Learn how to safely cool down your horse after winter riding. Equine Guelph shares tips for drying sweaty horses, using coolers, and preventing chills.

Mud fever—also called greasy heel, scratches, or pastern dermatitis—is a skin disorder that commonly affects the lower legs of horses, especially around the heels and pasterns. It occurs most often in the wet seasons of fall, winter, and early spring, when horses spend long hours in muddy conditions that allow bacteria and fungi to multiply.

Canadian winters can be challenging for horse owners. Bitter cold, fluctuating temperatures, and heavy snowfall all affect a horse’s nutritional needs. Adopting the right feeding strategy for winter months can help your horse maintain a healthy weight and reduce the risk of health problems such as impaction colic.

Among domestic animals, horses are some of the most naturally wide-ranging. They evolved as nomadic grazers, adapted to constant movement across varied landscapes and climates. Their instinctive response to any potential threat is still flight. Although domestication has shaped them to fit human needs, their fundamental nature remains largely unchanged.