So, as I ate my slightly salty breakfast this morning, I figured, why not talk about that. Yes, you are probably wondering why my breakfast was salty. Well, it was because I have loose sea salt added in. Oh...why do I have salt added in? To promote me to drink more water of course! It's that time of year when some of us don't realize we aren't drinking enough water and then our owners have to deal with, at the least, dehydration, and at the worst colic. My own people had to deal with me choking. I was too engrossed in grazing on the last of some pasture, the day was warmer than it was supposed to get and had been in weeks, and I just didn't think to get a drink. I started scarfing down my evening hay and BLAMMO! A bit of it got stuck. A wonderful vet came out and helped me dislodge it and all was well.
The weather being cold or with huge fluctuations from one day to the next can sometimes trick us into thinking we aren't as thirsty as normal because it's not hot and we aren't sweating. Or we are too busy chowing down on the extra hay our people toss us to help us keep warm. Sometimes the hard, frozen ground hurts our feet and we can't walk to the water trough comfortably. Same goes with the older folks who have arthritis that flares up in the winter. Then the worst thing that is thinkable--our water is frozen solid and we have no way to drink it once we make our way over to it! And then sometimes, the water is just dirty, so clean your troughs and buckets, even in the winter!!!
So what can you do to help? Well, my salty feed is one way to encourage drinking when we are otherwise too busy to really notice we need water. It'll make us seek the water out and have a good guzzle. Soaking our feed is another option to get more water into us.
A tank heater suitable for your water trough helps keep the ice from forming--and if you have a curious horse who likes to chew cords, a bit of PVC pipe fitted over the cord to the heater prevents that. We've got a nifty water heater a couple of years back since my Ohio mom was tired of busting ice several times a day. It's got an automatic shut off on it that occurs when the heating element is out of water, so if someone flipped it out of the trough for fun, it doesn't burn up the heating element! It's going on it's 3rd year and still working great. Nothing is more disappointing to a thirsty horse than to wander over and find our water supply is frozen solid. And no, snow does NOT cut it for a water supply, I don't care if you have 4 feet of the stuff!
If you drag water out to the field for your horses because you don't have a water supply out there, or you are filling buckets for stalls, try to remember that hot water will freeze quicker than cold water.
For sore and arthritic horses, check out where they hang out the most and keep a water supply in that area for them. Working with your vet and farrier to make them as comfortable as they can be during the cold months and hard ground is also a great idea.
If anyone else has ideas to share on the subject, we'd love to hear them. Different areas of the country, and even the world, have different types of weather and tips that work for them. So please comment!
Above all else, knowing and observing your horse and the amount of water they are drinking is a big help. Some circumstances don't allow for this, but if it does, be sure to keep an eye out!
Now, all of this talk of water has made me thirsty. Or maybe it's the salt. At any rate, I'm going to go have a drink now. I heard talk of a trail ride later this morning and I have a feeling I'm going on it.
No comments:
Post a Comment