Winter Horse Boarding Requires Individualized Care

Horse Boarding at Mill Ridge Farm

No matter what their age, horses are beautiful and special animals. When horse boarding in the winter, it’s crucial to pay close attention to each horse’s individual needs.

Caring for horses in the winter is different than in warmer months. For instance, it might seem counterintuitive, but water is extremely important when the mercury in the thermometer drops.

When the sun’s beating down day after day, they get much of their water from lush pastures. In the winter, the trough should be filed, ready, and waiting at all times.  

Warm water is necessary for maintaining a horse’s body temperature. A water heater will take care of the job. Otherwise, you can show your care and concern by bringing buckets of warm water to your horse whenever it's needed.

There are many different ways to take care of a thoroughbred racehorse, but certain steps, including ice-free water, are required to keep your horse healthy and happy during the winter months.

Winter Coats

Novice horse owners often ask, “When should you blanket a horse?” It’s a big question, and people experienced with horse boarding often reply, “It depends.”

That’s because most horses grow a winter coat, so they don’t need a blanket unless their hair is kept short. The Mill Ridge Way is to allow winter coats to come in fully, and we don’t inhibit that growth by blanketing horses except for extreme circumstances. 


In most–or almost all–cases, blankets aren’t necessary unless it’s clear the horse isn’t insulating well enough on its own to handle the cold weather. If you use a blanket, take precautions:

  • If it’s wet outside, use a blanket that wicks away moisture.

  • Remember that a wet blanketed horse will be colder than a wet horse with a thick coat.

  • Blankets should be removed regularly to make sure they’re not causing skin irritation or infections.

  • Be sure the blanket you use fits the horse and doesn’t rub in the wrong way.

Before buying a blanket, allow your horse to handle the cold weather. There’s every chance nature will grow its own blanket. If you’re horse boarding in Central Kentucky, the winter can be cold, but the horses that live there have adapted to the conditions. 

Winter Food

In the wintertime, horses need dependable diets because they require more energy to stay warm. Hay is always a barn favorite, and it can be served in a number of ways:

  • long-stem hays

  • chopped hays

  • forage based cubes

  • combinations of all three

One way to tell if a horse is having difficulty adjusting to the cold is to weigh them regularly. This is especially true for yearlings and foals, who should be weighed every month.

In addition, horses over 20 years of age have earned the right to special attention and are less able to adapt to large temperature swings.

The main thing is to remember that, while general rules apply, each horse is an individual, so their needs can vary depending on their

  • age

  • activity level

  • housing

For horses to be happy and healthy, they appreciate care and attention throughout the year, but that becomes more important during the winter months. Horse boarding by experienced professionals will ensure each horse gets what he or she needs to thrive no matter what the season. 

Mill Ridge Winter Care

Mill Ridge Farm was established in 1962, but its lineage stretches back through generations of award-winning equine professionals in Kentucky’s Bluegrass region. Successes over the years have included


  • 2001 Horse of the Year, POINT GIVEN

  • 2011 Horse of the Year, HAVRE DE GRACE

  • 2005 Kentucky Derby Winner, GIACOMO.



In addition, Mill Ridge Farm has raised or sold seven Breeder’s Cup Winners and 36 Grade 1 winners since 2000. 


That type of success requires a team of experienced professionals who know their stuff and care deeply about horses.

As mentioned, there are a lot of ways to take care of a horse and get it through the winter months. The Mill Ridge Way isn’t the end-all, be-all of horse boarding, but these tips might help as you see to your horse’s wintertime needs.



One of Mill Ridge’s guiding principles is to let horses be horses. Our yearlings and mares will grow thick coats when the temperature begins to drop. We separate them by gender and let them get out to play any time of the year. That includes hot summer days as well as snowy days. The point is to let them enjoy the outdoors as they would in nature.


By running, playing, and “horsing around,” the horses enjoy their social time. Just like on a playground, they might squabble and nip at each other, and that’s okay because it allows them to learn communication and boundaries.


By turning our horses out to pasture regularly, we’re acknowledging their natures as herd animals. They’re able to grow together and comfort each other. It’s also a chance for them to develop their bones as well as their senses of competition as they run across rolling hills and large open spaces. 



The horses also get plenty of attention from our highly trained staff. This prepares them for human contact as they grow older, and it means they’ll eventually be ready for bridle, saddle, and rider.



Mill Ridge answers the blanket question with a “Yes” for the stallions in our care because their hair is kept shorter. These animals are regularly exercised, and a thick coat can cause sweating, which could make it difficult to regulate their body temperatures on colder days.




Mares grow heavy, thick coats in the winter as they prepare for the start of the foaling season from mid to late January. We feed mares three times a day and feed them overnight to enhance milk production.

Horse Boarding Based on Individual Needs

It needs to be stressed that winter care is about individualized care. All horses have their own personalities and predispositions. When horse boarding, trained staff will be sure to give each horse the attention it deserves to make sure it’s thriving as it should throughout the winter months.


Some horses will eat like—well—horses, and they won’t need any specialized care while others will require more attention to make sure they’re not risking an illness.


It can require an experienced eye to look after horses in the winter because it’s not always easy to interpret a horse's needs. 


The team at Mill Ridge has a long and rich history of caring for champions and giving them all they need to be the best they can be. Our staff has the training and experience needed to look after your stallion, mare, or yearling to provide the best-individualized care possible.


Finding the right Kentucky horse farm to raise your thoroughbred racehorse doesn’t have to be a complicated endeavor. Contact Mill Ridge Farm, 2800 Bowman Springs Road, Lexington, Kentucky, for more information about boarding your racehorse, or call us directly at (859) 231-0606. 

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