Autumn Horse Care UK: Getting Through the Changeover
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There is a point every autumn, usually somewhere in October, when the grass stops doing the job it has been doing all summer. It still looks like grass. It is still green. But the feed value has gone out of it, and horses that have held their weight on grass alone since May start to need something else.
Almost everything about the autumn changeover follows from that one fact.
The grass goes before it looks like it has
Autumn grass grows more slowly, and what growth there is carries far less nutritional value than spring or early summer grass. Add shorter days and colder nights and the same field that kept a horse well in July will not keep them well in November.
The mistake is waiting until you can see weight coming off. By then you are playing catch-up going into the hardest part of the year, which is a harder job than starting a few weeks early.
Assess condition now, while you still have options. Get your hands on them rather than looking at them, particularly if they are hairy or rugged. Run a hand along the ribs and over the quarters. What you find in late September tells you what you need to be doing by November.
Forage first, and more of it
As grazing drops away, conserved forage takes over as the bulk of the diet. This is the single biggest change in the calendar, and it is the one worth planning rather than reacting to.
Hay and haylage do two jobs at once in winter. They are feed, and the act of digesting fibre generates warmth. A horse with forage in front of it overnight is better set up for a cold night than one given a bigger hard feed and an empty net at midnight.
We keep HorseHage in the usual varieties, and it is consistently one of our best-selling lines from September onwards — people buy it in quantity once the field starts going. Worth ordering before everyone else does, because that is exactly when it gets tight.
For horses that struggle with long-stem forage, or where hay quality is variable, the chopped fibres and grass pellets do a similar job. Emerald Green Feeds grass pellets, Northern Crop Driers Graze-On and the TopChop range are all in.
The hard feed question
Once forage is sorted, hard feed fills whatever gap is left — and for a lot of leisure horses in light work, that gap is smaller than people assume. A horse doing an hour of hacking three times a week does not need what a horse in real work needs.
Balancers and mashes are the usual route for horses that hold weight well but need the vitamins and minerals that forage alone will not cover. Keyflow Pink Mash, the Dodson & Horrell range and Baileys are all in stock.
Whatever you change to, change it slowly. Two weeks is a sensible transition for a significant change of feed. Horses' digestive systems do not take kindly to being surprised.
Bedding, and why you will use more than you think
The bit that catches people out financially. Once horses come in earlier, stay in longer, and arrive wet rather than dry, bedding use rises sharply — and it does not creep up, it steps up over about a fortnight.
If you bedded down on a certain amount through the summer, budget for considerably more from November. It is worth working out what a full winter actually costs you before you are in the middle of it.
We stock straw pellets, miscanthus and shavings — Nedz Bed, Sundown, Bedmax Strawmax, Bedwell Equinola, Ethos and Caviera are all in at the moment.
Legs, mud and the jobs worth doing now
Wet ground and standing in mud is the reality of a British winter, and the practical answer is unglamorous: get them clean, and more importantly get them dry.
Some people wash legs off daily, some prefer to let mud dry and brush it out. Both work. What does not work is leaving legs wet for hours. If you are washing off, dry properly afterwards.
If you see anything on the skin that concerns you — scabbing, swelling, heat, soreness — that is a call to your vet, not a product decision.
While you are thinking about it, a few autumn jobs that cost nothing and save trouble later:
- Check rugs now, not on the first cold night. Straps, fastenings, waterproofing, tears. Repairs take time and everyone remembers at once.
- Check the water supply before it freezes. Find the problem in October rather than at six in the morning in January.
- Look at your lighting. Yard jobs in the dark at both ends of the day start sooner than you expect.
- Worming and dental checks — speak to your vet about timing, particularly before winter feeding starts in earnest.
Buying for the winter
Most people buy forage and bedding in bulk once the weather turns, and it is worth knowing how delivery works before you build an order.
Free UK delivery goes by the weight of the order — free over £50 up to 30kg, over £100 from 30 to 60kg, and over £200 from 60kg to 150kg. Above 150kg it moves onto a pallet, and we will quote that properly before you order rather than surprising you at checkout.
If you are working out a winter order and want it priced up, email us and we will do it for you.
The short version
- Late September: get your hands on them and assess condition properly
- Early October: check rugs, water supply and lighting while there is time
- October: start the forage changeover, slowly
- Before November: get hay, haylage and bedding in, before everyone else does
- Through winter: forage in front of them overnight, and legs dry
If you are unsure what to order for the winter ahead, tell us what you have got and what they are doing and we will give you an honest answer — including when the answer is that what you are already doing is fine.