can horses just be wet...

Mince Pie

Mince Pie

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...or is it always a symptom of something wrong?

I have a cob gelding who I have had for coming up to 7 years. He has always been a wet horse and up until now I had thought that it was just the way he is. Recently though someone mentioned that they had never seen a horse as wet as him and if he was theirs they would be concerned. I will ring my vet for a consult but won't be able to until tomorrow afternoon so thought I'd ask here as well.

I jave looked at the symptoms of cushings and the only one he has is the excessive urination, as nothing else has changed over the years I'm leaning towards him possibly having liver damage as he came from the gypsies?

His urine is not discoloured, cloudy or smelly and I would have thought that if it was a sign of something wrong it would be?

Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated, thanks.
 
What does he eat, how much does he drink? Is he out during the day? What sort of grazing is he on?

All questions above can have an effect on output. Dry hay for instance may make him drink more and that needs to come out somewhere. Wet grass will make him wee more.

Another thing is how much bedding you use. Most wet horses I see are on minimal beds or straw. My horse has a LOT of bedding, wood pellets. She's not wet but would be if I only had half the bedding as it wouldn't soak all the wee up.
 
If he's been that wet for 7 years, I think any problem he *might* have would have manifested itself in other ways before now? I know liver damage can go unnoticed for a long time, but I would think 7 years would be too long. Likewise cushings, it would have led to other problems by now.
 
I'm another with a wet gelding. Kia pees alot and has done for 12 years. he isn't shy and will stop anywhere to do it.

I've never been concerned as in all that time he's never been sick or sorry unless injured of course and bet has never been concerned about it.
 
annagain said:
If he's been that wet for 7 years, I think any problem he *might* have would have manifested itself in other ways before now? I know liver damage can go unnoticed for a long time, but I would think 7 years would be too long. Likewise cushings, it would have led to other problems by now.
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^^this^^

All horses are different, some are just wet, some sweat when others don't, some have sounds which sound colicky but it's just how they are, some have a tendency to chew/mouth - a lot... And it's just them, how they are on a normal healthy day.

The trick is to learn what's NORMAL for your horse, personally in your case I'd be more concerned if I had had a wet horse for 7 years and suddenly he wasn't wet anymore.

I'm sure your horse is fine.
 
i agree it is probably nothing at all to worry about. from mucking out different horses i always notice how they vary quite widely and so does the amount of water they drink, even if on the same feed.
 
9tails said:
What does he eat, how much does he drink? Is he out during the day? What sort of grazing is he on?

All questions above can have an effect on output. Dry hay for instance may make him drink more and that needs to come out somewhere. Wet grass will make him wee more.

Another thing is how much bedding you use. Most wet horses I see are on minimal beds or straw. My horse has a LOT of bedding, wood pellets. She's not wet but would be if I only had half the bedding as it wouldn't soak all the wee up.
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Hi thanks, he has HiFi lite, nuts and speedibeet and is on soaked hay. Grazing isn't brilliant so they put hay out in the field for him. Last time he was in for 24 hours he drank 3 large tub trugs of water (equivalent to 9 water buckets) - he is 13.2. Bedding wise he's always wet whether on a big or small bed, when he was in during the day and out at night last summer he was going through 2 bales of shavings per week so I gave up and deep littered him.
 
One of mine drinks twice as much as the other, and pees for England as a consequence! When we first bought him I have to admit I was also concerned, but have just got used to it now.

Rather than thinking he is wet, I now worry the other one doesn't drink enough...!
 
Posh name for it is psychogenic polydipsia, just means a healthy horse who drinks and pees more than normal, nothing to worry about...
 
Lol did wonder at title myself. but yes i believe some horses wetter than others. i also think some are "shy" weeing in field and prefer stable and vice versa. baby always had tinkle when brought in AND before going out as if it was private lol :)
 
Like others say after 7 years is unlikely to be anything to worry about just expensive in bedding so would recommend very deep bed of wood pellets not to be disturbed too much with some fluffy shavings on top if you like it to look nice.
 
SnowOnSnow said:
Did anyone else read the title of this and think it was about a horse who was a bit of a wuss? :D
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Oh he is that too! :rolleyes3:

Tess thanks but he's now on livery so his bed is no longer my problem! Lol he gets half a bale of shavings on rubber mats and the whole lot comes out every day.
 
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Quick quick test for cushings!

Oh hang on........ :D

We had a horse that just liked to drink water, was the wettest thing ever!
 
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