HELP!! Why is he drinking so much!! Paranoid mum attack over here....

welshponylover

welshponylover

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Ok so i know im probably just being a paranoid mum but rocky is drinking a bucket of water every 12 hours! I have to fill it up when i go down in morning and evening - is that normal? Whn i worked at my old yard they rarely completely finished it alll....i thought he might just be a bit stressed or something so i gave him two buckets last night but is it just anxiety? He only came day before yesterday so he's still a little bit jumpy...:confused:

HELP!!!!
 
It varies how much mine drink, but if one that drained their water who normally drank very little would make me check their health. What size bucket are you using? For what size horse/pony? My big horses have a tub trug which holds 2 and a bit buckets full and normally there's some left but does vary.
 
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If you mean a normal sized bucket that is not very much really, if he gets plenty of hay or haylage I would expect a horse of his size to need 2 buckets overnight. It is better that he drinks plenty than not enough.
 
If it isn't normal for him, then you are right to be concerned.

However, bear in mind that horses are pretty big.. and will therefore drink a lot of water. It wouldn't be out of the question for him to drink 30 litres of water a day, depending on factors others have already mentioned like exercise, type of forage, type of hard feed etc.

If it is normal for him, then I wouldn't worry too much.
 
Don't panic, that's not a lot unless he's a tiny pony. When my mare came a few weeks ago she was very poor with dips in her rump and very deep behind the withers. First thing she did was drink - and drink and drink. She must have been very dehydrated as within the day she had 'fluffed up' and was looking quite normal. It also meant she felt a lot better than she had when we tried her; thought that action by dealers had gone out with the ark! Now she's very 'bright' and not exactly as she was sold but she's a nice thing to do and is rock solid in traffic so we're putting up with it for now but it's like riding a green four year old rather than the safe and steady experienced thing we tried out.
 
This reminds me of a little anecdote, I "kept an eye" on a block of four, where we shared a bit of the work , like feeding all at one time and bringing in from field, anyway, one pony needed water topped up every day, in fact I was sometimes doing it twice a day, so I asked the rider what was going on, "oh she said", he keeps drinking too much! [I read that as "I can't be ass*d carrying the water"]
...and of course, her main excuse was . "Dad bought the pony, I didn't ask for it".... spoilt brat, neglected pony.
 
My boy tends to drink a fair bit of water. I have to top his trug up twice a day - usually by about 2 standard buckets full each time. He's drunk this much since I've had him though so I'm not worried :)
HS x
 
Welshponylover, whether you are a pony club member or not may I suggest that you get your hands on a copy of the Manual of Horsemanship an dread it from cover to cover. There's a whole load of stuff in there that will set your mind at rest over things like this and it has more interesting things like distances for trotting poles, bounce grids etc, and suggestions for jumping exercises as well as the basic "how much should he eat / drink?" type questions.
 
he's 15.1hh and hes in atm 24/7 cos hes new at yard (qaurentine thingy) and so he has a hay net during night and day - guess its normal!! will double check with old owner thanks everyone :) xx
 
welshponylover said:
he's 15.1hh and hes in atm 24/7 cos hes new at yard (qaurentine thingy) and so he has a hay net during night and day - guess its normal!! will double check with old owner thanks everyone :) xx
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In which case 2 buckets (normal size) is not enough. I would look to have double that and a little bit left over....
 
Luci07 said:
In which case 2 buckets (normal size) is not enough. I would look to have double that and a little bit left over....
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When i looked this morning, they werent both completely finished - i take it that its enough for him in that case, so will just use the two...he is on hay so he will be thirsty and he isnt at grass either and i know that they get quite a lot of their water from the grass (read it somewhere??)
 
I wouldn't say 1 bucket every twelve hours is excessive... in fact he needs more. Water is one thing horses should have free access too... If he doesn't you are asking for a whole heap of problems... colic being one of them. Get a large tub (I use a large heavy duty stubbs one ad some nights he will drink 3/4 of it!) and fill it. My boy always drinks more if he is fed dry hay rather than steamed or soaked.
 
Keep an eye on it as it can be a sign of problems, but Fany drinks a hell of a lot, so much that we got her tested for Cushings. Nope, she is just a thirsty horse. Some are, she will drink at least one and a half of the big flexi buckets that hold 2 to 3 ordinary buckets a day. And you should see how much she pees, she floods the barn I would check how much he is peeing too. So keep an eye on it and if it is an issue see the vet, better safe than sorry.

Hope he is all right, remember they are just like us, every one is different.
FDC
 
Well over night my lad when stabled at night during winter used to drink nearly a whole tall black dustbin full it's the dry hay or haylage and hard feed. Bettrer he's drinking more than not drinking enough. Think you may be stressing too much:) If his urine looks clear when he's weeing I wouldn't worry too much;)
 
If you pinch a fold of skin does it flatten out quickly or slowly? If its slowly he's probably dehydrated. I wouldnt ever want to find mine without some water left to drink. You run the risk of knackering their kidneys if thats happening on a regular basis so you either need several massive trugs or an automatic drinker if hes a big drinker :)
 
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