WHAT DO THOSE NUTRIENTS DO, ANYWAY?

Sounds like a rather dry topic, doesn’t it? Don’t worry, this isn’t a nutrition course. We’re going to touch on the most basic information: what the major nutrients are, what they do, and why they matter to the horse. You won’t be an expert when we are done, but I hope that you will have a good working knowledge to help you make informed decisions about how and what you feed your horse.

PART ONE: WATER: You may not think of water as a nutrient, but it should be the first consideration in your horse’s diet. Always provide plenty of fresh, clean water for your horse. That’s not negotiable. Water keeps all his body systems running, from the saliva in his mouth to the manure that comes out the back end. Lack of water leads to dehydration, impaction colic, kidney issues, decreased performance, and many more health issues. Without water, a horse will likely die in three to six days.

Water makes up approximately 70% of your horse’s body. That’s roughly 700 pounds in a 1000-pound horse. It’s that important. It is the main component of saliva, which is responsible for starting the breakdown of food when crushed by the teeth. This means it impacts the start of efficient digestion. Saliva also helps to keep teeth healthy, which is a very important consideration as your horse ages. Water regulates the horse’s body temperature by helping him to cool down through sweating. The liquid lost through sweating needs to be replaced to keep him from getting dehydrated. Water cushions and lubricates joints, tissue, and the spinal column. It helps to remove toxins and wastes through sweat, urine, and manure. Water aids in digestion in the gastrointestinal tract and with the absorption of nutrients. It improves blood circulation and assists the blood in carrying nutrients and oxygen to all parts of the body. Water helps the body fight off illness, boosts energy and improves mood, and helps the brain with cognitive function.

Whew- that’s quite a list, and that’s the short version! The take-home point is that water is crucial to the horse and to the rider. Don’t let yourself get dehydrated either.

A horse typically drinks between five and ten gallons a day. That is just an estimate though, it doesn’t account for daily variations. This doesn’t mean that you can set out ten gallons of water every morning and think that you’ve covered your responsibility. Water should be available in quantity at all times. Remember, each horse is an individual. Some will consume less, some more. Larger horses can be expected to drink more than ponies because of their body mass. The horse’s intake can and will vary on a daily basis depending on his activity level, the weather, his diet, and other variables. Some days he may drink five gallons, other days he may suck up twenty.

A horse that has been active will need water even if he never broke a sweat. All the body’s processes require water and what gets used needs to be replaced. Of course, if he is sweating, he needs to replace even more fluid. And here is a fun fact: humans actually have the most sweat glands of any mammal per square inch of skin, but horses produce more sweat through their glands. That explains why we’re both so soggy in the summer!

The weather plays a role in your horse’s water intake. Obviously, they drink more due to thirst when the temperatures rise. Some horses drink less during cooler weather. That doesn’t mean that you can provide less water in the winter- the horse still needs access to plenty of it. The changeable fall and spring weather can be dangerous times for horses as their bodies still need water but their thirst mechanism isn’t necessarily triggered by the cooler weather. They can become dehydrated quickly, which can be hard to detect through a long seasonal coat. Any vet can relate stories about “colic weather” and it is a serious concern. As an owner or caregiver, you should be aware of temperature swings and monitor the horse’s water intake accordingly.

Horses on dry forage such as hay require more water than they do when eating grass, which contains water. Again, that’s not a pass if your horse is on pasture. He still needs access to plenty of fresh water. You may notice that he drinks less on a rainy day if he’s been eating outside, as he’s been taking in water that clings to the blades of grass.

Horses that are eating a high amount of protein also tend to drink more. The water helps to clear the excess protein from their system. If you notice a strong ammonia smell in your horse’s stall, it may be time for a chat with your vet and your feed store about his diet. Check the feeding recommendations on the bag and make sure that you know how much you are feeding in pounds so that you can answer their questions. Consider all his feed sources too- forages such as grass and hay, commercial feeds, and supplements. (This is another good reason to have your hay analyzed; the sample can tell you how much protein your hay contains.)

