Weston Mill Stables

22/11/2025

🥶❄️𝘾𝙤𝙡𝙙 𝙒𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 & 𝙃𝙤𝙧𝙨𝙚𝙨🐴❄️

✅𝙈𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙝𝙤𝙧𝙨𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙥𝙡𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙖𝙜𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙚𝙖𝙩.
Bacteria and microbes produce heat when fermenting fibre in the hind gut.
✅𝘾𝙝𝙚𝙘𝙠 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙘 𝙬𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙗𝙪𝙘𝙠𝙚𝙩𝙨 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙘𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙠𝙨.
Plastic is more likely to cracking in low temperatures. Rubber buckets may be a better option.
✅𝙆𝙚𝙚𝙥 𝙬𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙨𝙪𝙥𝙥𝙡𝙮 𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙢. Horses can reduce their water intake in cold weather.
Topping up their water with hot water & insulating buckets to reduce freezing helps.
✅𝘽𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙠 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙧𝙚𝙢𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙞𝙘𝙚 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙬𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙨.
Placing apples or plastic balls in troughs can sometimes help against them refreezing.
✅ 𝘼𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙢 𝙚𝙣𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝? Check how warm they are under their rug, and consider a heavier rug for a clipped, aged or fine haired coat. A full natural winter hair coat provides excellent insulation without rugging.
✅𝘼𝙫𝙤𝙞𝙙 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙘𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙢𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩. Movement improves gut motility, which in turn reduces the risk of impaction colics.
Soaking feeds and a sloppy mash can improve water intake & gut motility.
✅ 𝙂𝙧𝙞𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙡𝙠𝙬𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙥𝙖𝙩𝙝𝙨 - ice can catch us all out. Always check your route before leaving the stables, gritting or using old bedding to cover slippy areas can reduce slipping and injury to you or your horse.

21/11/2025

Colic: What You Need to Know During Cold Snaps

If the weather forecast is to be believed, a cold snap is just around the corner. When temperatures drop suddenly, colic cases often rise. Cold snaps can change how horses drink, eat, and move - three key factors that keep the gut healthy.
Being proactive during winter weather can dramatically reduce your horse’s risk.

❄️ Why Colic Risk Increases in Cold Weather
Cold weather can cause:
• Decreased water intake - Horses drink less when water is icy or cold.
• Reduced gut motility - Less movement + less hydration = slow-moving feed.
• Changes in routine - More stable time or abrupt diet changes stress the digestive system.
• Impaction risk - The combination of dry feeds, low water intake, and reduced motility is the perfect storm for impaction colic.

💧 Hydration Tips to Keep Horses Drinking
Keeping the gut hydrated is your strongest line of defence.
✔ Warm the water:
Horses prefer slightly warm water and often drink significantly more when water is warm.
✔ Offer soaked feeds:
• Soaked hay cubes
• Beet pulp mash
• Warm bran mash (occasional treat, not a staple)
These increase moisture intake without changing the diet drastically.
✔ Encourage drinking with salt:
• Free-choice salt lick available at all times. Salt stimulates thirst and maintains electrolyte balance.
✔ Check water sources frequently:
• Break ice at least twice daily
• Make sure automatic waterers are working properly
• Keep buckets clean - algae and debris can discourage drinking

🌾 Feed Adjustments for Winter Gut Health
Increase forage, decrease concentrate: More hay = more heat production and better gut motility.
Avoid sudden diet changes: Introduce new hay or concentrate over 7–10 days.
Use slow feeders: This extends eating time and maintains steady gut movement.

🚨 WHEN TO CALL THE VET - Colic Checklist
If you notice any of the following, call your vet immediately:
Behaviour Signs
• Pawing, circling, rolling repeatedly
• Looking at or biting the flank
• Restlessness or inability to get comfortable
• Stretching out as if to urinate
• Sudden aggression or depression
Gut Signs
• No manure for 6 – 12 hours
• Smaller, drier, or harder manure
• Reduced appetite
• Reduced water intake
• Visible abdominal distention
Vital Signs
• Elevated heart rate (over 44 bpm)
• Elevated respiration
• Temperature changes
• Gums that are pale, dry, or tacky
Other Red Flags
• Horse is lying down more than usual
• Refusing to walk
• No gut sounds
• Any behaviour that “just isn’t normal” for your horse

When in doubt - call. Even if just to discuss concerns on the phone. Early intervention is far safer, easier, and less expensive than waiting.
0808 168 5580

20/11/2025

We’ve seen a rise in horses presenting with high temperatures (pyrexia), diarrhoea, or rapid weight loss over the past few days. These cases fall under the general term colitis, which refers to inflammation of the large intestine. Colitis can develop for several reasons, including encysted redworm, acorn poisoning, complications from antibiotics, or overdosing Bute.

