Our horses are all in (two weeks quarantine due to a move to a new yard). We're on day four. Noticed that they are drinking a heck of a lot more than usual. There's a mix of ages and types.
Yes most on our yard are - trust the water feeders to freeze over for the first time in this weather (lagging went missing over summer apparantly
). Mine downs a good 2/3 big buckets a day (at old yard didnt even manage one a night and never drank the water in the field - i know because we used to fill it up)
my mare who has been in since october has started drinking more since it has got colder, a bucket of water (tubtrug) would have easierly lasted her 24 hours (it was change and topped up twice a day) but now she is drinking 1 and 1/2 to 2 in a 24 hour period.
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my mare who has been in since october has started drinking more since it has got colder, a bucket of water (tubtrug) would have easierly lasted her 24 hours (it was change and topped up twice a day) but now she is drinking 1 and 1/2 to 2 in a 24 hour period.
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Yup
That's it!
Then again, I've just realised that I have been drinking more water as well...
mine are out in the day still but drinking loads overnight, i guess because they arent keen on the freezing cold water in the trough in the day. every time i go out to the yard i top them up with warm water to try and encourage them to drink.
Well, i have no idea whether it's the same for horses as for humans but i recall being told when I was at college (equine course) that we have a tendency to drink more in cold weather as, due to the cold our blood vessels constrict to take blood away from the extremities (ie hands/feet etc) in order to ensure the core body temperature and internal organs are kept at a constant body temperature.
This blood all moving to internal organs puts pressure on the likes of the bladder and therefore we will need to urinate more. Because of this we then need to replenish that fluid lost more regularly.
Now, I have no idea of the scientific facts behind that and how true that may be but it seems plausible and would help explain why horses and other animals will drink a lot in colder weather.
probably not more than usual but a pain as such a pain to fill up the water again!! put 2 kettles full of boiling water in it to warm it up and he loved it- practically drunk the whole thing, so had to do it all over again!
Ah well, better more than nothing at all- horse at our yard got colic the other night, probably due to dehydration
Mine also drinking lots! As a real party piece, there was a large rat floating this am! He has already killed one this week by lying on it and squashing it flat! Have I got a killer on my hands?!