If you are relying on a pond or stream to provide water, have it tested regularly for bacteria and toxins. There are micro-organisms and particles in natural water sources that can harm your horse and cause serious health issues. It’s better to provide him with water that you know is safe to drink.

As far as those horses who dunk their hay- I know it’s frustrating to always have a dirty bucket, but he’s actually getting a sip every time he does it. If it bothers you or it seems that he isn’t drinking but is just dunking, set up a “dunking bucket” near his hay and second bucket for clean water several feet away. Hay that has been soaked to reduce the sugar content or allergens doesn’t hold much water, so it shouldn’t be considered as a water source.

Become familiar with how much your horse drinks and notice when that changes, as it may indicate a problem. Is he drinking more as he ages? Have a talk with your vet: perhaps he should be tested for metabolic issues. Is he drinking less outside during cold weather? Maybe he doesn’t like cold water, or perhaps there is an electrical problem with your stock tank heater. Try setting a bucket of water outside and see if he drinks from that while ignoring the stock tank. Maybe he’s having trouble breaking the ice in his bucket or stock tank. This may mean that you have to install heated water tanks or buckets, or frequent ice-breaking on your part. If you don’t use a heated bucket, make sure that you break out the ice several times a day or swap out buckets so that he always has one that isn’t frozen.

Let’s divert for a moment and talk about heated buckets and water heaters. They are marvelous inventions but not without problems. If you use them, make sure that horses can’t chew the cords. Stick your hand into the water every day and make sure that there is no electric shock. That would certainly discourage your horse from drinking! Most heating elements don’t last longer than a couple years, so plan on replacing them frequently. It’s a good idea to have a back-up too, because like cell phones and laptops, they will fail you at a critical moment. Check to make sure that yours is working before the cold weather arrives.

It can be challenging to provide a suitable water source in the winter, but it is a necessity. Eating snow doesn’t count. In fact, if a horse eats snow, by the time his body has warmed it up enough to make it metabolically useful, it has no re-hydrating effect. That’s right, it’s done nothing for him. If your horse likes to eat snow, it’s not going to hurt him (pollution aside) but make sure he has access to water that is not frozen. Consider offering warm water a couple times a day- some horses appreciate it during cold weather and it encourages them to drink more. The temperature that most horses seem to prefer is between 45 and 65 degrees.

If you have several horse sharing a stock tank outside, it can be difficult to gauge how much one horse is drinking. Learn how to check your horse for dehydration by doing the “skin pinch” test and looking at his gums. Your vet can help you with this. Monitor his urine output and notice any changes in his manure too. This is especially important in winter, when a thick hairy coat can hide external signs of dehydration. If you notice that his normally squishy manure looks more like hard, dense balls, or that his urine seems darker and stronger-smelling, water intake should be the first thing you check.

Sometimes you may notice that your horse is drinking less or has stopped drinking for several hours. Perhaps he hasn’t touched his bucket during the night, or you notice that the level in his outside bucket or stock tank hasn’t dropped. You should investigate as soon as you notice. Is his bucket dirty or slimy? Does it have an odor? Have leaves fallen into his outside bucket, creating an unappetizing tea? Does his pasture mate slobber in the tank, leaving gobs of grass? Invest in a couple sturdy scrub brushes and use them frequently to clean your buckets and tanks. Replace the really nasty ones. There is some anecdotal evidence that the color of the bucket may encourage the horse to drink more. Some people report that horses seem to prefer yellow buckets, others report that teal is the appealing color. Scrubbing with table salt can also help reduce the sliminess or biofilm in buckets. The bacteria that cause slime reproduce quickly, especially in warm weather. Make sure you rinse the bucket or tank thoroughly. Check for an odor. If you can smell something then your horse, with his extraordinary sense of smell, has been dealing with if for a while. Current research indicates that the horse’s sense of smell is on par with that of dogs, which is at least 10,000 times greater than ours (and possibly more.)

