious and not disoriented. Do not give alcoholic drinks! Depsite the "heat" one feels as it goes down, and the visions of shaggy mountain dogs and their casks of brandy, alcohol can actually worsen the situation. And unless the hypothermia was extremely mild, you need to get the person to a hospital as soon as possible!

To prevent hypothermia, dress warmly, wear a hat, snack on high-energy foods, drink plenty of warm fluids and come in often to get warm. If you get wet, change immediately. Try to stay in when the temperature takes a big tumble, and try to stay out of the wind and rain as much as possible.

Horse Health:

Colic

What is it? Literally speaking, it's a stomach ache and is not limited to the winter, but does seem to happen more often during the colder months for various reasons. It's not so much the stomache ache that's bad, as what is causing the ache, and how the horse reacts! Some of the symptoms a horse may show are reluctance to eat, lying down and then getting back up frequently, some will roll or even thrash violently, pawing, looking back at their sides or flanks, kicking at their bellies, grinding their teeth and generally acting anywhere from uncomfortable to in pain. Be aware though that some horses may not show any of these signs, and some may show all of them - they will all react differently. Several things can cause colic, I'll try to cover some of the main ones that occur most frequently here in this article.

Dehydration

This is probably the number one cause. As temperatures drop, horses don't care to drink such cold water, and can not drink it once it's frozen! Horses can not get adequate water intake with snow, which is mostly air. On top of that, drinking the cold water or eating the snow drops the horses core body temperature, and their body has to work harder and produce more heat to counter act that affect. Once the horse starts becoming dehydrated, it affects the intestines. Feed and hay that is being broken down has a harder time passing through, and can become impacted. This can make the horse cramo a little, feel bad and then not want to eat or drink - worsening the situation. At the very least, make sure the water in your water troughs and buckets is accessible and not frozen over. Giving the horse warm water twice a day, or using heated buckets or troughs is even better.

Overfeeding

In the winter, people tend to feed more than the summer to keep the horses warm. Unfortunately, this can backfire. Food eaten too quickly can cause obstructions anywhere between the throat and the colon. Too much feed too suddenly can cause colic as well as laminitis, or even both. A sudden drastic change in either the amount of feed or the type of feed can cause changes to the natural bacterial content of the intestines, causing gas and gas colics. If you need to feed more in the winter, look to your hay first. Either increase the hay, or if they are already getting all they can eat, increase the quality of the hay. If you must feed more or change feed types, do so gradually and if you are feeding a good bit, then break your feedings when possible to 3-4 times a day.

Bad Hay

Horses aren't as "bad stuff" tolerant as cattle and goats are. When you buy and feed hay to horses, make sure it a good quality hay, with very few weeds and thin stalks. Thick, tough stalks will not do a horse much good in the area of nutrition as they do not have a cows rumen to make use of all the fiber in the mature hay. You also want to make sure the hay is not moldy or trashy. Botulism can kill a horse faster than you can turn around right quick.

Change in Barometric pressure/Cold fronts

There are not any studies supporting this, and a lot of folks will tell you it's a myth, but I can tell you from living with a vet, that there are more colics when you have a sudden pressure change with a cold front coming through. Unfortunately, there's not much we can do to change the weather. However, keeping a healthy maintainence program in place, and trying to eliminate as many other causes of colic will help.

So you've done everything right, and you go out to see your horse in pain, pawing, rolling...what do you do now? First and foremost, call your vet. Even a mild colic can cause enough pain to cause the horse to hurt himself worse. Do not give your horse any medication until the vet has told you to. If the horse is just lying down, or pacing, let him. If he's trying to thrash and roll, you'll need to try to keep him up. Do not continually walk the horse unless it is the only thing that will keep them from rolling as this only exhausts the horse further, and can mean the difference between the horse making it or not if the colic is severe.

Prevention is the best when it comes to colic, but even then you can't prevent it 100 percent of the time. Keep tabs on your horses drinking habits, make a mental note on the general number of manure piles your horse leaves for you on a daily basis, don't try any sudden drastic feed changes either in type of feed, amount of feed or your feed schedule, keep a salt and/or trace mineral block available at all times for your horse, keep your horse dewormed with a good dewormer at least every 8 weeks, and keep your emergency vet's number posted clearly by the phone.

Rain Rot

Often blamed on a fungus, rain rot, or rain scald, is actually bacterial in nature. It happens when you have wet, often muddy, conditions and the bateria sets up housekeeping between the horse's skin and the dirt which protects it. It looks like tiny bumps to large areas of scabbing, usually along the horses top line or the front of the legs, but it can easily spread if not stopped. It can be spread from horse to horse on the curry combs and brushes used.

For mild cases, persistant grooming, especially currying will take care of it by removing the dirt and increasing the circulation to the skin. For tougher cases, a few betadine scrub baths might be called for. For really bad cases, or stubborn ones, an antibiotic prescribed by your veterinarian may be called for. They'll also want to be sure you are dealing with rain rot, and not something else!

Prevention is simply good grooming habits. Even a quick curry during mealtime can make a world of difference!

Pneumonia

What is it? Fluid in the lungs, usually resulting from a bacterial or viral respiratory infection. You'll see this most often in foals and geriatric horses who can't efficiently fight off infection themselves. Symptoms usually start with your cold-like runny nose, cough, fever, and off-feed and when the vet listens with their stethoscope they'll hear the characterisitic "crackling" and "wheezing" in the lungs as they attempt to get oxygen through the fluid around the air sacs.

A horse with pneumonia needs veterinary attention immediately, antibiotics are usually prescribed, as well as anti-inflammatories. Pneumonia can be quite deadly, so don't delay.

Prevention includes a bit of extra TLC for the old ones and babies. A run-in stall is a good idea where they can get out of both the wind and the rain. For the older ones who may not be able to keep a good warm body temperature as well as they younger peers, a weather proof blanket could also be a good idea. But if you use a blanket, don't remove it unless the outdoor temperature has risen to a nice toasty temperature. The blanket will compress the horses coat, and he will be even less insulated when the blanket is removed than he was before you put it on. Make sure you horse is up to date on his rhino and influenze vaccines. Call a vet out for things that would otherwise seem minor - a runny nose, not eating well, or just seeming off a bit.

Well now, that should give you some things to think about to keep your mind off those overcast skies and chilling temperature! And don't worry, it really won't be all that long before the trees are blooming and the snow melts! Actually, I might be mistaken but I believe those are crocuses coming up in my flower beds now....