Re: puddles

[rides2far@juno.com (Angela C. McGhee)]

On Fri, 17 Apr 1998 17:00:22 EDT Beverly540 <Beverly540@aol.com> writes:
>Angie,
>      W'e're new to horses and have a lot to learn.  My trainer has 
>taught us
>that horses should not drink stagnant water, only fresh or running 
>water. He
>said the stagnant water might make them sick.  Obviously, you don't 
>think so.
>Should I quit making my horse walk pass puddles when she wants to 
>drink???
>Thanks,
>Beverly and Vlower

We used to ride in the mountains at Tellico Plains, TN.  I had a friend
who would carry a cup and drink from streams.  I told her she was insane,
but she was sure that we were so high above civilization that they were
pristine.  Then, one day, we came up on a bloated dead dog in a stream. 
I said, "What if that had been upstream?"  That cured her.  If I had to
drink anywhere, I would drink from a puddle.  It's rain water, and I  can
see what's been in it.  Horses have no problem with stagnant water.  When
I did my ONE run/bike/ride triathlon, they had a guy out there handing
out ice water.  YUK!  I wanted luke warm water.  I couldn't swallow the
icewater and I was in a hurry.  This weekend we did a very hot/humid race
in south Georgia.  The horse I was traveling with refused to drink for
over 25 miles, then tanked up in a mudhole that was so hot I wouldn't
even sponge from it (and I sponge EVERYWHERE).

I've even heard that mudholes on gravel roads have extra calcium in them
sometimes from the runoff over stones.  Don't know if that's true, but I
do know Kaboot prefers mudholes.

Angie and Kaboot
>

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