how much is too much water

Nonyabusiness

Nonyabusiness

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After being told my horse is drinking too much.... to be being told theres nothing wrong with her teeth mouth or general health.... How much water is too much water. Just taken her off her auto drinker as she splashes water and soaks the stable given her a bucket of water with 30 ltrs in it..... should i expect to find water in it come 12 noon when i get there tomorrow or not?

Im a novice owner and learning fast..... although im experienced in horse care and riding, ive never owned my own b4 oct 2012. just a general question so general answers on a post card please. :o)
 
Depends on the horse & how much moisture is in the diet. There isn't a right or wrong. The only way to monitor what is right, is what is normal for them.
 
How can a horse have too much water? Did the vets tell you this??

A sudden increase is usually a sign something untoward is going on but I've never heard of a horse having too much water that it needs to be limited

I'm sure if true someone can enlighten me ;D
 
well I have 3 horses and they all differ... for instance I have to put two tubs in for my ish as she drnks a lot always has done, I usually have half a tub left on morn.. my other 2 usually just have one unless really warm and varies in amount left rarely none though, I thought water intake was good ? mine also get very watery speedibeet twice a day
 
One of mine has been drinking all his water recently which is a 30ltr bucket full, they are in 5-9 max so I put another small bucket in with the 30ltrs and he hasn't touched the smaller one just drinking the large one :confused:

I have found in the past if hay is dusty or they are eating their bed they can drink more.
 
My ponies drink 10-20 litres daily on average. They live out all year and I carry water to their field so easy to monitor. They do drink more in the first couple of days after getting a new round bale - think they are eating more at first and need it for digestion. Also if weather hot in summer they might drink quite a lot more. They are 13 to 14 hands so would expect a bigger horse eating more to drink more. I would personally investigate quickly if I noticed any unexplained change.
 
Having had a look at previous posts is this the same horse who was head shaking & napping, had a suspected mouth ulcer & spots on her gums, which resulted in her drinking between each mouthful of food? I assume she's seen the vet since then? And well spotted (again!) ps, won't whoever is doing horse in the morning do her water?
 
Having done 24 hours with a water bucket it seems my horse loves to splash in her water drinker and today the stable floor is dry apart from the normal wetness from wee. Anyway my hose is stabled most of the day as we have no winter turnout. yo is against us using his fields due to being on peat land.... (DONT ASK.... BIG BUG BARE) So yes my horse gets her net morning and night and FEED in the morning i do her water when i get there during the day normally around 12 noon. im sure if she needed water in the morning then yo wud possibly put some in for her, but this is doubtful. But im sure that friends on the yard wud begrudge putting some in if it was needed. so i dont worry about that tbh.

I do think that yo has made my concerns greater by saying well the others dont do that.. the other horses eat fast. Well you know what my horse is fine she eats slowly cos her teeth are fine, she eats slowly cos shes enjoying it. and she drinks and dribbles so what, she drinks and thats all that matters right. if she wasnt drinking then thats time to worry right!
 
Now ours are on hay instead of haylage the little welshy drinks 2 buckets a night! She dunks her hay and messes with it. Our big ones only about a bucket, but it certainly varies, when the welshy is on haylage she drinks next to nothing x
 
NonyaFNbusiness said:
i do her water when i get there during the day normally around 12 noon. im sure if she needed water in the morning then yo wud possibly put some in for her, but this is doubtful. But im sure that friends on the yard wud begrudge putting some in if it was needed.
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Piss poor management IMO. As a minimum when stabled 24/7 a horse should have its water check morning and afternoon (though personally I would ensure they had fresh morning/evening in not on a auto and if on an auto that should be checked twice to check it isn't block/frozen etc...). This should be arranged, not hope that someone take pity on her.
 
I cannot believe I have just read that you don't go up to muck out/water your poor horse till lunch time!
Disgraceful novice owner or not.

She should ad lib fresh water available at all times. If you are concerned with her intake, carefully and accurately measure her intake and report findings to your vet.
My horse drinks around 3/4 of a large tub trug when he is in at night, in the day obv he has free access to the water trough.

