5 Simple Ways to Get Horses to Drink More Water in the Winter
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Horse drinking water
“You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink.” Ever had an issue with coaxing your horse to drink after a hot summer workout, long trail ride, or day of showing? Then you know just how painfully accurate this statement can be!But getting horses to drink more water is so important in the winter.
Fortunately, encouraging your horse to drink more doesn’t have to be complicated. We’ve included five tips to help keep your horse hydrated, even when temperatures drop.
A Note About Winter Dehydration Dangers
Horse dehydrationis always a health risk. About 30% of your horse’s bones, 75% of his muscles, and 85% of his brain are made up of water. Hence dehydration and loss of electrolytes can lead to serious issues. Iowa State University shares these interesting facts about your horse’s hydration needs:
- The average horse will drink between 10 to 12 gallons of water per day.
- Draft horses can drink 15 to 20 gallons of water per day.
- Water helps to move digested food through your horse’s intestines, and horses eat more in the winter so they can tolerate colder temperatures.
- Lack of fresh, unfrozen water is the number one cause of wintertime colic, since it contributes to intestinal impaction.
- Horses can lose 4% of their body weight within 24 hours of water deprivation, and they can lose 6.8% of their body weight within 48 hours of water deprivation.
A horse not drinking water in the winter is at risk of dehydration and impaction colic.
How to Get Horses to Drink More Water in the Winter
Clearly, getting horses to drink more water in the winter is important. From preventing water from freezing over to making water more enticing to your horse, these tips can help.
Keep Your Horse Water Troughs from Freezing
Horse attempting to get water from frozen trough
It’s essential to provide your horse access to unfrozen water during turnout, which means keeping his water trough from freezing. You can accomplish this in a few ways.
One of the most common solutions is to install a horse water trough heater. These are available in many different designs, but they’ll all require access to an electricity source. Water trough heaters are generally thermostatically controlled, meaning they’ll turn on and off as needed to keep the water from freezing.
Some horse owners have success with putting floats into their horse’s trough. To do this, you can fill a one-gallon water jug halfway with salt water, then tape the cap on. The jug will float at the trough’s surface, and its movement will help to break up ice. This method will work for temperatures that are a bit below freezing, but once temperatures significantly drop, you’ll probably need another method.
You can buy or build a water trough insulating cover, which fits over part of the trough while still leaving room for your horse to drink. These covers are generally black, which helps to capture heat from the sun, and are about four inches thick. Adding them can help to delay freezing.
A Note About Horse Water Trough Heater Safety
Careful using a heater.
When you mix water and electricity, there’s always a risk. Horse water trough heaters can and do malfunction. Be sure to consider these safety tips when using a heater:
- Start by reading your heater’s instructions. Most heaters are designed to be plugged directly into a GFCI outlet, Not into an extension cord.
- Pick a heater that you can safely keep away from your horse. If you have a playful herd, consider a heater that is anchored to the drain plug, rather than one that floats freely in the tank.
- Use a heater cage. A cage helps to not only protect your horse from a potential burn, but it can prevent the heater from melting your trough if it’s dislodged.
- Always ground your tank. Your heater will come with instructions about how to do this. It’s most often accomplished by running a copper wire into the bottom of the tank and attaching it to a grounding rod.
- Watch your horses for signs of trouble. Older heaters can start to leak electricity into the trough. You might not be able to feel the electricity, but your horse certainly can. I once bought a brand-new heater and soon discovered it was malfunctioning. How? You ask? My mare repeatedly tried to drink but jerked her head away when her whiskers touched the water surface. If you have any doubt about whether your heater is functioning correctly, unplug it and buy a new one.It’s a small price to pay!
Keep Stall Water Buckets from Freezing
Insulated bucket to keep barn water unfrozen
If your horse spends time in a stall, then you’ll need to make sure that he has access to unfrozen water indoors, too. You can accomplish this in a few different ways.
Insulated Water Buckets are electricity-free options that can help to slow the freezing process. Adding some warm water to the buckets at night can also help, especially when temperatures are very cold. I’ve used water bucket insulators in my barn for years. When temperatures drop down below 10 degrees, I add about a gallon of warm tap water to each bucket at night check. In the morning, the water is either unfrozen or has a very thin layer of ice on it.
