Pony won't drink!!!

[Booga22]

Does anyone have any ideas as to how to encourage my pony to drink?! She does have soaked hay every night, and at the mo, with the weather being so rubbish, she is getting some water from the grass, but nowhere near enough and she always used to drink more. Her droppings have now become very hard as compared to normal, she's quite lethargic and don't want her finding another excuse for more mystery laminitis. WhenI skipped out her stable this morning, I only took out 1 pile of droppings, when normally it is atleast 3 - she has to stop out hacking to pass them too. How can I help with this too, apart from Dulcolax?! She hasthe choice of fresh water, 'older' water, water with apple squash in and water with apples floating in - and it's not working.......
If it's not one thing, then it's always another....help?!

 

[cokelly]

hey

are you absolutely sure she isn't drinking? she may be- just away from you! You can check if she's dehydrated by pinching her skin (eg on her neck). If it immediately goes back to normal she isn't dehydrated. If, however if stays puckered then she may be dehydrated and perhaps best thing to do would be to call your vet as this sounds a little odd! As for the other problems your vet may be the best person to consult

Hope everything turns out okay

 

[skye_and_i]

a handfull of mollassed sugar beet pulp in a bucket of water sometimes does the trick, seen it done at endurance rides to encourage the horses to take on fluids!

 

[wizzlewoo]

I dont want to worry but i would consult the vet as the droppings slowly getting less and harder may posibly be early warning signs to compaction collic and so it is definatly best to ring the vet and enquire to their thoughts. I really dont want to worry you but it happened to my mare and the collic took 2 weeks to come through and it started by her becoming lethargic and her droppings becoming slowly less although she was still eating ok.

 

[kellyeaton]

to get her to drink try apple juice in her water or mint cordical or ribenia but personally i would cll the vet and exsplain his problems!

 

[Box_Of_Frogs]

Echo EAB. Your ned may have a very low grade colic. Is she peeing as normal? One way to be certain is to stable her for 24 hrs on a meticulously clean shavings bed with drinking water from a bucket so you know exactly how much has gone. Make sure she can't tip it over. After 24 hrs, check for poos and pees. Sunny normally has 1 poo every 2 - 3 hrs so over 24 hrs I'd expect about 8. And don't immediately panic if not much sign of peeing as she might be crossing her legs until on grass so lead her out and watch her like a hawk.

If she's out at grass, with all this wet weather, she may have found an alternative water source, eg big puddle. I'd always err on the side of caution. It's easy enough to apologise to the vet for a wasted visit but harder to deal with a sudden emergency x

 

[Booga22]

Trust me, she really is an odd little pony! SHe has been living out for the best part of the last 6-8 weeks and I am hardly topping up her water. Obviously she is getting some, but not as mucha she used todrink. I hadn't eventhought of doing the pinch test so thank you for the advice. I shall bring her in later and see what happens.....

 

[Booga22]

Again, beginning to think I am a dumb owner as this hadn't crossed my mind either. She lost her best friend to colic 8 weeks ago (possibly a link - I don't know). Due to her laminitis and being very muscled up over her shoulders and neck, my vet & farrier wanted me to get more weight off of her, so had to cut feed back (although already on restricted grazing, soaked hay and hifi-lite/top spec anti-lam diet) & increase exercise, so wondering whether this is having a negative effect on her too. Going to consult the vet like u guys said, as better to be safe than sorry. Last thought - sorry, but has anyone ever heard of any side effects after feeding horses soaked hay for a long length of time- she has been having soaked hay for around 18 months?
Thanks again to u all for your advice x

 

[Box_Of_Frogs]

Side effects are that ned will need essential vits and mins top up unless it's in the top spec - check the bag. Soaking hay leeches all the goodness out of it and restricted grtazing + a very low calorie diet could well mean that she isn't getting her basic vits and mins.