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Hydration, it's more than a drop in the bucket
| 09 February 2010
Most people involved with horses have heard the phrase, “You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink”.
Unfortunately, while it may seem like a simple subject, getting a horse to consume the appropriate amount of water can be difficult.
Age, body condition, fitness level and workload, reproductive status, environmental conditions, diet and possible disease processes can all influence how much water a horse needs to maintain its correct hydration status. Add to that the temperature, freshness, purity, and palatability of the available water sources and it becomes obvious that there are many factors that need to be considered when providing water for our horses, especially if we want them to actually drink it.
Unfortunately, while it may seem like a simple subject, getting a horse to consume the appropriate amount of water can be difficult.
Age, body condition, fitness level and workload, reproductive status, environmental conditions, diet and possible disease processes can all influence how much water a horse needs to maintain its correct hydration status. Add to that the temperature, freshness, purity, and palatability of the available water sources and it becomes obvious that there are many factors that need to be considered when providing water for our horses, especially if we want them to actually drink it.
We tend to take water for granted but horses need water above all else to survive. A horse is actually 70 per cent water – his brain is 85% water, muscles 75%, even his bones are 30% water. Without maximum daily water intake your horse won’t run as fast as it should, his gut will not function as designed making it prone to colic, she will not produce enough milk for her foal stunting its growth; plain and simple: your horse will not perform, show, race, jump, or breed to your expectations or its genetic potential without water and plenty of it.
Water is also an essential part of illness prevention and injuries involving a loss of blood dramatically increase the horse’s requirement for fluids. Water also helps with temperature regulation, joint lubrication, digestion and the elimination of waste.
Hydration is very easy to balance in humans but is not that easy to balance on a horse. Every one of you who has taken your horse out for a long days’ work or put him in your trailer and tried to get him to drink away from home, knows the problem all to well! We’ve all been there – horses can be difficult.
The problem is compounded four-fold.
Firstly, horses have significant muscle mass and can generate a tremendous amount of muscle heat and will sweat profusely when worked hard in warm temperatures. As a result horses are more susceptible to dehydration than most other animals.
Secondly, from an engineering standpoint, the design of a horse’s digestive tract is a disaster. At several points it narrows and makes a sharp turn. It’s a wonder horses don’t get indigestion with every meal! Water prevents horses from impacting each time they eat. Feed that is drier than normal, because the horse drinks less, can lead to an impaction. When less water is taken in with feed, the drier material in the intestines has an increased tendency to get stuck.
Thirdly, heavily exercising horses often refuse water - due to a genetic design flaw. Humans sweat mostly water and the salt build-up in our bodies kicks in our thirst response. Horses sweat equal amounts of salt and water but because there is no build-up in concentration of salts in their bodies, the horse’s thirst sensors fail to recognise this loss of water. So even though he is clearly dehydrated, he won’t drink! He is not stubborn – his body is just not giving him an early enough warning signal.
Fourthly, as horse age their bodies contain less water, making them more susceptible to dehydration and impaction colic.
If your horse won’t drink water when he needs to, you can run into serious health problems with dehydration, loss of performance, fatigue, tying up and other muscle problems – even colic.
Dehydration losses of as little as 4% bodyweight can put your horse’s health at risk even though it may not be obvious there is a problem as dehydrated horses sweat less than normal animals. The difference between a horse with 4% dehydration and one with 10% dehydration (in serious trouble requiring immediate veterinary attention) is just 30 litres of fluid – a three-day event horse can lose 20 litres of fluid during the cross-country phase of an event alone.
While a person might shed two litres of sweat in an hour, a horse has the potential to evaporate or drip away 15 litres. Add to this the potential for your horse to not drink well on the lorry, then his water intake might be considerably reduced and dehydration started prior to the first drop he sweats.
Often horses are too wound-up to drink water in unfamiliar surroundings such as at competitions, their attention is elsewhere. Some might be fussy about the taste of the venue’s water, they might be stressed from the journey, they may have a delicate palate and little interest in drink altogether.
