In all buildings that house animals or people, there is a delicate balance to be found between retaining heat and allowing the exchange of stale air and moisture for fresh air.
Plugging all drafts is essential. Weatherizing a home's windows and doorways saves money and resources. Opening curtains on South and East facing windows each morning can capture some solar heat.
Use stone and brick to absorb heat and then radiate it into the house at night. Use insulation to prevent the escape of warmth.
Opening a barn up on the southern side helps bring in the low, south winter sun for light and warmth. The barn needs a flow of air without drafts - a horse exhales gallons of moisture each day and this humid environment can breed mold, fungi and bacteria.
Deep bedding for horses retains heat and encourages rest.
Dogs MUST have shelter from freezing cold, wind, rain, ice... a simple dog house needs to be insulated to retain heat. You can fill the dog house with straw or wrap it in old blankets, even use reflective cushions and liners to hold body heat inside.
In extreme weather, dogs must be brought into the main house.
FEEDING / NOURISHMENT
stoking the internal fires
Horses are kept warm by the slow digestion of fiber, so feeding extra hay in cold weather will keep the equine healthy and comfortable. When you add more roughage in the winter (when horses naturally are drinking and sweating less), it is wise to soak the hay with water to avoid impaction. Provide water free choice and try to keep it slightly warmed to encourage drinking! I feed big, sloppy wet, warm bran mashes in winter to add moisture and often cook flaxseed jelly for the horses' mashes (see the recipe in The Holistic Horse Care Handbook - www.shop.naturalpaths.org ) Flaxseed ground, cooked or as oil is a healer of the respiratory system and digestive tract for horses, people and dogs.
Keep dogs slightly on the "fat" side if they live outside to add a layer for warmth. Do this with
healthy foods and nourishing oils like flax. Be sure they have proper water to drink at all times. The Holistic Dog Care Handbook is a download/ebook from
www.naturalpaths.org that offers lots of canine dietary and supplemental information.
We humans need extra water in the winter, too. We tend to drink less and therefore retain toxins in cold weather. Eating lots of raw roots like carrots, yams, parsley root, burdock -
for people, horses and dogs, will keep our vitamin intake up, add enzymes to our diets and support the organs! The Animal Lover's Guide to Nutrition is also at the Naturalpaths store.
We build our bodies with the foods we eat.
Preparation for the colder weather before it arrives helps you prevent stress in your own life and keeps everyone healthier. If you use horse blankets, wash and repair them now. Get a carbon monoxide detector before you start up the furnace, etc.
Stock up on delicious herbal teas and soups! Then enjoy the lack of flies, mosquitoes, algae in the water tanks and itchy manes that winter allows.
