Should I be concerned?

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Hovis_and_SidsMum

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On two counts - one sounding v funny, the other less so.
First issue.
Hovis is drinking like a fish when he comes in at night at the moment. He's taken to walking straight into his stable and rather than eating hay he's straight to his water bucket and is downing half a big chugg (large bucket thiing) in one go. I then fill it up again before i leave and its all gone by morning. He also has an auto drinker but I give him the bucket so I can see how much he's drinking (and he has a big head so I worry about him drinking form the autodrinkers). He is weeing but its this thirst that bothers me. His field trough is clean and Pride is drinking from it. He has has a water infection b4 so it worries me. How much are they supposed to drink a day?

Second issue
Hubby has got to the yard an hour ago to meet the farrier, to be told by a fellow livery that Pride was full on "humping" Hovis earlier today. Locked on and fully giving his brother some man love. Just boys being silly or should i be thinking of splitting them up? Hovis i'm sure will tell all in his diary on friday!!
 
Hm. Maybe they are related?

The humping is, I believe a dominance issue; and maybe Pride is keeping Hovis away from the water trough?

Can you try putting some big trugs of water in the field so as Hovis always has at least one he can get to?

Our lot tend to drink a good bucket full (the large rubber/plastic things) a night.

Have a hot choccy hun.
 
Could he just be losing hydration more now it's quite muggy and getting warmer and a lot more protein in his diet now?
Or just needs a drink after,erm, Pride's sessions?!

I'd just keep an eye on it and if there is anything niggling you still in a week or so, or his character seems to change atall, then maybe think about getting it checked perhaps? But I wouldn't worry too much atm.
 
We had a mare at our yard that drank 2 trugs over night almost. Vet did check her and decided as she was a bit stressy being in sometimes it was an anxiety thing - did half a posh long name but can't remember what it was. It improved loads as she settled more into the routine of the yard and she is a normal drinker now. I doubt it is the same thing with Hovis as guessing nothing changed much in his routine of being stabled but like MrsM said it might be he's not getting too drink all day when out - we have horses on our yard do that too - they move other horses away from the trough and will stand there just to assert their dominance rather than because they want an actual drink!
 
MochaDun said:
Vet did check her and decided as she was a bit stressy being in sometimes it was an anxiety thing - did half a posh long name but can't remember what it was.
Click to expand...


Polydipsia - and yes, it is a stress reaction, like weaving or windsucking...

I don't think that's what Hovis has though, I think it sounds like Pride is just being dominant, and stopping Hovis from getting to the water trough. I would do as someone else suggested and put out extra buckets, around the field like you would with hay etc.
 
Yes I'm afraid you should be concerned. I always worry about a change to normal habits. You have noticed a change in Hovis' usual habits. It could be something simple like Pride stopping him getting to the water or it could be something much more serious. If I were you I would ensure that there are several buckets in a variety of locations around the field, to rule out the dominance problem asap. If Hovis continues to drink excessively inside then you need to get the vet. If he has already had a urinary infection this unfortunately could be a sign of something more serious.
I do hope that it proves to be just a difficulty in the field. Good luck!
 
You are right to notice and keep an eye on it, but I wouldn't be stressing too much at the moment. My lad sometimes drinks his trugg + small bucket dry and sometimes they are both half full. Depends on lots of things.
Ditto the advice given about giving them more buckets.

What did make me smile was that the 'smart' ads at the top of the page - one of them is asking 'Seeking a New Boyfriend?'
Sounds like Hovis has found one - poor Hovis.
 
Farra drinks about 50 - 70 litres of water a day when in and eating a lot of hay.

Regards the humping, Stinky used to do this to Cairo but in play. He did it a few times to Farra, but caught her on the right day of the month and she spread them and peed down his chest and really gave him the come on.

As he is a what we call a gay horse, he literally ran off screaming, sniffing at himself and totally disgusted and never did it again. He hates mares being fruity and squirting.

Stinky seems to attract some stallions like a mare. I have been asked on a few occasions could I not have my in season mare next to their stallion, to point out he is a boy:o Maybe Hovis puts out girly smells as well - I will not tell Farra this.

One thing you could try is for a couple of days, seeing if you can keep them seperate or put out several water tubs and see if the drinking on coming in goes down and then you may know if Pride is keeping him from water as well as playing boy on boy games.
 
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