Does anyone's horse refuse water????

[manyspots]

So, I bought this water bucket about a month ago:

http://www.statelinetack.com/itemdy00.asp?T1=SLT900777

It's the green 16 gal outdoor heated tub. I didn't realize when I ordered it that it actually warmed the water to about 50 degrees. I have found that my guys will only drink from it when I put cold water in or leave it off. Apparently they do not like warm water. I am freaking out cause I came home from work and have found that niether have drank ALL day (since at least 4:00 AM). It's cold and snowing out and the water is indeed luke warm. I gave one of them a bucket of water from the hydrant in his stall and only drank about 1/3 and the other gelding didn't touch it...

They both get very watery beet pulp mashes twice a day but clearly not enough for today! I am going to add salt to tonights dinner, keep the buckets in the stalls and I unplugged the outdoor bucket to let it cool. I also have electrolytes on order.

Does anyone else ever have this problem????? Or with this tub?????? I am about to put it on craigslist and order the blue one!!!!

[Simkie]

The tub might have a short, and the horses might be getting a small shock when they drink when it's plugged in.

Sometimes, you can feel it if you put your hand in the water. Sometimes, your shoes provide enough insulation that you can't feel it. I'm sure there's some sort of electrical device that would actually test it.

A short is the first thing I would consider. Do your horses drink warm water from plain old buckets?

I believe there was a study published that showed horses given electrolytes regularly (not just after a hard sweat) were more dehydrated than their counter parts that were not give elytes. I would not add them daily...

[manyspots]

Haven't tried just plain old warm water... good thought.

How the heck do I check for a short?

[KatieD]

Is it possible that your horses are getting a very slight tingle from the bucket? I haven't used that particular bucket before, but other heated pails have gone over fine with any horses I've looked after.

[rcloisonne]

We had several of these buckets where I used to board. No issues with them. The heating unit is enclosed and not in direct contact with the water. They can crack though and cause a tingle so you might want to check for that.

While 50F may seem warm in very cold weather, it's not really "warm". I'll bet your troughs in the summer contain water much warmer than that.

Do you feed plain white salt? If not you might want to consider doing that as it encourages them to drink more. Salt is really the only "electrolyte" they need unless they're on diuretics or in hard work.

[Simkie]

Haven't tried just plain old warm water... good thought.

How the heck do I check for a short?

Stick your hand in it. If you don't feel anything, take off your shoes, stand in a puddle and THEN stick your hand in it :lol:

No, really--I'm sure there's some sort of electric gadget. The people at Home Depot or Lowes might be able to point you in the right direction, if some savvy person here doesn't step in first.

[manyspots]

I grabbed my big container of white salt from the cabinet and will be bringing that out with dinner. How much should I throw in?????

I think my BF has an electrical meter or something we can check the tub with when he gets back from plowing snow tomorrow.

It's good to hear no other issues with this bucket. I also had the same thought about tubs in the summer... heck they drink when they are warm then! Maybe they just aren't thirsty today. It's enough to drive me BATTY!!!!

[Simkie]

I grabbed my big container of white salt from the cabinet and will be bringing that out with dinner. How much should I throw in?????

I wouldn't add more than a tablespoon, and I'd be cautious about that. The last thing you need is extra thirsty horses that will NOT drink, for whatever reason. I would offer several water sources, so they can pick whatever is least offensive.

[manyspots]

I agree Simkie... I will definitely keep the outside tub out tonight and the buckets in the stalls (they have 24/7 access to in and out).

Do those in cold climates notice big differences from day to day in what their horses drink? Some days mine suck it down and others not so much... today is the worst I have noticed.

[KatieD]

Sometimes my horses don't even come in for fresh water - they eat snow instead (but I have a very large pasture with lots of snow)

[luvmywalkers]

Mine will eat snow as well; with lots of rain they'll drink from the ditches or ground.
In the fields I have large salt blocks and in the stall the small ones; both get used.

[manyspots]

Now that you guys say that, I have seen mine eat snow and watched my gelding drink from a puddle.... but I have no idea if they have been eating snow today :lol:

I just fed dinner, added salt. Both have now drank 1/3 of their inside buckets, so I am not going to worry terribly. I will just keep an eye on things... still makes me nervous.

