Here are some tips that will help to keep your horse hydrated during the hot sweaty summer season.
How much should a horse to drink?
An average, a 500kg horse will drink 30-50 litres of water a day. This amount can be increased if the horse is sweating as this uses up the water reserves in their body.
Did you know? Grazing reduces the horse’s need to drink pure water as the water content of grass is high – encouraging your horse to graze at an event can therefore help them to re-hydrate themselves.
Keeping your horse hydrated is vital for their health. Water has a huge role and is an essential nutrient to aid your horse's digestion, temperature, and joint lubrication.
How can you tell if your horse is dehydrated?
Spotting dehydration in a horse can be very difficult, a horse can deteriorate very fast. Signs of dehydration include depression, lethargy, dullness, sunken eyes, cool extremities, decreased appetite, reduced urination and defecation, passing dark coloured urine, licking surfaces including licking or eating soil and abnormal drinking behaviour such as drinking for extended periods, taking long draughts or gulping water.
On a basic level, even very mild dehydration will have an impact on the horse’s performance. They cannot move as quickly, jump as high or engage their muscles as much with even slight levels of dehydration.
The skin-pinch test is the standard way of assessing hydration or dehydration in horses. In a normal horse if you pinch a piece of skin on the neck and pull it towards you it will spring back into place. In a dehydrated horse the skin will slowly fall back into place with no elasticity, but the test can be inaccurate so take care when interpreting the result.
Additional signs which a vet will examine include increased heart and respiration rate, and pale and dry mucous membranes.
If your horse is not drinking, when should you take action and what do you do?
Horses can be super fussy about the water they drink and sometimes even the bucket they drink out of! Bringing familiar water from home or mix the water with something tasty such as apple juice or sugar-beet water to make it more appetizing.
Did you know? Haylage has a higher water content than hay by introducing this to a horse’s diet could help with their water intake.
Before and after exercise, is it ok for horses drink as much as they like?
A horse’s access to water should never be restricted. On the way to a competition, the horse should be offered water every 2-3 hours. Once at the competition, the horse should continuously be offered water and forage, then given time to relax before competing. Some people have reservations about giving the horse free access to water immediately after an event or before the horse has chance to cool down. However, it has been demonstrated in scientific studies that horses will not drink beyond their stomach capacity in the first few minutes following intense work, hence they should be encouraged to drink as soon as possible following exercise.
Why does your horse need electrolytes?
The main electrolytes horses loose through sweating are sodium, potassium and chloride. These are the key electrolytes the body needs to retain water so in order to keep a horse hydrated, they need these electrolytes as well as water. Ideally, electrolytes should be provided immediately after the horse has undergone a period of exertion, but in case the horse is fussy, ensure clean water with no added electrolytes is always provided alongside. A fussy horse may be tempted by giving electrolytes in a small amount of feed.
5 Tips To Keep Your Horse Hydrated
1. Access to clean water.
Horses that live out with other, ensure there is no competition for water by providing plenty of water troughs in various locations in the paddock.
2. Bringing familiar water.
If you are moving yard or going to an overnight competition try to bring water from home as your horse may refuse the 'strange' water.
3. Spray/Soak their hay.
When horses graze their water intake is increased, so if stabled, consider spraying/soaking their hay to help increase their water intake.
4. Cool off your horse.
Horses loose water through sweating, simply cover him in cold water, using a sponge or hose, be sure to scrap off excess water.
Repeat until your horses temperature reaches 37.5 to 38.5
5. Electrolytes.
Giving your horse electrolytes and not just on the run up to a competition can help replace any salts/minerals lost through sweating. These can be mixed with water or feed. Fresh water should always be available.
Conclusion
When you see any signs of dehydration in your horse, cool them down and provide plenty of fluids right away. If you intend to work your horse make sure they're well hydrated before you begin and always allow your horse access to water throughout the day.
Dehydration can lead to colic, laminitis, multi-organ failure and even death.
Hannah
The information provided in this article does not serve as a substitute for veterinary intervention.
Comments