Hydrating horse following colic

[Ellietotz]

Hi everyone,
I hope you are all staying safe and well.

Unfortunately, my mare had a horrible bout of impaction colic on Thursday and ended up in hospital for 4 days on fluids and laxatives.

Thankfully she came home yesterday without needing surgery and the cause was dehydration.

I never had thought that she wasn't drinking enough, I have seen her going to the trough before to have a drink after her dinner but I just never considered she wasn't having as much as she needed which I am kicking myself for.

She has a mash only feed of one cup fast fibre, one cup linseed, one cup copra, salt and balancer powder, lives out 24/7 and adlib dry hay.

She will not eat soaked hay for love nor money. She loves haylage but my understanding is that a large bale only lasts a week once open and at £25 a bale, I will never get through it all with just the one horse weekly so it would be wasted.

I've offered her fresh water with mint and it wasn't touched overnight. I put this next to her hay so she didn't need to necessarily go anywhere to drink. She did have other water sources that I'm assuming she went to instead. I have swapped it today for fresh plain water instead so will see tomorrow.

I am reluctant to add more sugar to her diet by putting molasses or apple juice in the water but I will do this as a last resort if there are no other options.

I am thinking of switching her feed to speedibeet or grass nuts too as I think they absorb more water than fast fibre and copra.

She also doesn't like the feeds too sloppy.

I would love some suggestions that may help prevent this from happening again please.

Thank you.

 

[iknowmyvalue]

Is it possible it’s because it’s been cold? A lot of horses don’t like drinking really cold water, even if it isn’t frozen over. Otherwise I’d be making her feed really wet, and maybe adding electrolytes/salt to it as that can make them feel more “thirsty” so they drink more on top.

 

[Snow Falcon]

Were her water sources frozen up at all last week? You could try offering warmer water.

 

[Ellietotz]

Is it possible it’s because it’s been cold? A lot of horses don’t like drinking really cold water, even if it isn’t frozen over. Otherwise I’d be making her feed really wet, and maybe adding electrolytes/salt to it as that can make them feel more “thirsty” so they drink more on top.

I think this must have been what caused it as the last two weeks have been so cold but the ice was always broken and she had access to water. It was my fault for not thinking about it sooner and offering warm water. I just didn't know she wasn't drinking.
She gets salt everyday anyway and she doesn't like the feeds too sloppy, she will leave it. I'd just like to avoid it happening again. It was awful.

 

[Ellietotz]

Were her water sources frozen up at all last week? You could try offering warmer water.

They were but the ice on all water points were broken. I didn't know until it happened that she hadn't been drinking so I do blame myself for it. I should have offered warm water as a preventive measure.

 

[Shilasdair]

Buy some Kwik-Beet or Speedi-Beet, and soak about half a scoop to a scoop in a bucket of warm water.
Offer the water to her to drink (the sugar beet will stay at the bottom, but won't harm her - or you could sieve it out).
I've never met a horse that wouldn't drink sugar beet juice.

 

[AdorableAlice]

I have been struggling with two of mine not drinking enough in the cold weather. I use Saracen Recovery Mash. (they will send you a sample) I soak a double handful in boiling water and then add cold water until it is pleasantly warm. It smells like a banana shake and they love it. I was on the yard 3 nights running last week at midnight watering the ones that are reluctant drinkers. It was a pain but I can do without any more colics.

 

[Snow Falcon]

It is easy to blame yourself for things-don't! Life is hard enough at the moment without torturing yourself. (We switched hay supply and without thinking forgot to mix it in, cue my mare having an episode the other week?)

I put another trug of water in my old boy's field shelter as the ground by the water trough was so awful. He drank half of it the minute I put it in. Should have done it earlier. Lesson learnt.

 

[HappyHollyDays]

One of mine usually colics during the winter and cold snaps really worry me so this year he has had warm water, hay soaked in hot water which makes it far more appealing and smells lovely and very sloppy speedibeet and salt. He has EMS so sugar is a big no no.

Edit to add I also add pieces of apple to his water so he has to fish them out. He always takes in water while bobbing.

 

[shortstuff99]

I use equidgel on mine as it is brilliant at hydrating and doesn't contain sugar.

You could also try steamed hay as that is more palatable then soaked hay.

