Elderly pony not drinking much?

tashcat

tashcat

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My boy is 23 and is usually a good drinker.

He has two buckets in his stable: they're black in colour, and I scrub them out and refresh them every day. His field water is automatic and so in a lot more green and natural container!

He usually drinks about 1 to 1 and 1/2 buckets in total a night, and then in the field too (its hard to know how much as its automatic and he shares, but I have seen him and he definitely drinks plenty).

However in the past two weeks he has stopped drinking altogether in the stable. His poos have also been harder, which I assume is the result of his lack of water.

He is still drinking in the field: usually when I turn him out its the first thing he does. However I'm not sure if he's drinking as much as usual.

Around 2 weeks ago he had his vacs and teeth done. Teeth were only a small job. He didn't seem too well after the vet visit so I gave him some bute (danilon) for a few days and all seemed back to normal.

He hasn't had any change to his diet for about 3 months, apart from the fact I've been adding garlic granules to his feed. I am unsure how and if this would affect his drinking, but any insight is appreciated.

What would you do in my shoes? Is it the buckets? Should I involve the vet (he knew about the slight poorly-ness following teeth and vacs)? Or should I be trying something else altogether?

Thanks in advice, big chocolate cake for those who made it here!
 
Id contact your vet. It could be alsorts.
Not to worry you, because it's probably nothing. But it could be poison. Any poisonous plants nearby?
 
I think sometimes they need to drink less in the winter then gradually stop taking enough so become very slightly dehydrated, or something triggers it such as feeling a bit under par, I would give him a really sloppy feed twice a day, fast fibre or speedibeet is ideal to try and increase the intake, often they will start to drink more once they are fully hydrated.
One of mine was almost colicky and I had phoned the vet to come out, I went to check him and he reacted when the kidney area was pressed, I realised it was because he was not drinking, he was on soaked hay and didn't drink much normally, I gave him a sloppy feed which he slurped greedily, I think he then realised he felt better, had a wee then a drink and I phoned the vet to cancel the visit. I kept him on well soaked feeds for some time just to ensure he got some extra fluids in as well as a daily measure of salt to encourage drinking.

I would think he had a slight temperature following his jab, became very slightly dehydrated and has just not got back into the habit of drinking, try taking some water from the field trough to put in one bucket so he has a choice or putting a tiny amount of something that he likes in one, a piece of apple bobbing about may help.
 
Agree with the above comments, we have an old girl 30ish , she definitely drinks less when it is very cold, maybe her teeth hurt with cold water? She has not got many teeth left and the back ones that are left are wobbly. She has them checked by both the vet and dentist. We give her sloppy sugarbeet and she has been fine over the last three years. We had a couple of sunny days and she started drinking her outside water tub last week, think just because it is warmer. She wasn't any warmer than usual so just the temperature of the water I think. I also took a much younger horse to the vet for a friend, that colicked because it wouldn't drink anything when it was cold. Vet advised sloppy feeds and soaked hay to ensure he got enough water when it was cold, in future. That worked too.
 
Try putting some apple juice in the water it will tempt some horses to drink.
Last year when the weather was really cold and the horses were drinking less some one on here suggested topping up the buckets a couple of times a day with hot water to take the chill off and that seems to get them to have a good drink.
 
We tried Horse Quencher http://www.horsequencher.co.uk/ to get the ponies to drink water after polo before getting back on the lorry - might be worth a shot to convince your old boy to drink a little more? They thought it was yummy, we only used it a couple of times before long journeys but it certainly got them drinking!
 
I don't know whether it would affect his water intake but I would certainly ditch the garlic. Garlic is a natural antibacterial and adversely affects the bacteria in the gut.
I would however be adding a decent amount of salt - mine get 2 tablespoonfulls in their daily feed. Salt helps transport fluids across the cell walls and hydrates the cells. Having a lick available isn't enough - equines tongues aren't rough enough to gain enough. It's all here http://www.calmhealthyhorses.com/solution/salt.html
 
shergar said:
Try putting some apple juice in the water it will tempt some horses to drink.
Last year when the weather was really cold and the horses were drinking less some one on here suggested topping up the buckets a couple of times a day with hot water to take the chill off and that seems to get them to have a good drink.
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this is exactly what I was going to say...my old git stops drinking too, and when we get to minus 10 and below the apple juice works, plus I add heavy mineral oil to his feed (always salt ) and make that sloppier too...
 
Totally agree with whats been said. Adding salt is a really good idea and will ensure he keeps drinking properly even after this episode has passed. Sloppy feed is also worth a go - one of my horses loves her feed to be swimming in water during summer (although it doesn't look very appetising to me!). If he isn't as keen on a watered down feed, soaked sugar beet (in plenty of water so it is a bit more like a soup) is very palatable. Molasses water is another trick that usually works well.
Could be worth running a blood test as well though? I think it's a wise idea to get blood tests done on the older guys to make sure everything is ticking along well - much better to be aware of something rather than wait for it to become an issue.