This year’s weather has created ideal conditions for two particular problems:
Encysted redworm—as fluctuating temperatures and wetter spells can encourage larvae to persist on pasture and increase the risk of heavy larval emergence—and acorn poisoning, with stressed oak trees producing more acorns than usual. Both can cause sudden and severe inflammation of the gut.

Encysted redworm burdens often go unnoticed until the larvae emerge in large numbers, triggering acute colitis, marked weight loss, diarrhoea, lethargy, and colic signs. Acorn toxicity can produce similar symptoms and tends to appear quickly once horses gain access to fallen acorns.

Colitis can deteriorate rapidly, so early assessment and treatment are crucial. If you notice diarrhoea, a rising temperature, a sudden drop in weight, or your horse just “not being right,” please contact us on 01782 898102 immediately.

Early intervention makes a significant difference to patient outcomes

19/11/2025

𝑪𝒐𝒍𝒊𝒄 𝑹𝒊𝒔𝒌 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓

Colder weather is here and with it may come changes in your horse’s diet and drinking habits. Horses sometimes do not want to drink very cold water, and increased stabling time with decreased movement alongside more hay in the diet can increase the risk of impaction colic.

✅ Ensure fresh water is always available. You can add some molasses, apple juice or warm water to the bucket to encourage drinking.
✅ Ensure your horse has some movement every day. Turnout is ideal but if not available ridden or in hand exercise, or taking your horse for a walk to graze, will maintain gut motility.
✅ Introduce any dietary changes gradually, especially when changing from a predominantly grass diet to hay.
✅ Wet hard feed and hay to maximise water intake.
✅ Keep a close eye on your horse’s behaviour and quantity of faeces.

Early detection is key! If your horse shows signs of colic: pawing, rolling, lack of appetite, depression or has reduced faecal output, contact your vet immediately.

19/11/2025

To experience all that our beautiful country village offers & the amazing amenities and opportunities all around us from country pubs to the splendour of Weston Park the amazing Christmas markets there’s no better place to stay than in the centre of the village & the heart of our community, you’ll never want to leave ♥️

15/11/2025

So important.

14/11/2025

14/11/2025

Lovely weather for ducks 🦆

13/11/2025

It’s not always about the ride ♥️

For anyone who needs to hear this — there is a lot of change going on at the moment seasonally, don’t feel the need to put the pressure on you and your horse to succeed/ride/“be normal”.

If your horse feels a bit too fresh to ride, just do groundwork. Or go home and try another day.

If it’s raining and you’re not feeling in the right headspace to ride, consider a shorter ride or trying another day when you feel you can be the person your horse needs.

If you’ve been in the school lots and you want to hack so your horse is having variety in their work, great. But if they’re unsettled and will spend most of the hack in negative posture, will it be worth it?

If you’re doing polework and your horse is continually spooking at the scary corner, give time to the corner and its problems… give space and patience and return to the poles after.

I’ve swapped from raised poles in a straight line to more complex flat poles like in the diagram for Meji, giving his brain something to focus on (alongside his core bands).

We have had a very dry Summer, followed by a mild and wet Autumn-Winter transition… a lot of the unsettled, different or slightly “off” behaviour from our horses at the moment can be due to metabolising these changes. It is often that type of “sharp” behaviour that cannot be relieved with exercise, so lunging 100 circles or riding for hours will not likely solve your problem (not that it should do!)

Don’t feel the pressure to get on and ride, this phase will pass & be kind to you and your horse 🤍

EDITED TO ADD: I have had lots of messages about polework designs, I have two polework inspiration manuals on my website that you can download!  https://www.vetphysiophyle.co.uk/shop/p/polework-inspiration-manual-vol-2