enough moisture from the snow?

[AFlapjack]

At the farm where I keep Jack there are two fields with ponies in. Both field's troughs have frozen and are not re-filling so I have been taking buckets of water into Jack's field for them to drink but the other field haven't been doing it.

Someone who keeps their pony in the other field has said today that they can only take two barrels of water in the morning as its hard to carry and they will have to wait till tomorrow morning and that the ponies will get enough moisture from the snow.

I went to the farm lunchtime today and the field had NO water at all.

SURELY you would make sure your pony had water that would last them all day and night until you were visiting again? I've always thought ponies were unable to get enough moisture from the snow or am I wrong? Cause I just told her they couldn't and she's now got a little shirty with me.

I'm worried about the ponies so will take water up for them tomorrow.

Just a rant really!

 

[Munchkin]

They are likely to dehydrate by eating snow to try to quench thirst.

 

[MurphysMinder]

Murph has always been difficult with drinking, he will never drink at shows etc. The trough in the field has been frozen solid for what seems forever, I have been carrying buckets of warm water into the field for him and his field mate and he has constantly refused to drink. I tried chopping carrots and apples in the water and that also failed. I have resorted to giving him feeds morning and night of hifi and sugarbeet "soup" and that is the only liquid he has, I do therefore think he must be getting some moisture from the snow, however I certainly wouldn't leave them without any water, even if the bugger isn't drinking it.

 

[jenni999]

I read somewhere that horses will NOT eat snow... They need water.

 

[AFlapjack]

Thanks guys. I will put plenty of water out for them tomorrow. They must be thirsty as the water she put out this morning was gone by lunchtime.

I'm pretty sure I also read somewhere that horses don't get enough moisture from the snow but when she said they would I doubted myself and wondered whether in actual fact they could?

 

[FanyDuChamp]

I read somewhere that horses will NOT eat snow... They need water.

Well Fany is the world's laziest horse and could not be bothered the other day to get up and walk to the trough so she ate the snow instead, she regularly does it. Maybe she never read the book?
FDC

 

[ISHmad]

Stupid irresponsible owners :-( Point them to the world of forums and how many horses are going down with colic because of horses not drinking enough water in these conditions.

Those ponies are so lucky you are around. Animals should have access to water at all times, not left without any to rely on the snow FFS. That is a basic welfare issue along with needing forage to help keep themselves warm.

 

[skint1]

They need water with no doubt and if you want to ensure they drink it you need to put it out kind of warmish because many won't drink icy cold water. Our fieldmate has been doing this for ours (her stable closer to field than ours) and we always fill our horse's stable buckets with part cold/part hot water which we bring from home. Co

 

[3DE]

I read somewhere that horses will NOT eat snow... They need water.

Not true.

My horses are not being watered as they will not drink the cold water - they eat snow while digging for grass (they wont touch hay either ). I keep an eye on their wee (easy to check the colour in the snow ) and make sure it is yellow, not orange. If it turns orange then I would bring them in and give water in the stable - no need as of yet though...

 

[Serephin]

We put water out for the horses and it is frozen half an hour later. They must be getting moisture from the snow as my boy is not drinking any more water over night whist stabled than he was before the snow, and he is not coming in thirsty either and he knows how to ask for a drink.

 

[starbar]

Not true.

My horses are not being watered as they will not drink the cold water - they eat snow while digging for grass (they wont touch hay either ). I keep an eye on their wee (easy to check the colour in the snow ) and make sure it is yellow, not orange. If it turns orange then I would bring them in and give water in the stable - no need as of yet though...

One of mine won't drink cold water (with ice cubes ) either. If I leave a bucket of cold water it goes untouched...but...if I take a bucket of warm water up he will drain it, so I know he is thirsty.

Horses can't get enough water by eating snow alone. It takes 6 inches of snow to make 1 inch of water, if a horse needs about 8 gallons of water a day, thats one hell of alot of snow. It also can be counterproductive because the calories used to melt the snow would be better spent heating the body.

 

[3Beasties]

We have 11 ponies turned out in various fields and haven't given them any water in weeks, well actually that is a lie, on 3 occasions I have taken water out to them and not one of them touched it! I am sure if they were 'dehydrated' they would have shown some interest in it!

