Holistichorseandhoofcare Blog - Full Article
by ©Natalija Aleksandrova
(Updated, presented at the 10th International EAHAE Conference, Poland, 2014)
Most horse owners are aware of the damage and crisis inherent with fever states. Few horse owners realize how well adapted horses are to deal with cold when certain aspects of their lifestyle are in place for them.
In order for a mammal to survive, internal body temperature is kept within a very narrow range. If the temperature exceeds these limits either above or below, the chemical reactions in the body function improperly, or they stop functioning at all. Fluctuations outside of the normal temperature range result in health problems or death of the animal.
Mature horses maintain their internal body temperature at a range of around 38℃. Foals, rapidly growing youngsters, pregnant and lactating mares have a higher than normal internal body temperature (Hines, 2004).
Heat in the horse's body is continuously generated as a by-product of metabolism, and a healthy animal has significant internal sources of heat from the metabolic processes (Bicego at al., 2007). To control internal heat loss during the cold time of year, the horse is provided by Nature with complicated and extremely efficient anatomical, physiological and behavioral thermoregulatory mechanisms...
Read more here:
http://holistichorseandhoofcare.blogspot.com/2013/11/thermoregulation-in-horses-in-cold-time.html
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