Water bucket heaters are another solution. Most heaters feature a thermostat, meaning they’ll turn on when the water temperature drops close to freezing. Then,they will turn off again, when necessary, to save electricity. If you’re going to use a water bucket heater, make sure that you plug it directly into a GFCI outlet. You’ll need a way to run the cord through the stall wall so that curious horses can’t chew on it. Keep in mind that if you lose electricity, you’ll need a backup way to keep the water from freezing.
Installing heated automatic waterers in your stalls is also a great way to ensure your horse always has access to water. This is the most expensive option, and again, if your electricity goes out, you’ll need a backup plan to prevent the water from freezing.
Add Water to Your Horse’s Feed
Water feed and keep salt accessible
You can also add some water to your horse’s feed to increase his water intake. Try feeding two parts of your horse’s grain with one part water, which will make a soft consistency without being too runny.This option is great for any horse and comes without the risk that unfortunately accompanies any electric option.
If you feed forage like hay cubes, hay pellets, or beet pulp, these feeds can be soaked for extra intake. Invest in an electric kettle to boil water, which will make soaking feed easier and faster. Electric Kettles sell for as little as $12 and they provide a rapid, economic way to have hot water. For my old guys,beet pulp is a stapleall year round due to its high roughage content. This content that keeps the intestines moving and that’s always a good thing!
Keep Salt Accessible
Salt can help to stimulate thirst and potentially get your horse drinking water. Keep a salt block or loose salt available in both your horse’s stall. And remember likewise to put one in the turnout area. You can also add some salt to your horse’s feed to ensure that he’s getting a daily dose.
Add Electrolytes to your Horse’s Water or Feed-but which flavor?
We prefer adding electrolytes to your horse’s feed rather than water, then it’s more likely that he will consume them rather than them ending up in the bottom of your horse’s water bucket. When it comes to flavor if you’re using the water application, it doesn’t seem to make much differencewhich flavor you choose.Washington State University Researchers tested 40 horses to assess preferred flavors. The choices were: peppermint, apple, no flavor and sweet feed (a cup of sweet feed was added to the water. Water intake was measured every half hour over a 72-hour period. No discernible difference in water consumption was noted. So there goes all the theories about offering flavored water! However, it should be noted, this was a small group of just 40 horses.
Make Sure Water Is Clean
Scrubbing out horse water troughs and buckets in the winter can be tough, but it’s a necessary chore. If you’re using a trough cover or water bucket insulators, you might be surprised to see how dirty the trough or buckets are.It can be quite an eye opener once you start scrubbing. Make a wintertime cleaning schedule and stick to it to ensure that you’re giving your horsesclean waterthat’s appealing to drink.
Getting Your Horse to Drink More This Winter
Horse drinking fresh water
Putting a few of these tips into place can help to keep your horse drinking water this winter. Just keep in mind that whatever tips you choose, select the ones that you can implement consistently all winter long. For example, if you start by bringing hot water down to your horse every evening, your horse will probably grow accustomed to that. If you lose electricity and can’t provide that hot water for a few days, your horse will be in for a sudden change. That’s never good for a horse!
The best advice? You know your horse best. Implement the tips he needs, but try not to go to extremes. Focus on making sure that your horse’s water doesn’t freeze. Then have a system to that you monitor your horse’s water intake to see if you might need to do more.For me, the first thing I do when I feed my horse is to cast my eye on his water bucket. I do this in winter and summer alike. It can be very telling!
Learn More from the Banixx Blog
Encouraging your horse to drink in the winter is a great way to help keep him healthy. Be sure to read our other blog entries for more tips on caring for your horse in the winter.
We hope you found this article helpful and if your horse ever gets anywounds,cuts.scratchesorwhite line disease, we hope you keep Banixx Horse & Pet Care in mind. We have information on topics such as your horse’swolf teeth? Or, ways tohandle manure removalor the miracles ofacupuncture for your horse..yes. we’ve got these all covered for you! Need your own Banixx, clickhereto find out where to buy it!