At home they may be influenced by external factors in their stables or their turnout areas, they may be getting on in years and find cold water hurts their teeth. They may be colic-prone, ill, injured or shut down while on box rest. In these situations your horse may not think he is thirsty and therefore it doesn’t occur to him to drink. But in situations such as these it is very important to get your horse to drink.
Dealing with a poor drinker takes some originality and resourcefulness but it can be done. If your budget stretches to it when competing, try bottled supermarket water or water brought from home, although this isn’t always practical especially if you are dealing with more than one horse when one alone can drink up to 10 gallons a day (and this is prior to exercising!). Add to this the excitement of the away day and even home water can be refused. Try offering sloppy sugar beet water, an apple or peppermint cordial additive or new product Horse Quencher, the American Olympic event riders used it in Beijing and it gets most horses drinking immediately. Offer your horse water in a quiet area, where he will not be disturbed by all the action around him. Always wait for your horse to drink – give him a minute or two to relax. Hold the bucket waist-high. Horses in strange environments don’t want to hide their head in a bucket, they want to keep a watch out for danger. If it’s a cold day, bring a thermos and add some warm water to his bucket. Research has shown a 40% increase in water intake when horses are offered warm water on cooler days. In general, fussy drinkers tend to be more nervous and highly-strung so try to keep everything as similar as possible to the routine at home. Use the same containers and if you are going to use new additives or products, introduce them at home first, then they should drink them readily at competitions.
Electrolytes can also be given to replace important body salts lost through sweat but they are only useful when your horse is already hydrated. If your horse drinks just electrolyte water, that may in the long run contribute to him becoming dehydrated because it increases urination. Don’t give your horse dry hay or dried-out net of haylage after a competition or on the way home as this will make him more dehydrated, both draw water into the hindgut that the horse needs elsewhere in the body.
At home water-enticing strategies include cleaning water buckets out daily and hanging them to air dry. This will reduce the fly population and the buckets will smell sweet. Some people put a pinch of baking soda in their horse’s water, this neutralises odors that can be offensive to fussy horses. Watch out for other horses threatening your horse when he nears his water bucket. Your horse will not want to intrude on this horse’s space, and so may go without water.
Water is the most important nutrient that horses need to consume daily so be proactive in ensuring your equine partner stays healthy and hydrated. He will run faster, jump higher, perform to his potential in the dressage arena and have fewer health problems with all the fresh water he can drink. Even the slightest dehydration affects your horse adversely and prevention is the best medicine.
www.horsequencher.co.uk
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are not necessarily those of Equestrian Marketplace and we cannot be held liable for their content
Water is also an essential part of illness prevention and injuries involving a loss of blood dramatically increase the horse’s requirement for fluids. Water also helps with temperature regulation, joint lubrication, digestion and the elimination of waste.
Hydration is very easy to balance in humans but is not that easy to balance on a horse. Every one of you who has taken your horse out for a long days’ work or put him in your trailer and tried to get him to drink away from home, knows the problem all to well! We’ve all been there – horses can be difficult.
The problem is compounded four-fold.
Firstly, horses have significant muscle mass and can generate a tremendous amount of muscle heat and will sweat profusely when worked hard in warm temperatures. As a result horses are more susceptible to dehydration than most other animals.
Secondly, from an engineering standpoint, the design of a horse’s digestive tract is a disaster. At several points it narrows and makes a sharp turn. It’s a wonder horses don’t get indigestion with every meal! Water prevents horses from impacting each time they eat. Feed that is drier than normal, because the horse drinks less, can lead to an impaction. When less water is taken in with feed, the drier material in the intestines has an increased tendency to get stuck.