They also both have himalayan chunks in their stalls which are well used, so I have to assume the best....

[tazz001]

my dumbell mini donks are crazy....they must have cold fresh water in the summer and refuse to drink in the winter unless the water is heated....and it must feel pleasantly warm to the inside of the wrist

Good thing they only drink small amount (they are mini) as lugging warm water from the bathroom in the winter is a pain...not to mention messy occasionally.

Back to OP...see if your bucket has a short...stick hand in bucket and put other hand on the ground (w/o gloves..you don't want any type of electrical insulating barrier) and see if you feel a tingle

[goeslikestink]

I wouldn't add more than a tablespoon, and I'd be cautious about that. The last thing you need is extra thirsty horses that will NOT drink, for whatever reason. I would offer several water sources, so they can pick whatever is least offensive.

so would i, i have a self filling tank and 3 old baths
and when i insulate all i use plain old muck out of a stable keeps the water runniing and stops it from frezzing andhorses dont eat it and dont get a shock from it as its all natural heat

horses that live in herds out in the wild dont drink warm water they drink cold or snow or grasses grasses hold early morning dew etc

horses need water available at all times as ours horses are domesticated and relay on us to provide them with it
in a stable its better to have a rubber bucket that looks like that one and can hold 6 normal buckets of water,
that one bucket you have brought isnt enough water for 2 horses for the day time usage
as they can drink one of those on it own well quick

[goeslikestink]

Stick your hand in it. If you don't feel anything, take off your shoes, stand in a puddle and THEN stick your hand in it :lol:

No, really--I'm sure there's some sort of electric gadget. The people at Home Depot or Lowes might be able to point you in the right direction, if some savvy person here doesn't step in first.

haha

[manyspots]

I was giggling about to check for a shock! BF and I will check that out tomorrow with his snazzy electrical devices. For now, I relocated the bucket closer to their "hang out" area in their paddock. I know they didn't forget where the bucket was, but they had to go around the corner of the barn to get to it, out of sight out of mind??? Who knows... whatever. As soon as I moved the bucket my older gelding started drinking. Am I NUTS?????? :eek:

I also am offering water in the stalls and eyeing those insulated buckets to purchase. They run about $65-80 and I only need two so they may be worth the investment to offer multiple sources.

I went easy on the salt and will just continue to provide extra water as I did when I noticed they slowed down. Could be the weather too since we had brutal cold yesterday followed by 11" of snow!!!! They did drink more today and I made their beet pulp mashes extra soupy.

Tazz... we will be buying our first mini donk next year... good to know. I can't wait to add one to the herd!

[Huntertwo]

I brought warm water down to my mare and she turned her nose up it, that little ingrate! ;)

I use one heated bucket that keeps the water ever so slightly warm. Also have one plain unheated bucket and give her the choice. Each day I go down both are half empty.

I do recommend plain table salt in the grain. I do this all the time in the winter, even though she is a good drinker and a hay dunker.

[crthunder]

Horse Quencher is the BEST way to get my old boys to drink water. I actually mix in a soupy mash, and lo & behold, they drink lots of water after they are done :)

B

[George Myers]

I'd caution against putting a lot of salt in the feed unless the horses have been sweating. If they have a salt block let them choose how much salt they want - they'll eat added salt because it's got yummy food around it but they may not need it.

If a horse won't drink - it's either because it is not thirsty or the water tastes bad - and to a horse, chemicals leaching into the water are bad whereas slime, bird poo or mud must sometimes taste delicious if their preference for sometimes drinking from a puddle or a slow moving creek is anything to go by.

Mostly however, like us, they like cool (not too cold) well oxygenated ie moving water. When drinking at a trough in summer mine always drink at the end where the water flows in.

My old horse who, sadly is no longer with us used to depress the ballcock in the trough with his nose to make the water flow then drink the cool fresh water, then depress it again. When the ground was very hard we'd often find the area around the trough to be flooded although there was no leak. As he liked to stand in the cool mud we suspect he deliberately created his own mud bath by making the trough overflow. It was probably accidental initially but he learned how to replicate a situation that was beneficial to him.