 

[Bellaboo18]

Definitely try warm water. I find it makes a huge difference to how much they will drink.

 

[Ellietotz]

Buy some Kwik-Beet or Speedi-Beet, and soak about half a scoop to a scoop in a bucket of warm water.
Offer the water to her to drink (the sugar beet will stay at the bottom, but won't harm her - or you could sieve it out).
I've never met a horse that wouldn't drink sugar beet juice.

This is great idea, thank you. I could swap the Fast Fibre out for speedibeet, use the soaked beet in her feed and offer the juice separately. Thanks!

 

[Ellietotz]

It is easy to blame yourself for things-don't! Life is hard enough at the moment without torturing yourself. (We switched hay supply and without thinking forgot to mix it in, cue my mare having an episode the other week?)

I put another trug of water in my old boy's field shelter as the ground by the water trough was so awful. He drank half of it the minute I put it in. Should have done it earlier. Lesson learnt.

Thank you.
Oh no! Is she okay now?
I was thinking mine would drink more with having a tub of water next to her hay so she didn't have to put her brave pants on to go to the trough at night (she's more scared when it's dark ?) if the shetland didn't fancy coming too so I'm hoping it was just the mint that put her off. She only came home yesterday afternoon so I'm wondering if it'll take her a couple of days to settle again too.

 

[Snow Falcon]

Maybe worth mentionning to your vet. What water source did she have at the horsepital?

Yes, thanks, my mare is fine. She reacts to any slight food change, I've learnt to spot the signs and deal with it appropriately.

 

[Tiddlypom]

Interesting post re impaction colic and drinking just put up on my vet practice’s FB page.

Winter, water and colic

Impaction colic is essentially constipation involving the accumulation of hard, dry faecal material in the colon.

The primary predisposing factor of impaction colic is thought to be decreased water consumption. This is particularly relevant in the recent conditions that we have had when our horses are reducing their amount of water intake, due to the ever more frequent freezing temperatures.

However, research has interestingly showed horses to prefer drinking from extremely cold water sources in comparison to warm water when offered access to both in clinical trials. So why are our horses choosing to drink less and having more bouts of impaction colic??
Well, this research also showed that although these horse seemed to choose the cold water over the warm, they actually consumed less water overall compared to those only offered warm water alone. Furthermore, the horses that were only offered warm water, consumed an extra 40% overall in comparison to the cold water only group.
So what does this tell us? Horses have evolved to drink from fresh water to aid in survival, which is most probably why they choose to drink cold water over warm when able to choose between the two options. Therefore, to get our horses to actually consume more water during the icy spells, it is actually more beneficial for the horse to only have access to this warm water and remove the cold supplies altogether.

Heated water drinkers are probably the best bet, however you can also purchase heated buckets which are also extremely useful.

 

[Ellietotz]

Maybe worth mentionning to your vet. What water source did she have at the horsepital?

Yes, thanks, my mare is fine. She reacts to any slight food change, I've learnt to spot the signs and deal with it appropriately.

Oh, I'm not sure. I will ask. She has two automatic outside troughs, four rainwater troughs and now a water bucket inside the shelter at mine so she has a fair few options there. If I switch to Speedibeet as someone else suggested, I can use the soaked beet for feeds and top the juice up with warm water to see if that's tempting enough!
That's a relief that your mare is okay. Annoyingly, mine was acting girthy on Sunday prior to the colic which I thought, great, ulcers flaring up potentially. Gave her a dose of Protexin Quick Fix in case it was the wormer I gave a couple of weeks prior. She didn't really fancy finishing her dinners completely either which was odd but then was okay until Thursday. Thinking of it now, she has looked like what I thought were ulcer flare ups in the past since being clear of ulcers two years a go but now I have a feeling it was all dehydration and pending impaction that we were lucky enough to miss until now so I don't think she has ever been drinking enough. I just wish I'd have clocked on sooner. On the plus side, she was ulcer free on the scope at the horsespital! Will need to make sure she is getting enough water by intervention all the time now I think as clearly isn't a natural drinker.

 

[Snow Falcon]

Fingers crossed now, she's got plenty of access.

