How much water??

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bex1984

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How much water should a horse drink overnight (in about 12 hours)?

Murphy had an automatic drinker at the old yard so I have no idea how much he used to drink.

I have 2 buckets in his stable at the new yard. On his first day and night there (he had to stay in for 24 hours) he nearly emptied the buckets. The last two nights he's not even drunk half a bucket of water....

Could it be because for the first 24 hours he had dry hay but is now back to his normal 24 hr-soaked-hay??
 
It does vary a lot, depending on what else they are getting in their diet. I think your hypothesis is right!
Mine drinks less when there's plenty of grass to be eaten since she gets a lot of water from the grass.
I use a big bucket, which holds 3ish normal buckets and there's usually at least a bucket-worth left each morning.
 
It depends on the horse, we have a cob similar to the one in your pictures and he will drink 2 buckets every night, he has always drank alot of water, whereas our connie won't hardly touch his water, but i agree with the hay idea! But we always soak our hay and the cob still drinks alot, he must just be a thirsty horse!
 
I agree that it depends on the horse. Thumper will drink (most nights) the equivalent of 3.5 to 4 black buckets a night.
 
My mare has about 1/2 to 1 bucket per night unless it's cold when she has much less. My pony has about 1/4 bucket per night, but she plays in her water so some of that is waste.
 
Mine 16.1/ 500kg ish will drink between 2-4 standard black buckets overnight and will drink more on the days that she is ridden/exercised.
There is a guiedline amount as to how much they should drink for BW at a certain temperature, but tbh the best thing to do is just take note of what she drinks day to day over time and you will soon notice what is average and normal for him.
Drinking more in first 24 hours could be to do with travelling him to new yard and then the anxiety/excitement of new place.
 
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