He was also observed deliberately placing a hoof on a broken branch to hold it still while he stripped the bark off and when he used to be stabled he would throw his feed bowl with uncanny accuracy at the grooms as they passed.

A shetland who lives here has been seen to place his foot on a curved branch to make it stand up and then use the high end to scratch his belly. A rudimentary tool.

[equinelaw]

"you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink"

If its a saying then somebody somewhere must have had this problem in the past?:)

Research says they prefer cold water but will drink MORE of warm water. I don't know if they counted the horses who wouldn't drink arm water at all.

[Huntertwo]

I'd caution against putting a lot of salt in the feed unless the horses have been sweating. If they have a salt block let them choose how much salt they want - they'll eat added salt because it's got yummy food around it but they may not need it.

If a horse won't drink - it's either because it is not thirsty or the water tastes bad -

I used to have a horse who was never thirsty. Summer, after working, winter. - you name it, he never drank. I always thought it was strange until he had major impaction colic and ended up at Tuft's for a week.

The first day was touch and go, scary to say the least.

After that "I" decided he had to *be* thirsty to avoid another incident. I didn't trust his instinct to stay hydrated.

To this day, I always add a little table salt to my horse's feed. Doesn't hurt and they do drink more.

[George Myers]

I used to have a horse who was never thirsty. Summer, after working, winter. - you name it, he never drank. I always thought it was strange until he had major impaction colic and ended up at Tuft's for a week.

The first day was touch and go, scary to say the least.

After that "I" decided he had to *be* thirsty to avoid another incident. I didn't trust his instinct to stay hydrated.

To this day, I always add a little table salt to my horse's feed. Doesn't hurt and they do drink more.

Fair enough - it was a warning about putting A LOT of salt in feed.

If the body's cells have too much salt in them fluid will be pulled from the most readily available source - which is the gut. So too much top-dressed salt can result in the same problems as drinking too little.

[Kyzteke]

So, I bought this water bucket about a month ago:

http://www.statelinetack.com/itemdy00.asp?T1=SLT900777

It's the green 16 gal outdoor heated tub. I didn't realize when I ordered it that it actually warmed the water to about 50 degrees. I have found that my guys will only drink from it when I put cold water in or leave it off. Apparently they do not like warm water.

I have several horses that really prefer their water cold or semi-frozen. Every year I plug in the heaters and I see my stallion drink FAR less water. He would much prefer to break through 2 " of solid ice to get his beverage! He gets salt added and I watch his manure to make sure he's not binding up, but he and my Arab mare both prefer to eat (clean) snow than drink the "warmer" water.

However *I* prefer not to be out there 4 times a day breaking ice, so he will just have to deal with it...and luckily for them there is usually no shortage of snow where I live...

The thing that puzzles me is that even with the heater, I'm pretty sure the water is cooler now than it is in the summer....and I have my hand in there all the time to make sure there are no shocks.

[MistyBlue]

When there's fresh new snow on the ground even my big drinker ends up drinking a lot less in turnout. Since their hay is tossed on the snow and fluffed up they tend to spread it very thin and then instead of picking at it with their lips both bite big chunks of snow and hay at the same time. We joke it's like chips-n-dip...they have fun getting a big bite of snow with every small bite of hay. Since they have that frozen liquid with each bite of hay they don't get as thirsty for drinking, but they do drink better in the stalls when they have to eat the hay dry.
Since I had a problem with dehydration for a short while I came up with a bunch of drinking tips:
Try using a spray bottle and filling it with warm water with a TBS of salt dissolved in it...then spritz their actual hay with it. It's adding very little actual salt but spreading that salty taste out longer so they do tend to drink more.
If they haven't had much to drink and you're worried about dehydration, try using a 1/4 cup of molasses and dissolve that in a water bottle full of hot tap water. Shake until it's all dissolved and then bring that to the barn and pour that into a full bucket of water...it'll turn the whole bucket of water dark brown even though it isn't much molasses and most horses suck the entire bucket right down.
You can pour some apple juice in the water, or try different flavored gatorades...but always offer a second bucket of plain water too.