 

[Christmascinnamoncookie]

Mine had impaction colic 2 weeks ago, luckily cleared through 2 tubings. He was drinking the usual amount, he had his water drinker removed after rubbing it off the wall 3 times, git! He has speedibeet, very wet and a handful of chaff to get Danilon down him and loves water brought to him in a bucket. He also loves the water used to soak hay, basically any water that isn’t in his stable. I warmed up his water with a kettle/bucket of hot water (big water bucket so not too warm for him)

Try lukewarm water, very wet speedibeet. Mine also wouldn’t touch soaked hay until recently, so possibly worth persisting with.

 

[paddy555]

mine each get 4 x slightly over half buckets of warm molassed water spread out during the day and evening when the weather becomes freezing. I have never had any problem with a small quantity of molasses and it is a lot less risky than impacted colic. They drink all of it and frequently want more. If they do I give a bucket of warm water to see if they really want a 2nd drink or they just prefer the molassed water.

They also have soaked hay and their grass nuts and copra are soaked but are pretty dry.

I have given water this way in frozen spells for years and never had any problems. I tried things like juice in the past but could never be sure if they would drink it. I do this for 8 horses so they have to just get on and drink it or I would never get them all done.

 

[Red-1]

As well as fresh water, speedy beet and soaked hay, I would offer EquidGel as a bucket feed. I used it with my last horse and she did really well on it. You feed it like a soup.

 

[Ellietotz]

Thank you everyone.
I have had success today with Speedibeet juice water and a small amount of beet mixed in with her normal feed to start easing it in!
I have watered her hay down, hoping she will eat this if there is no other option for dry hay although she seems focused on the grass at the minute, and I've supplied a fresh bucket of water to go next to it with a smaller bucket of speedibeet juice water too which I'll replace each day just incase she doesn't have the plain water.

 

[Nudibranch]

Wet grass is without a doubt the best thing for colic recovery. As is movement. So if possible increase turnout although I know for some at this time of year that can be difficult.
My horses don't go for "warm" water but certainly with the chill taken off they will drink more. I did post about the dehydration/colic risk a couple of weeks ago as I was having to put out buckets twice a day despite them having a stream and a trough in the field.

 

[Ellietotz]

Wet grass is without a doubt the best thing for colic recovery. As is movement. So if possible increase turnout although I know for some at this time of year that can be difficult.
My horses don't go for "warm" water but certainly with the chill taken off they will drink more. I did post about the dehydration/colic risk a couple of weeks ago as I was having to put out buckets twice a day despite them having a stream and a trough in the field.

Thank you. She is out 24/7 so maybe she knows!

 

[tiga71]

Glad the speedibeet water worked. When I did endurance with my boy he always had a few buckets of speedibeet water. You don't need loads in, but it really gets them drinking.
He had a bit of tummy ache in this cold spell, first night he hardly drank anything and was very fidgety. I gave him a bucket of speedibeet water and he drank it straight away. I should have thought of it sooner, but after that mine all had speedibeet water during the cold snap.

 

[Shilasdair]

Thank you everyone.
I have had success today with Speedibeet juice water and a small amount of beet mixed in with her normal feed to start easing it in!
I have watered her hay down, hoping she will eat this if there is no other option for dry hay although she seems focused on the grass at the minute, and I've supplied a fresh bucket of water to go next to it with a smaller bucket of speedibeet juice water too which I'll replace each day just incase she doesn't have the plain water.

I'm glad my tip worked for you.

 

[Ellietotz]

I'm glad my tip worked for you.

I am really grateful for it. Thank you! So relieved it worked.

 

[Ellietotz]

Any idea how long until it's safe to start exercise again? It wouldn't be until Sunday so over a week by that point but really have no idea and don't want to push it.

 

[Shilasdair]

Any idea how long until it's safe to start exercise again? It wouldn't be until Sunday so over a week by that point but really have no idea and don't want to push it.

Exercise is good for them - as long as you don't work her hard yet.
Nice gentle work, well within her fitness level will help her gut move, stimulate her thirst, and keep her healthy.

 

[Ellietotz]

Exercise is good for them - as long as you don't work her hard yet.
Nice gentle work, well within her fitness level will help her gut move, stimulate her thirst, and keep her healthy.

Thank you!

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

If the grass is short you could pick some long grass and put it in a bucket of water, that's how I got my horse drinking properly after impaction colic.