by Karen Briggs
When it’s -20 degrees Celsius, the January wind is howling, and your nostrils are threatening to freeze shut, the last thing you want to drink is a nice, tall, cold glass of ice water.
Your horse feels the same way – which is why most horses decrease their water intake as the weather gets colder. In fact, dehydration is the reason the incidence of colic rises dramatically in the winter months.
Most of us are conscientious about making sure our horses have free access to fresh, clean water in the heat of summer – but we don’t tend to think about dehydration in winter. That’s a problem, because a horse that is not taking in enough H20 may suffer from:
• Loss of appetite
• Lethargy or depression
• Difficulty maintaining
his internal body temperature
• Loss of condition
• Dry mucous membranes
• An elevated heart rate
• Kidney damage
• Impaction colic
Veterinarians know that the risk of impaction colic skyrockets as winter approaches. The combination of switching from pasture grasses (which contain 70 to 80 per cent moisture) to hay (about 10 per cent moisture), along with a reluctance to drink ice-cold water (or the lack of availability of unfrozen water), can quickly create a life-threatening blockage in your horse’s intestine.
So how can you ensure your horse takes in the 20 to 40 quarts of water a day he needs to stay healthy and hydrated in the winter months? Here are some strategies:
Don’t Depend on Snow!
For each quart of water he needs, your horse would have to consume 10 quarts of snow. And warming that snow to body temperature inside his gut is a major drain on his energy reserves.
Horses in the wild can often satisfy their water needs with snow when there is no alternative, but the transition from drinking water to relying on snow takes several days – days when your horse would be at an extremely high risk for impaction colic.
Break the Ice
Make sure your horse has a ready supply of fresh, unfrozen water by using stock tank heaters in your outdoor troughs, and heated water buckets in your barn.
If access to electricity is a problem, make sure you break the ice in your horse’s troughs and buckets at least two or three times a day.
The equine stomach can only accommodate about 10 or 15 quarts of water at a time, so one drinking opportunity a day won’t cut it.
Warm it Up
Studies have shown that water intake increases up to 40% in the winter months if you can offer tepid water rather than ice cold. If you have a hot water heater in the barn, this is easy; if not, you may have to rely on boiling water in a kettle.
Pouring a kettle’s worth of hot water into your horse’s bucket before he comes in from the paddock each night can take the edge off and encourage him to drink deeply as he settles into his stall.
Feed Lots of Forage
Fibrous feeds such as hay, haylage, hay cubes, or beet pulp (for example) help your horse retain water in his gut, and stimulate his thirst.
If your horse needs more feed to help him maintain his weight in winter, increase his hay ration rather than giving him more grain.
Liquify the Diet
Though you shouldn’t depend on water added to your horse’s feed to completely satisfy his hydration needs, every little bit helps!
An easy-to-chew, palatable feed can also help to encourage your horse’s appetite, keep him salivating, and increase his desire to drink.
A hot bran mash is a traditional winter treat for horses, and there’s no harm in serving mash no more than once a week – to mature horses only (bran’s calcium/phosphorus imbalance makes it a poor choice for young growing stock).
A more balanced daily alternative, nutritionally speaking, is warm soaked beet pulp, with a little grain added for taste value. Most horses relish these warm, sloppy meals on cold nights.
You can also soak a pelleted ration such as a roughage cube or “complete feed” to create a delicious mush that still supplies complete nutrition and satisfies your horse’s winter energy needs.
Soak the Hay
Not all horses need their hay soaked in water before feeding, but if you have a horse that has trouble chewing (because of age or other infirmities) or your hay is particularly stemmy and coarse, softening up the flakes in a clean tub filled with water can be helpful.
Don’t soak the hay for more than about half an hour: You’ll leach vitamins out of the hay, and risk the flakes freezing to the tub!
Don’t Forget Salt
Your horse probably won’t be sweating as much in the winter months as he does in July, but he still needs salt in his diet, and ingesting salt also stimulates thirst.
Add a tablespoon or so of loose salt to his grain daily if you think he’s not utilizing the salt block in your pasture.
Look Under the Blanket
If your horse has a heavy winter coat or is wearing a blanket, it may be easy to miss the signs of dehydration.
Make sure you watch him for signs of a “tucked-up” flank, which can indicate his water intake has been inadequate, and check the consistency of his manure too.
Do a daily “pinch test” to see where he stands with regard to water intake: Grasp a fold of skin near his shoulder with your thumb and forefinger, raise it above the muscle for one second, and then let go.
If your horse’s body fluid levels are where they’re supposed to be, the skin will snap back within a second or two.
If the skin stays “tented” for two seconds or more, he’s dehydrated and needs to get more water into his system.
