Hit me with your best cures for horses that WILL.NOT.DRINK at competitions

amy_b

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My horse will not drink at competitions. Im careful with his electrolytes and he SEEMS to manage (but how do you know when you dont know what he's like hydrated?!:confused:)
I wet his hay/lage and give him a sloppy feed or two to get what little water I CAN get in at the comp.
This weekend a very nice lady gave me a scoop of horse quencher and Tom was very unimpressed, kept trying it with him all day, feeding him the grains, got him eating it at water level then as soon as you got more than damp grains (ie water in there) he spat it out, like he's allergic to the flippin stuff!! :mad:
I havent yet tried (and plan to at the next event) apple juice,I was thinking also maybe mollasses in the water?! (however I did try this DIY by putting melted horselyx in and that didnt work :eek:) from this can you give them cordial?!! if I get apple cordial?!
*takes a breath*
has anybody 'cured' a non drinker?! and howwwww did you do it?!!!
we are stabling this weekend so be good to see if he drinks then, we cheekily popped him in a temporary stable at an event a couple of weeks ago that was next to our lorry and he drank in there....but cant do that every time! :(
failing this Il have to fork out for a couple more horse quencher sachets and try it at home but they're not cheap!! so would like a purse friendly solution!!! :D
apple cordial for whoever made it this far ;)
 

abbijay

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Mark Todd had this problem at the Olympics. At one point they were concerned he wouldn't be able to compete. The only thing they got to work was buying bottles of mineral water so his efforts probably should have been sponsored by Evian!
Just a thought, are you taking water from home with you? It may taste different from other sources. If you take it with you, how frequently do you clean your water containers and what do you clean them with? I'm guessing that could also give it a taste.
Could you take his water bucket form his stable with you? And can you carry just enough drinking water seperately, kept in a container that only ever has his drinking water in it and is emptied and thoroughly dried after every use?
Good luck x
 

Scarlett

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Ive known apple juice in water to work for a few horses, I also know one who will only drink from his stable water bucket and that has to go with him to shows or he will not drink a drop....
 

PorkChop

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Definitely try apple or orange juice added to the water, or a handful of speedibeet in a bucket of water often works.

Mostly mine are good drinkers at competitions, but I know how stressful it can be when you just want them to have a drink!

You are giving electrolytes so I wouldn't worry too much as long as he is not getting noticeably dehydrated. Which discipline do you compete in?
 

amy_b

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take his stable water bucket :( water from home. we use the same water carrier and tis clean. I might taste the water out of it when we get there and see if it tastes funny as the yard water is drinkable (or at least I havent died yet!!)
 

amy_b

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Definitely try apple or orange juice added to the water, or a handful of speedibeet in a bucket of water often works.

Mostly mine are good drinkers at competitions, but I know how stressful it can be when you just want them to have a drink!

You are giving electrolytes so I wouldn't worry too much as long as he is not getting noticeably dehydrated. Which discipline do you compete in?

orange juice?!!!
speedibeet is a very good idea!! might see if I can wangle a freesample from soemwhere to save buying a bag :rolleyes:
(eventing)
he sweats ALOT. he is the sweatiest horse iv ever owned. :eek: quite embarrassing as he often has white sweat when he REALLY shouldnt!! I must look like I drag him from the field once a week to do a competition then throw him back!! :(
 

wilde2

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Not tried but suggested to me - add peppermint flavour drops to water at home, then use the same when away. Can be even taking water from home in carriers can change the taste. Although my horse will turn up his nose at water when out, then happily drink from filthy puddles if given the opportunity when hacking - so who knows!
 

Shazbat

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-We had a mare that would never drink at competitions - in fact she got so de-hydrated once we had to have the vet to her.
Then we were told to slice up apples or carrots into the water and they would take in water while they were apple/carrot bobbing!
Worked a treat ane we never had a problem again.
 

Swirlymurphy

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I sometimes partially crush apples to add to the water hoping that he will take in water as well as the apple.

If you want a couple of handfuls of speedibeet, PM me and I'll gladly send you some. We are away on hols from Sat for a week so unless you get me the info tonight, it won't be until early Sept.
 

kerilli

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Yep, apple bobbing.
Or, very sloppy Graze-on or Readigrass soaked and presented like soup, works for 1 of mine who won't drink out of a bucket of water usually.
The other thing is, just keep offering water. Even if the horse 'never' drinks, eventually s/he will be thirsty enough and will. Don't take no for an answer, ever.
Btw, I once offered water to a horse that 'never' drank at comps - so rider never offered water, which I thought wasn't fair, since it only takes a moment to try - and it drank and drank...
 

Goldenstar

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I have been told that the thing to do is remove water at home from the stable and paddock so the horse learns to drink when water is offered I can see the logic to this and in many parts of the world it the usual way of watering when I was working with SJ'ers in turkey this was standard pracitse on the yard .
I have ever done it but I can see that it might work,although your horse would have to be at those so you could be there to offer it regularly, and I just can't imagine going to bed and leaving a horse without a bucket.
The other thing would be to ask endurance people how they do it as it vital to them that their horses drink.
 

Jane_Lou

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Current mare drinks really well, old boy was a nightmare! I tried using his stable bucket but that didn't work, I even tried bringing water from his trough. I always feed 'soup' and soaked hay anyway, which does help. What worked for him was speedibeet, Just a double handful in a bucket and he was slurping away loving it! If you can't get a sample pm me your address and I will send you some as I always feed it.
 

