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Re: [RC] [RC] making sure horses drink enough in winter - Jennifer Adam

Thanks for the info - I have tried flavoring the water, but only one will drink anything that isn't plain water. They do have access to free choice salt - loose and block - and free choice mineral, but I didn't think about adding water directly to their grain. I'm going out right now to mix some up!

I appreciate your time-
Jen




From: "Karen Everhart" <rainbowmeadowsranch@xxxxxxxxx>
Reply-To: "Karen Everhart" <rainbowmeadowsranch@xxxxxxxxx>
To: "Jennifer Adam" <jatatahoe1@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: [RC]   making sure horses drink enough in winter
Date: Thu, 25 Jan 2007 11:39:56 -0600

Hi Jen,

Horses MUST have adequate water, summer and winter. Hauling water is important as temps at 40 degrees is desirable for the horses to drink it. If it is too hot or too cold, they won't drink. You have a few options to assist with water consumption:

1- Add free choice salt to their grain - but the grain must be moist
2- Start feeding wet feed. Using soaked, shredded beet pulp as the base is a great way to get extra water in - and add the free choice salt - I use 2 oz per horse per day
3- Making certain that you have free choice salt available all the time. The problem is that you won't know who is eating it and who is not.
4- Start flavoring the buckets of water you haul with something - some use apple cider vinegar (not too much to begin with), some use Gatorade or koolade, etc. This will help entice them

Many equine experts discourage having horses drink from ponds due to the various contaminants - especially ag run-off. During the wet periods, your horses manure runs into the pond, setting up the possibility of e coli ingestion.
My horses have access to heated water as their first option, livestock tanks which get their water from the bottom of the pond where it is about 50 - 60 degrees and then access to the lake or the pond as a 3rd option. They will seldom drink out of the pond and choose past the lake, to the barn for their heated water tank or the livestock tanks.

Hope that helps. Colic is a huge issue this time of year when we are feeding extra hay to keep them warm and it is a pretty dry product which requires an abundance of water to digest.


Karen Everhart MEd
President
Rainbow Meadows Rescue and Retirement, Inc.
www.rainbowmeadowsranch.com

Owner/Operator Horse Calls - Equine Management Solutions
Centered Riding Instructor
Distance Horse Conditioning and Training
www.horsecalls.com

  ----- Original Message -----
  From: Jennifer Adam
  To: ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  Sent: Thursday, January 25, 2007 10:39 AM
  Subject: [RC] making sure horses drink enough in winter


Okay, another ice related question. My horses normally have access to a
large pond, but it is now completely frozen over. My husband (reluctantly)
breaks the ice on the pond twice a day in two places. The thing is - we
hardly ever see the horses drinking from their "water holes." I have heard
that horses don't like really cold water (is this true??) so I started
hauling buckets of lukewarm water out to them. The first time I did it they
drank all the water and seemed to want more. But that evening, they couldn't
have cared less. The next morning they played about in it a bit, but didn't
actually drink much. This morning they came over, sniffed the buckets,
looked for carrots, and then wandered off. The pond freezes back over about
three hours or so after the ice is broken, and I rarely see the horses
anywhere near the water holes. How can I be sure they are getting enough
water?

Sorry for the stupid questions - this is the worst ice I've ever seen.

Jen

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