Maybe something scary happened while he was drinking and now he associates drinking with fear. In the wild, predators know that prey animals are very vulnerable when they dip their heads to drink from the watering hole, and so that is where the predators lurk. Your domestic horse may not have to worry about wolves or big cats, but that sense of self-preservation is still hardwired in his brain. One of my horses stopped drinking from his outside stock tank this spring when the woodchucks started becoming active. When I realized that he was concerned about the rustling in the bushes, I moved his water tub. Problem solved, much to my relief!

Horses also may not drink if they are offered water from a different source. We’ve probably all heard of horses that won’t drink the water at horseshows. If you have one that is particular, please don’t take the attitude of “he’ll drink it when he gets thirsty enough.” Invest in some large beverage-safe containers and bring water from home. In the long run, it’s cheaper than a colic episode. You can also try flavoring his water with something such as Kool-Aid (unsweetened, please) or even Gatorade. Make sure you try this at home first to see if he approves of the flavor. A handful of textured feed might also do the trick, especially if it is his regular feed. (Pellets won’t work.) Some people have had luck adding a small amount of salt. Start with just a teaspoon in a bucket, and see if that encourages drinking.

Some horses just don’t drink much, and they need careful monitoring year-round. Of course, you want to make sure they drink enough in the summer, when they are sweating out large amounts of fluid. They also need monitoring during the rest of the year when the weather is cooler. Please don’t think that because the air temperature is in the 40s, their water need is low. These horses benefit from a little extra help. One of the easiest ways is to add salt to their feed BUT CHECK WITH YOUR VET FIRST. Giving salt to a dehydrated horse can cause problems by activating enzymes that cause inflammation. Let me put this another way: if your horse is dehydrated, giving him salt can be a bad for him. Get him to drink first. Check with your vet before adding salt to his feed on a regular basis. Salt should always be offered free choice to your horse in the form of a block, brick, or loose in a mineral feeder. He will likely take what he needs. The problems arise when we try to feed him excess salt. As in humans, excess salt in horses can lead to health issues including high blood pressure.

Another option to get more fluid into your horse is to make a mash, but NOT a bran mash. It turns out that the tradition of offering a weekly bran mash is not a good idea at all. Bran was believed to be a beneficial laxative for the horse. It certainly has that effect but it’s because a weekly feeding upsets the flora in the horse’s stomach. It’s not a good idea to give it on a daily basis either, because it has an inverted calcium-to-phosphorous ratio, meaning that it has more phosphorous than calcium. Feeding it regularly will lead to a calcium deficit in your horse. There really is no good reason to feed bran to your horse.

So now that bran is off the table, what are the alternatives for mash? Hay pellets can make a nice mash. Complete feeds with a high concentration of beet pulp make wonderful mashes too. Shredded beet pulp works well and is great for horses that need more fiber or a low NSC diet (remember that beet pulp is what is left after the sugar is removed from sugar beets, so it contains virtually no sugar.) Of course, no amount of mash can possibly hold the five to ten gallons that your horse needs daily, but it can help get a few more quarts into him.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, you may notice that your horse is drinking more water as he ages and the wet spot in his stall is getting larger. Don’t try to limit his water- instead, add a second bucket and call your vet. He may have a metabolic issue or an endocrine disorder such as PPID (formerly known as Cushing’s) that can only be correctly diagnosed with blood tests.

Finally, think about where you place your horse’s bucket. Is it low enough that the mini can reach it without getting a foot into it? Is it in a place where your nervous horse can drink while feeling safe, or tucked into a dark corner? Does your draft try to scratch on the bucket every night and is spilling (and squashing) the bucket instead of drinking from it? Sometimes moving the bucket just a few feet makes a big difference in the amount that he drinks. Be especially aware in the winter when the snow is level with the top of your stock tank. If the water level drops too low, your horse won’t be able to safely reach it.

We could go on for pages about the importance of water and getting horses to consume enough. The take-away message is to make sure that your horse has access to clean, fresh water all the time. It is one of your most important daily chores.