Still genuinely shocked by your idea of stable management!
 
piebaldsparkle said:
Piss poor management IMO. As a minimum when stabled 24/7 a horse should have its water check morning and afternoon (though personally I would ensure they had fresh morning/evening in not on a auto and if on an auto that should be checked twice to check it isn't block/frozen etc...). This should be arranged, not hope that someone take pity on her.
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^^ this. I also find your username OP rather offensive.
 
NonyaFNbusiness said:
Having done 24 hours with a water bucket it seems my horse loves to splash in her water drinker and today the stable floor is dry apart from the normal wetness from wee. Anyway my hose is stabled most of the day as we have no winter turnout. yo is against us using his fields due to being on peat land.... (DONT ASK.... BIG BUG BARE) So yes my horse gets her net morning and night and FEED in the morning i do her water when i get there during the day normally around 12 noon. im sure if she needed water in the morning then yo wud possibly put some in for her, but this is doubtful. But im sure that friends on the yard wud begrudge putting some in if it was needed. so i dont worry about that tbh.

I do think that yo has made my concerns greater by saying well the others dont do that.. the other horses eat fast. Well you know what my horse is fine she eats slowly cos her teeth are fine, she eats slowly cos shes enjoying it. and she drinks and dribbles so what, she drinks and thats all that matters right. if she wasnt drinking then thats time to worry right!
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have to say, I've had a quick look at your previous posts, and I cant make my mind up about you at all. Cant believe your attitude to stable management, hit and miss at best. Relying on others to maybe see to her, if they can be a**ed is riddiculous. If you cant ensure that your horse is fed, hayed AND watered by someone else, then get off your butt and do it yourself! A horse that is stabled all day, should be checked, skipped and fresh water supplied 3x a day IMO. its disgraceful that you posted seemingly concerned about her, then say youre not going to worry is bizarre! :mad:
 
Why not just put 6 buckets of water in, then you could give yourself a well deserved day off!

Sorry this has to be a wind-up.
 
cambrica said:
Sorry this has to be a wind-up.
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See my immediate reaction last night was TROLLLLLLL, but sadly I have a gut feeling that they aren't and they truly think it is acceptable to leave their horse stood in poo till lunchtime, without water being checked as someone has chucked it hay and a feed.:(

Believe me there are owners like this...........I have met a few and several and many more who have no issue strolling up the yard gone 10am on a weekend, while their poor horses stand and wait to go out.
 
can't you leave a bucket of water ready with her hay net and food so they just have to put it in?

All horses are different.
It depends on their diet.

find out what's normal for her then you will notice a change.
 
russianhorse said:
How can a horse have too much water? Did the vets tell you this??

A sudden increase is usually a sign something untoward is going on but I've never heard of a horse having too much water that it needs to be limited

I'm sure if true someone can enlighten me ;D
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This. A horse can't have TOO much water - the only times you might limit it are obviously if a horse is blowing after galloping round a XC course for example. Otherwise, all horses are different. A change in how much they drink could be a sign of cushings as they apparently drink more than usual (although my cushings pony doesn't). I really wouldnt worry though, just ensure he always has lots of water available.
 
Sadly I know of folk who happily leave their horse in until noon and later unchecked in real life. Wouldnt be so bad if they arranged for the horse to be checked, but they don't.
 
My horse can drink almost a whole big tubtrug filled to the top in a 24 hour period if he's in - he doesn't often but I fill it up like that just in case. I wouldn't say a horse was drinking too much unless it was ridiculous amounts.

Some people don't have time to see to their horses on a morning if for example they have to go straight to work, or as I do have to do the child-minder run on the way.
However my horse is at an excellent livery yard where the YO checks the horses every morning, and turns out (or in the unlikely event horses stay in, hays and feeds) at around 6 am, this includes checking that they have sufficient water. Any livery yard worth their salt would offer this service to their clients, either within costs or for an extra fee. If the OP finds her yard does not do this for working owners I would suggest she finds a yard where this service is provided.
However if OP is a 'non-worker' and is too lazy to get out of bed til lunchtime then this seems to be a case of negligence - surely the horse isn't also left without any forage until 12 noon too?
I would also blame the YO actually, they shouldn't be allowing this sort of thing to happen.
 
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