Thirdly, heavily exercising horses often refuse water - due to a genetic design flaw. Humans sweat mostly water and the salt build-up in our bodies kicks in our thirst response. Horses sweat equal amounts of salt and water but because there is no build-up in concentration of salts in their bodies, the horse’s thirst sensors fail to recognise this loss of water. So even though he is clearly dehydrated, he won’t drink! He is not stubborn – his body is just not giving him an early enough warning signal.
Fourthly, as horse age their bodies contain less water, making them more susceptible to dehydration and impaction colic.
If your horse won’t drink water when he needs to, you can run into serious health problems with dehydration, loss of performance, fatigue, tying up and other muscle problems – even colic.
Dehydration losses of as little as 4% bodyweight can put your horse’s health at risk even though it may not be obvious there is a problem as dehydrated horses sweat less than normal animals. The difference between a horse with 4% dehydration and one with 10% dehydration (in serious trouble requiring immediate veterinary attention) is just 30 litres of fluid – a three-day event horse can lose 20 litres of fluid during the cross-country phase of an event alone.
While a person might shed two litres of sweat in an hour, a horse has the potential to evaporate or drip away 15 litres. Add to this the potential for your horse to not drink well on the lorry, then his water intake might be considerably reduced and dehydration started prior to the first drop he sweats.
Often horses are too wound-up to drink water in unfamiliar surroundings such as at competitions, their attention is elsewhere. Some might be fussy about the taste of the venue’s water, they might be stressed from the journey, they may have a delicate palate and little interest in drink altogether.
At home they may be influenced by external factors in their stables or their turnout areas, they may be getting on in years and find cold water hurts their teeth. They may be colic-prone, ill, injured or shut down while on box rest. In these situations your horse may not think he is thirsty and therefore it doesn’t occur to him to drink. But in situations such as these it is very important to get your horse to drink.
Dealing with a poor drinker takes some originality and resourcefulness but it can be done. If your budget stretches to it when competing, try bottled supermarket water or water brought from home, although this isn’t always practical especially if you are dealing with more than one horse when one alone can drink up to 10 gallons a day (and this is prior to exercising!). Add to this the excitement of the away day and even home water can be refused. Try offering sloppy sugar beet water, an apple or peppermint cordial additive or new product Horse Quencher, the American Olympic event riders used it in Beijing and it gets most horses drinking immediately. Offer your horse water in a quiet area, where he will not be disturbed by all the action around him. Always wait for your horse to drink – give him a minute or two to relax. Hold the bucket waist-high. Horses in strange environments don’t want to hide their head in a bucket, they want to keep a watch out for danger. If it’s a cold day, bring a thermos and add some warm water to his bucket. Research has shown a 40% increase in water intake when horses are offered warm water on cooler days. In general, fussy drinkers tend to be more nervous and highly-strung so try to keep everything as similar as possible to the routine at home. Use the same containers and if you are going to use new additives or products, introduce them at home first, then they should drink them readily at competitions.
Electrolytes can also be given to replace important body salts lost through sweat but they are only useful when your horse is already hydrated. If your horse drinks just electrolyte water, that may in the long run contribute to him becoming dehydrated because it increases urination. Don’t give your horse dry hay or dried-out net of haylage after a competition or on the way home as this will make him more dehydrated, both draw water into the hindgut that the horse needs elsewhere in the body.
At home water-enticing strategies include cleaning water buckets out daily and hanging them to air dry. This will reduce the fly population and the buckets will smell sweet. Some people put a pinch of baking soda in their horse’s water, this neutralises odors that can be offensive to fussy horses. Watch out for other horses threatening your horse when he nears his water bucket. Your horse will not want to intrude on this horse’s space, and so may go without water.
Water is the most important nutrient that horses need to consume daily so be proactive in ensuring your equine partner stays healthy and hydrated. He will run faster, jump higher, perform to his potential in the dressage arena and have fewer health problems with all the fresh water he can drink. Even the slightest dehydration affects your horse adversely and prevention is the best medicine.
www.horsequencher.co.uk
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are not necessarily those of Equestrian Marketplace and we cannot be held liable for their content
