The Importance of Hydration in Horses

Importance of Hydration in Horses

Water is the most important nutrient for the horse. With an average horse consuming 20-30L per day, ensuring your horse is staying hydrated is one of the key factors in horse husbandry but also one of the most difficult. The famous phrase ‘you can take a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink’ has some truth to it, but this article is aimed to share ways to outsmart this and avoid the detrimental consequences dehydration can cause.

Like us, horses rely heavily on water for many physiological and metabolic processes. Water is essential in the circulatory system, the lymphatic system, in digestion and excretion. As well as arguably its most important function in thermoregulation. Horses sweat to maintain their temperature. During this they lose both water, around 5-7L per hour, and electrolytes- predominantly sodium, chloride and potassium. Electrolytes are essential for transmission of nerve impulses, muscle contractions and moving water around the body. But when they are lost in sweat, urine and droppings they need to be replaced in the diet.

Dehydration can happen all year round. Less considered times of increased dehydration risk is during cold snaps and travel. Many horses do not like drinking very cold water, combined with a potential lack of turn out during winter reducing the moisture taken from grass and increasing volume of dry hay eaten, this significantly reduces their water intake (hay has a water content of 15% compared to 80% of grass). Similarly travel creates a period of time with a lack of water intake meaning you can arrive at your destination with an already mildly dehydrated horse before you commence any exercise. Dehydration is important to consider during times of ill health- diarrhoea, peritonitis and many other illnesses can cause dehydration as a consequence.

Horses have a large volume of water within their digestive tract. During periods of dehydration, this volume reduces first, slowing the movement of the gut contents and increasing risk of an impaction colic. One way to check your horses’ level of hydration is the classic skin tent test, if you pinch the skin on your horses’ neck for 2 seconds, release and it quickly returns to normal your horse is well hydrated, if it is delayed or stays dehydration is a big risk. Pressing your horses’ gums can also give an indication of hydration- if they are dry and tacky, not moist, and when pressed the pink colour takes more than 2 seconds to reappear, your horse may be dehydrated. There are limitations to these tests so other signs of dehydration to be vigilant for are:

• Weakness
• Depression
• Sunken eyeballs
• Dry mucus membranes
• Slow capillary refill time
• Dark urine

Horses need around 5-7% of their bodyweight in water per day plus more to account for losses from urine, exercise and temperature regulation on top. Water is unable to be stored in the body for times of dehydration as it is continuously used for homeostasis, so it is essential we maintain their intake daily. We should always try to match water loss with intake. Some easy ways to help ensure your horse stays hydrated:

• Ensure water sources are clean
• Soak hay to add extra moisture
• Feed soaked feed e.g. mashes- Our fibre hydration mash is perfect
• Add hot water to buckets during winter months to make the water tepid and encourage drinking
• Allow time for rehydration when arriving after travel
• Provide shade and shelter
• Use a bucket not an automatic drinker to monitor intake levels
• Monitor herd dynamics to ensure dominant horses are not resource guarding and preventing others from drinking

We all know how notoriously hard it is to make a horse drink, which why diet is such an important tool we can use to assist hydration. Sloppy feeds and mashes are perfect. Our fibre hydration mash can be fed as sloppy as soup and can carry multiple times itself in water content. It also has the added benefit of electrolyte content to replenish those your horse may have lost during any strenuous exercise or sweating. As well as added gut support for extra protection. The perfect addition to your post travel, post ride or everyday routine.

Ensuring your horses hydration is essential for maintaining their health and performance. Be aware to monitor hydration and intake year round, not just in the summer months.