{"id":612,"date":"2021-01-02T13:14:57","date_gmt":"2021-01-02T13:14:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/horseycounsel.com\/?p=612"},"modified":"2021-01-02T13:14:57","modified_gmt":"2021-01-02T13:14:57","slug":"get-a-horse-to-drink-water","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/horseycounsel.com\/get-a-horse-to-drink-water\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Get a Horse to Drink Water (Equine Hydration Guide)"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Horses need a lot of water in order to stay healthy and lead fulfilling lives. When it comes to draft horses or horses that train often or race, it’s even more important to take note of their water intake, as being dehydrated could severely impact a horse’s performance. In certain cases, however, horses refuse to drink enough, and it falls to us to take steps in order to ensure their hydration.<\/p>\n
How do you get a horse to drink more water? It’s nearly impossible to force horses to drink, but there are certain steps you can do to encourage them. You can increase their sodium intake (via salt), add some flavor to the water, increase the water’s temperature, or even soak up their hay before feeding time.<\/strong><\/p>\n The way we provide water for our horses differs depending on where we live. For instance, if the temperatures drop to freezing levels, we need to make sure that the horse still has access to fresh clean water at all times.<\/p>\n To achieve this, we’ll either use a heater to keep the water’s temperature above freezing, or we’ll have to break the ice that forms above the water’s surface regularly. Keep in mind that horses don’t know how to break the thin layers of ice that form across the water’s surface. This might prevent them from drinking altogether.<\/p>\n Horses can drink water as warm as 80 or 90 degrees Fahrenheit (26 – 32 Celsius). If you don’t have a heater around, just mix some hot water with cold water in order to achieve the desired temperature.<\/p>\n No matter the weather or season, all horses need between 8-12 gallons of water per day.<\/p>\nKeeping a horse’s water temperature in check.<\/h3>\n
How to increase a horse’s sodium intake for improved hydration.<\/h3>\n