Summer is here! With the warmer weather comes riding more, training, showing and having fun. All this extra activity can make for a very thirsty horse! We need to remember to take our water bottles with us when we ride to keep ourselves from getting dehydrated and feeling dizzy and weak. We need to make sure our horses stay hydrated as well. Do you know what causes dehydration in horses and how to tell if they may be parched?
According to the British Horse Society, dehydration results when more water and salts are lost from the body than are taken in and the horse has not enough fluid in his body to maintain normal physiological conditions. It is usually associated with fast, energetic work but there are many other situations in which dehydration can occur.
Possible Causes of Dehydration are lack of available water or failure to drink, sweating – prolonged and marked, diarrhea – especially in foals, excessive urination when not accompanied by a compensatory thirst, hemorrhage or heat exhaustion.
Dehydration may result in reduced performance, muscle damage, colic, reduced kidney function, laminitis, tying up, coma or death.
Signs of Dehydration are skin loses its pliability, lack of inclination to graze or eat, listlessness, loss of normal color from the membranes of gums and eyes and reduced membrane refill time, muscle tremors, pulse becomes weak, ‘thumps’- (the diaphragm contracts in the same rhythm as the heart beat so the horse’s flanks synchronize with the pulse. The contractions may even be heard. Veterinary advice should be sought immediately), thick, patchy sweat, or panting (only in association with heat exhaustion).
Any horse showing the above symptoms after severe exertion should have veterinary attention immediately. Dehydration can be confirmed by blood testing.
Pinch Test
To test your horse’s skin for signs of dehydration, pinch a fold of skin on their neck between your finger and thumb. When you release the skin, if it does not return to normal within 5 seconds, the horse is dehydrated.
Wit holding Water Damages Performance
It is not unknown for dealers, and riders, especially in dressage, show jumping and showing, to withhold water so that the horse becomes partially dehydrated and therefore quieter. This is dangerous and can result in permanent damage. If this happens at a three-day event, even if the horse is given water ad lib after the dressage, he will start the cross-country below par.
Sweating in the Summer Sun
Summer weather is sometimes brutal to horses. The sun blazing down causes horses to sweat and then high winds can evaporate it therefore making it hard for us to determine exactly how much water our horses are losing. If they are working in the heat, higher respiratory rates are also causing a quicker loss of water. Man and horse are the only animals that regulate heir temperature by sweating. When the horse sweats, he will lose valuable electrolytes; the most important being sodium, chloride and potassium.
Traveling, illness (especially colic), stress, fear, pain, and excitement can also cause a high degree of sweating. An airless hot stable with high humidity (very common in an Oklahoma summer) prevents evaporation and may lead to heat stress. Water and electrolytes are necessary for recovery.
Electrolytes
Electrolytes are a mixture of body salts which are added to the water or feed after strenuous exercise. It is pointless giving them a long time before a competition, but to get horses used to the taste in water they may be offered daily after work for a week or so.
If you buy a pre-packaged electrolyte supplement, it’s important to be sure the correct dosage is being given. If glucose is being incorporated, it is there to increase absorption and not as a source of energy.
Electrolytes as powders added to the feed or in an oral paste in a syringe (similar to a wormer) are an easier way of guaranteeing that the horse takes in the correct dose. It’s a good idea to ask veterinary advice regarding electrolyte supplementation.
If electrolytes are given after a competition, plain water should also be offered. It is extremely important to get the horse to drink. In cases of extreme dehydration, the vet should be consulted immediately as oral rehydration can be dangerous.
The BHS Rules of Watering are a horse must have a constant supply of clean water, water utensils and containers must be kept clean, water before feeding, do not water when the horse is hot after work, do not work the horse hard immediately after a deep drink of water, containers should be large and deep enough to allow a good deep drink, containers should be safe and sturdy.
When NOT to water your horse
You should not water your horse after a full feed (though in cases where the horse has constant access to water this is not a problem), after very hard work when the horse is hot (cold water given to a hot horse will cause a shock to the system. Slightly warm water only should be given till the horse has cooled down sufficiently. The warmer water can be made up by adding some hot water to a bucket of cold water, until the temperature is lukewarm.) Hot or exhausted horses should be given about a quarter of a bucket at a time, approximately every twenty minutes, before hard, fast work (the liquid will bloat the stomach and may restrict breathing), or when the water is stagnant, stale, polluted or dirty