ETA - The water I took to them was warm too!

 

[3DE]

Horses can't get enough water by eating snow alone. It takes 6 inches of snow to make 1 inch of water, if a horse needs about 8 gallons of water a day, thats one hell of alot of snow. It also can be counterproductive because the calories used to melt the snow would be better spent heating the body.

Hell of a lot of snow but my horses are out 24/7 and eating constantly. They urine is of a normal colour and they haven't dropped weight. So they are getting enough forage and water

Edit - If I were feeding hay then I would give water as they wouldn't be foraging for grass and thus getting less water...

 

[MotherOfChickens]

I wouldnt rely on them eating snow for hydration on it's own. I do think horses can manage (to a certain extent) on having longer drinks less often rather than little and often. my horse for example, doesnt like very cold water and gladly drinks warm. my exmoors will eat warm sloppy feeds but won't drink the warm water until it's cooled (steaming water is regarded with great suspicion lol) and they've been remarkable in how they've kept a drinking hole in the trough-until it froze completely solid! the exmoors had hay today and they also dig through the snow to get at the grass but both of them today were eating snow despite me having filled their trug.

some people don't seem to worry and I must say their horses seem alright on it, personally I couldnt do it and my ponies will have to put up with waiting for their water to cool, poor loves

 

[eggs]

There was an interesting article recently on Australian brumbies and their drinking habits which indicated that they survived on drinking only every third day.

I do ensure that my horses are offered warm water once a day. Some days they drink a little of it and other days they don't touch it.

 

[MotherOfChickens]

There was an interesting article recently on Australian brumbies and their drinking habits which indicated that they survived on drinking only every third day.

.

makes sense to me that wild/feral horses may travel a fair bit between watering and feeding. also, back in the day, stabled horses would be bought out of their stables at certain times of day to drink rather than have water available all the time. at least when they are out they have access to snow.

 

[cider loving mare]

Not having enough water can cause colic. I always find that horses get more thirsty in the winter and drink much more probably because they are having more hard feed, hay/haylege.

I would rather know mine had access/enough water rather than relying and hoping the snow would be enough to keep them hydrated. Better to be safe than sorry

 

[jaypeebee]

It takes 10 times as much snow to make the equivalent amount of water so horses can get water from snow. Orange or red urine is normal once on snow due to oxidizing effect. Water should be given to the ponies as impactions can occur when dehydrated.

 

[irish_only]

My old chap of 20 had his first day of illness in his life last Thursday - colic. He hadn't been drinking enough and as a result his poos were very dry and pellety. I didn't realise he hadn't been drinking enough but do now, and also know why. He doesn't like the very cold water, so all buckets now have some warm in them and he is back to normal.
So if you think your horse/pony doesn't want a drink, do try warming the water, you may find that they are thirsty but don't want the very cold water.

 

[TicTac]

"You can take a horse to water but you can't make it drink" as the old saying goes.

My mare only drank half a bucket of tepid water today for the first time in 3 days. I give her warm water, warm wet feeds and she has haylage and she also goes out everyday for 7 or 8 hours.

She is not de hydrated and is not showing signs of colic. She is also passing what she eats. I do worry that she is not drinking enough but what more can I do. Trust that she knows her self well enough I guess

 

[Wagtail]

It makes me so angry that people are ignorant of basic horse welfare issues. Horses WILL NOT get enough water from snow. Some will not drink really cold water and they should be taken warm water to be poured into he troughs to ensure that they get enough water and do not dehydrate or colic. I am worried sick everytime I read some of these threads. How many poor horses are suffering due to ignorance or laziness? Yes, it's damned hard work in this weather. I spend practically every daylight hour boiling kettles, defrosting troughs and drinkers, bucketing warm water, and watering 6 horses at the moment. It's a pain, but if you own horses, it's something you have to do.

 

[3DE]

It makes me so angry that people are ignorant of basic horse welfare issues. Horses WILL NOT get enough water from snow. Some will not drink really cold water and they should be taken warm water to be poured into he troughs to ensure that they get enough water and do not dehydrate or colic. I am worried sick everytime I read some of these threads. How many poor horses are suffering due to ignorance or laziness? Yes, it's damned hard work in this weather. I spend practically every daylight hour boiling kettles, defrosting troughs and drinkers, bucketing warm water, and watering 6 horses at the moment. It's a pain, but if you own horses, it's something you have to do.

