Shedding, Diet or Weather

Question
Hi Corlena,
I live in Tennessee and this is Feb 2, we have had practically no winter, it has been cold some days and the horses of course grew their winter coats. Well it seems that two of my horses are shedding, my mare quarter more than my Arabian gelding, the other two do not seem to be shedding. I was wondering if this could be a nutrition problem or a weather related issue. They all eat the same feed just different amounts and all get Bermuda hay at the same amount. The feed is called Advantage and it is 12% protein, 6% fat, VitC,multvits, biotin, beetpulp, lysine, yeast cultures, selenium yeast,organic Cu,Co,Mn,Zn, methlo something couldn't read that, pulverized oats and it is in pellet form. Their hay is tested, it was tested at 12% protein and they get 15 lbs each, I give it to keep them busy for awhile since they have no pasture to date. Spirit is about 850 lbs gets 8 lbs of the grain, and Shyenne is about 1100 lbs get 10 lbs a day. They are happy, no longer going through the fences in search of greener pastures, they play all the time and are very relaxed these days, but when I groom these two the winter coat is coming off, why these two and not the other two? who are just as happy and playful.

Answer
Hi BJ,

Thank you for your question.  By the sounds of it, your shedding issue is probably not the result of your horses' nutritional plain.  Granted, there are times when poor nutrition can affect coat quality and shedding but that doesn't sound as though it is the case here.  I wouldn't be too concerned, it sounds as though you're doing a good job with your ration.

Chances are your horses have just started to naturally shed out as a result of the strange winter weather...I know here in Canada the shedding season has started already.  Each horse has a slightly different biological clock and tolerance for cold and so they all tend to shed at a slightly different time and rate.

Adding some vegetable fat to the diet can help your horse through the shedding process and always ensures great coat quality.  You can feed a high fat complete feed, a top dress fat supplement (like milled flaxseed) or straight vegetable oil (about 1 cup per day, added to their feed).  

Thanks, Corlena