Let us know how he gets on!
 
Thank you for all your advice!

I will add some salt and keep up with the garlic!

And good idea in filling one indoor bucket from the field water too: it'll help me know he isn't just being a fussy boy! And if the field water doesn't work, apple juice and horse quencher will be my next port of call!

He gets fed calm and condition so thats pretty easy to add water to and he doesn't seem to mind a sloppy meal!

Thank you all again, I'll keep you posted!
 
He might prefer the less clean water? My elderly gelding loves drinking out of his automatic drinker in the field - it's not the cleanest and he seems to like that as he only drinks water out of his clean stable buckets if he's really thirsty. My youngster on the other hand prefers to avoid the field water and binges on his stable water when he gets in if I'm not careful. I'd stop the garlic and certainly wouldn't add salt. If it has rained a lot near you he may also be getting a lot of water from the grass.
 
A marmite tea can help encourage them to drink as well, put a tablespoon in a 2 litre bottle, add hot water and let it cool. Mine love it. One has a sugar allergy so the traditional sweet additions can't be used for him so the Marmite is ideal.
 
Equidgel is a good way of getting water down them. It's used by a lot of endurance riders who can't get their horses to drink when on a run. It's made in Lincolnshire but I think they have a list of stockists on their website.
 
tashcat said:
I will add some salt and keep up with the garlic!
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Do NOT add salt. If you have an elderly pony who may have deteriorating kidneys, the last thing you should do is put them under additional strain by piling salt into the system. This is a worrying piece of advice that I see far too often on this forum.

There is also, according to my vet, no evidence that it will encourage a healthy horse to drink and can be fatal for a horse with kidney disease.
 
Just a thought, when you say your pony is generally a good drinker (one and a half buckets in a night, seems quite a lot to me for a pony in the winter)I just wonder if you've had him tested for cushings. My old boy had no symptoms except he was drinking rather a lot and had a wetter bed.
 
My oldish pony isn't a big drinker & always used to only drink a small amount overnight but go straight to drink out of the field trough each morning. Her water bucket was on the floor but then I decided to get one that I could hang via a chain to a tie ring - I now feel horribly guilty as she immediately started drinking more overnight!!! She's a funny thing & I think she just didn't like the feeling if putting her head down in a corner!!
Also, do try apple juice. When it's freezing my youngster seems to go on drink strike so I make sure she's had at least half a bucket morning & evening by adding some apple juice & making it tepid. This seems to make her remember to drink at other times! At first I add quite a lot of juice to give her the idea of it being yummy but then just a splash does the job! All the others then get some too as they feel left out (spoilt)!!
I've also noticed that of the two water buckets in the fields, the green one is definitely chosen over the black one - as if the black leaches out a nasty taste...
Blummin horses :D
 
I have an old mare like this....she had similar problem when temp dropped last week re drier poo etc...I gave her wet hay and wetter than usual food to help keep things moving...then during the day filled her buckets and stood in the sun all day which she appreciated (same principal as adding warm I guess) all mine prefer outer water sources (tanks or muddy puddles) I also have a sheep who refuses to drink from plastic buckets only metal ones. I do wonder about this after all we are always told stainless or ceramic water bowls for cats and dogs? Perhaps the old fashioned metal buckets may be preferable to our equine pals as well?
 
When stabled my mare will not drink from her bucket. She then goes straight to her trough and drinks the moment she's turned out. Molasses in the water worked though. I love the Marmite idea, will give that a try.

Agree that you need to be careful about feeding too much salt.
 
Smogul said:
Do NOT add salt. If you have an elderly pony who may have deteriorating kidneys, the last thing you should do is put them under additional strain by piling salt into the system. This is a worrying piece of advice that I see far too often on this forum.
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Any evidence for that?
 
This is probably going to sound dumb, but is the drinker in the field higher up than his buckets in the stable? I'm just thinking if it is, he may be waiting to drink from the drinker as it's higher and easier to reach?

Just a dumb thought, disregard as needed! Hope you get to the bottom of it soon!
 
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oldie48 said:
Just a thought, when you say your pony is generally a good drinker (one and a half buckets in a night, seems quite a lot to me for a pony in the winter)I just wonder if you've had him tested for cushings. My old boy had no symptoms except he was drinking rather a lot and had a wetter bed.
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I don't think it 's a huge amount, especially if they're eating a fair amount of hay / haylage. One of mine bareley drinks a bucketful at the start of winter when there's still plenty of grass and he's just picking at his hay, but by now when the grass is barely there, he's eating a full section of big square bale haylage (about 15kgs) and drinking 3 buckets of water as a result. This is normal for him, the other - who eats much less despite being the same shape and size - also drink much less.
 
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