You know how it is, not quite feeling right, restless, vague tummy troubles that haven’t really blossomed into anything serious, but could.
For horses who have been stuck in their stalls for a few days due to extreme and uncharacteristic winter weather for our area, the response is often visible and startlingly similar. My vet calls it “feeling punky,” and this can mean they’re a little off-feed, restless, depressed, and antsy to get out of that box.
As a barn owner, the decision of when to turn out and when to keep in is always tricky at best. Especially here in Texas, where the weather can change at the drop of a hat, and it’s easy to get caught with 50+ horses to gather out of the pasture (most of whom would prefer not to be gathered) and an epic challenge for the barn crew to get them all in. Balancing all the factors of how long to keep them in, when and for how long to turn out, and dancing along the line of keeping them out of bad weather vs. risking colic is a responsibility I take seriously.
So here we are in a two-day respite between winter freezes. From the pragmatic standpoint, most of our horses have good winter hair coats, and combined 
with a blanket, they should be comfortable being out in the sunshine on sunny-but-cold winter days. And for the most part, being out as much as possible is better for their tummies—and their minds.
Whether it’s stress-related ulcer-like conditions or straight-up depression, horses often react physically to too much confinement. Horses are herd animals, after all, and especially if they’re used to their daily turnout in our large and lovely pastures, it can just be a lot to deal with.
And, while I’m seeing plenty of this general malaise (symptoms of early colic or ulcers but aren’t), I’ve not yet seen signs of actual colic so far. We remain on high alert and encourage all our owners to read this previous post on colic and keep a close eye on their own horses as well, just to be extra safe during this yoyo-weather time of year.
Please reach out to me with any questions or specific concerns, and as always, know that my entire barn crew and I are working hard to keep all our 4Hearts horses safe—and happy—through our winter weather challenges.
