We’re talking about winter today.
Winter is the time to improve your horse’s metabolic health and prepare for the months ahead.
Stay tuned to learn how to use the winter months to support your horse’s metabolism, improve insulin sensitivity, and make the transition into spring far easier.
Important Announcement for My Coaching Programme: Your Horse’s Root Cause Reset
If you’re listening to this episode today, you should know that enrolment for the new coaching programme, Your Horse’s Root Cause Reset for Equine Metabolic Syndrome, closes tonight (November 3, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. Mountain Time). The six-week live group coaching programme, designed to help owners use the winter months to prepare their metabolic horses for spring, begins tomorrow, Wednesday, November 4th. Participants will start with a driver diagnostic to identify whether stress, toxicity or nutrient deficiencies are holding their horse back. The programme then covers diet and metabolism, hay and pasture, detoxification, movement and the recovery programme, in the order most appropriate for each horse. It’s designed to help owners better understand their own horses and can complement the work they are already doing with trusted professionals. Further information and enrolment details are available through the link in the show notes. Questions can be sent to support@alishaedwards.com.
Prepare for Spring
While spring is often the most challenging season for horses with EMS and insulin resistance, the groundwork for a better spring starts in winter. In spring, horses naturally use their stored energy. By making the most of these months, we can help reduce excess weight, improve metabolic health, and prepare our horses for the return of spring grass.
Forage
A horse produces much of its body heat through fibre fermentation in the hindgut. As microbes break down forage, they generate heat, making hay an important source of warmth during winter. This is why a steady supply of forage is preferable to increasing grain or concentrates. Horses also draw on stored fat for energy. This allows metabolic horses to use some of the excess weight they carry.
Natural Seasonal Rhythm
Horses evolved to store energy when food is plentiful in spring and summer and use those reserves during the leaner winter months. However, their environment and management influence how their bodies respond. The aim is to work with this natural seasonal rhythm rather than continually adding more calories.
Metabolic Horses
Thyroid hormones help regulate how quickly the body uses energy and produces heat. When a horse’s body is under strain, it can reduce its metabolic activity to conserve energy. This means that even in winter, when the body should be using stored fat, some metabolic horses retain their weight, cresty necks, and fat pads. When spring grass returns, they still carry that metabolic burden.
Stress
Winter can bring several additional stresses, including colder temperatures, reduced turnout, smaller paddocks, less movement, and separation from other horses. Frozen ground can also make sore feet more uncomfortable. Long periods without food add to the stress, while reduced movement can affect circulation. This is particularly important for horses prone to winter laminitis, as good circulation to the feet is essential.
Keeping Forage Available Overnight
Long winter nights can leave horses without food for many hours, particularly if they finish their hay well before morning. This interrupts the steady hindgut fermentation that helps keep them warm. Rather than simply feeding more, focus on making their feed last longer. Low-sugar hay, slow feeders, and smaller, more frequent meals can help, with enough forage set aside for overnight. Allowing horses room to move and forage naturally is just as important. The principle is steady, not more.
Toxicity
Horses often drink less when their water is very cold, so offering warmer water or using a deicer may encourage better hydration. Water is essential for eliminating what the liver has processed. Movement is equally important because the lymphatic system relies on muscular activity to keep lymph flowing. Reduced turnout and prolonged standing can therefore add to sluggish lymphatic circulation and fluid retention.
Reducing Toxic Load
Autumn often brings several procedures and changes at once, including deworming, vaccinations, dental work, medications, new feeds and additional supplements. Each adds to the body’s workload. Where possible, stagger these activities rather than doing everything together. The liver also helps convert stored fat into usable energy and activates thyroid hormone, so you need to support the horse’s liver function.
Nutrient Deficiencies
Moving from pasture to stored hay can significantly change a horse’s nutrient intake. Fresh grass is rich in vitamin E, but much of this vitamin is lost as hay sits in storage. Essential fatty acid intake can also decrease. The body needs adequate nutrients to produce heat, support thyroid function, maintain the liver, and repair tissue. Instead of automatically adding more supplements, identify what’s actually missing and provide clean, appropriate nutrition.
Nutrient Absorption
Even when plenty of supplements and minerals are available, horses may not absorb or use them effectively. Digestive inflammation and malabsorption can prevent nutrients from reaching the cells where they’re needed. Sometimes simplifying a supplement programme, removing unnecessary ingredients and improving digestive health helps more than adding more products.
The Winter Window
Winter gives us several months to work on metabolic health without the added pressure of lush spring grass. Even if your horse seems stable, persistent fat pads, a cresty neck, or swelling can indicate insulin resistance. This is the time to investigate what’s holding your horse back rather than waiting for problems to appear in spring.
A Proactive Approach
A big advantage of winter is having time to make changes gradually and see how your horse responds. Instead of trying several things at once during a spring flare, consider the underlying drivers. By identifying the cause of insulin resistance and addressing it consistently, you can help improve your horse’s metabolic tolerance.
Setting Your Horse Up for Success
The goal isn’t to do more, but to do the right things in the right order. Protect your horse from wind and wet weather, provide steady access to suitable forage, water, and plenty of opportunities to move and forage. At the same time, reduce unnecessary demands on the body and address the underlying causes of metabolic dysfunction. Spring is when we see the results of that work, but winter is when we make it happen.
Links and resources:
Connect with Elisha Edwards on her website.
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