I disagree strongly - horses can and do get enough water from the snow and grass, if turned out. My horses have access to water but choose not to drink it. I wonder how ponies on the moors cope

We have a special field that we have just for weather like this - super long grass that hasn't been touched - really easy for the horses to dig for. And some of of the long bits are even over the top of our deep snow

We have a little river running through our land - the dogs will drink out of it, the horses not. As long as their urine pale yellow and their poos soft I'm not worrying.

Pup digging for the river - undisturbed by the horses

 

[irish_only]

I would normally have said that they will drink if they are thirsty, but am thinking quite differently now. Have any of you read the letter of the week in this weeks H&H?

 

[Wagtail]

@ CCrackers. Coping is different to being comfortable. People used to live in caves, but I don't think you would advocate that it is good place for a family to live. Wild animals perish in this weather for all kinds of reasons, including dehydration, so your analogy does not hold water. Pun not intended. May horses won't drink cold water. Two out of the 6 in my care will not. They have to have warm water in this weather and they down the lot. Horses are reluctant to drink cold water as it lowers their core temperature. But it is not good for them not to drink.

 

[Munchkin]

It makes me so angry that people are ignorant of basic horse welfare issues. Horses WILL NOT get enough water from snow. Some will not drink really cold water and they should be taken warm water to be poured into he troughs to ensure that they get enough water and do not dehydrate or colic. I am worried sick everytime I read some of these threads. How many poor horses are suffering due to ignorance or laziness? Yes, it's damned hard work in this weather. I spend practically every daylight hour boiling kettles, defrosting troughs and drinkers, bucketing warm water, and watering 6 horses at the moment. It's a pain, but if you own horses, it's something you have to do.

This, exactly. It's pure laziness. Reading this forum makes me terrified to put my horse up for sale for fear of the idiot he may end up with... there seem to be so many...

 

[Saddlebreds]

Some people believe horses can get by on snow. "Get by" they might, but horses require a lot of water to digest dry feed. Forcing a horse to produce moisture by eating snow is counterproductive. Six times as much snow must be eaten to provide an equal amount of water. Furthermore, calories are used to melt the snow that should be used for body warmth.

http://www.gaitedhorses.net/Articles/WinterCare.html

While horses can survive on snow in the winter, it is far from ideal. The horse's body has to melt a lot of snow to get enough water, thus wasting body heat. A horse not getting enough water is more liable to impaction colic. An inexpensive stock tank heater can keep the water trough ice-free.

http://www.acreageequines.com/HorseCare/horsecare1.htm

Page 33 left hand column, as it won't let me copy&paste
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=...DgK#v=onepage&q=can horses drink snow&f=false

Clean, fresh water should always be provided; maybe my horses could 'cope' without it in the snow but I'd rather not take any risks with their welfare, especially as they are getting a bit older

 

[Wagtail]

At last! some sense. Sometimes reading this forum worries me sick. Horses have survival instincts. It is extremely cold and their instincts to prevent them from freezing to death sometimes over ride those that tell them to drink. So these horses should have their water warmed. Why are so many horse people so *intentionally* dumb when it suits them?

 

[lannerch]

At last! some sense. Sometimes reading this forum worries me sick. Horses have survival instincts. It is extremely cold and their instincts to prevent them from freezing to death sometimes over ride those that tell them to drink. So these horses should have their water warmed. Why are so many horse people so *intentionally* dumb when it suits them?

lazyness!

Am waiting for the barrage of lazy posters desperately trying to justify their actions or in this case lack of action.

And my message to them is better safe than sorry!

 

[kateknights]

My horse has always drunk a lot, he is drinking as much now (in the winter), as he does in the summer!
It's hard work as water has to be carried from the kitchen sink whilst taps are frozen, but it's my main priority as it should be for every horse owner.
Kate x

 

[wellsat]

Jerry got dehydrated when the snow first arrived so I had to add sloppy Speedibeet to his feed to make sure he was getting enough water into him. Maybe it depends on the horse but he certainly wasn't getting enough water from the snow and I have seen him eating it.