Honey08

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-We had a mare that would never drink at competitions - in fact she got so de-hydrated once we had to have the vet to her.
Then we were told to slice up apples or carrots into the water and they would take in water while they were apple/carrot bobbing!
Worked a treat ane we never had a problem again.

What a good idea - never thought of that!

My mare won't drink at competition either, and even worse, won't drink water wth electrolytes in either. She is also the sweatiest horse I've ever met - not a good combination! I've tried all the juices and cordials in the water, I am just faced with her "summat wierd in that mum.." expression! I soak her nets in the trailer on the way there, then after XC sponge her mouth with a clean wet sponge, and soak her nets again. We let her graze after xc and I pour water onto the grass where she is eating too.
 

juliap

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Mine won't drink clean fresh water but will happily gulp down the water left over from sponging him off - strange creature
 
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EstherYoung

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Horses are frustrating because when they get dehydrated, they stop drinking. There is some truth to the idea that if they've stopped drinking, they're already dehydrated.

It's worth trying any of the following:
- Making sure the diet contains enough fibre. Fibre acts as a bit of a reservoir in the gut and keeps the fluid they do have on board from just passing straight through unused
- Keep them eating. Ideally wet fibrous food, little and often from when you arrive at the event. Keep the food trigger going and the thirst trigger will kick in.
- Carrots. This was what cracked it with H. He didn't used to drink and we got away with it up to 65km but he tied up on his first attempt at 80km. Next time out I fed him carrots. He got some when we arrived, when we were about to set off on the ride, at the next crewpoint....forcefed if necessary....and then at the second crewpoint he started drinking like a fish. That had never happened before.
- Keep them cool. If you're worried that they haven't taken in enough fluid, sloshing with cold water will stop them wasting what fluid they do have on board as sweat.

Just one point - do not e-lyte unless you are sure that they are drinking well. Some people e-lyte to trigger thirst, but that's a dangerous gamble and can lead to a metabolic crash.
 

ladyt25

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Do you know i had this issue with my horse when he was younger, he would sweat quite a lot so I tried adding electrolytes to his water - he wasn't going to touch that! At the dend of the day I learnt that he would only drink once I;d taken all his tack off and he felt he'd 'finished' for the day.

He has got over it now and he will often whicker for a drink and he actually does drink a fair bit. I would have though it's probably best not to get overly worried about it. As long as your horse has access to water all the time at home and you are providng plenty of vits and mins in general then I would be pretty sure your horse will be ok.

If you're still concerned then I think the apples in water is probably the best and cheapest way to encourage your horse to drink or take in water.
 

glamourpuss

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My old lad wouldn't touch a fresh bucket of water but would always happily slurp from a bucket of water used to wash him down.
Mind you his treat for finishing XC was also a can of orange tango wish he adored!
 

Saratoga

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Apple juice in the water :nod: but they need to get the taste of it at home first!

My boy would never drink, got him used to the apple juice at home. I always open the carton and let him smell it before I add it to the water so he's already looking for it when I lift the bucket :)
 

SpruceRI

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I have a large syringe in my grooming kit and syringe water into my ponys' mouth which she happily accepts, as she won't drink anything.
 

Skippys Mum

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I make "soup" with Fast Fibre or speedybeet. He loves it. I have yet to meet a horse that wont drink it.

I recently started adding table salt to his feed in what seemed like fairly large quantities (2 heaped tablespoons) after advice on a barefoot forum. Since then, he no longer gets that frothy white foamy sweat. He still sweats though not as much. He does pee more and he does drink more but I am happy about that as I feel that he is ridding his system of impurities :D
 

Darremi

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My old horse never used to drink when she first started eventing and even collicked after Hexham one year from dehydration. The one thing that worked with her was to put about 2 or 3 polo mints into her water bucket at home, about a week leading up to a competition, then doing the same to her buckets at the competition. That way all her water tasted the same and she drank it. Luckily when she went round Burghley they gave her an IV saline drip so we never needed to worry, but I do not suppose they are readily accessible!!
 

Lyle

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What is the water source at home like? Is it mains water, tank, bore, dam?

I've seen horses that turn up their nose to fresh mains water drink down a bucket with a little dirt mixed in. Molasses is also very good, mine will drink the bucket down even if they aren't thirsty! :eek:
 

NaeNae87

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Stupid question but, Do you have molasses in the UK?

I chuck a decent sized dollop in a water bucket and then add water to it. My two guzzle that up like there is no tomorrow wheter it be at shows, at the beach on a hot day or just as a treat.

It also masks the taste of the water, so your horse won't know if it water from home or water from wherever. :)
 

vinnie

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My boy has the same problem, so I know how frustrating it is!!
He will only drink on the lorry if he sees the other horses drinking too. But he never drinks alone which is a problem.
Last weekend I tried feeding him some apple and held it as close as possible to the water as I could, then as he would try to take the next bite I let go of it so it was in the water. He apple-bobbed for a bit, and then actually drank a couple of mouthfuls! But that was it, he was disinterested in apple bobbing after that :(
Also I have tried molasses, it didn't make him drink whenI offered him water but he drank a lot more in the stable over night. But again - doesn't really help when you need them to drink then and there!
But I agree, take your own water and buckets and see if that works.
 
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