Horse Hydration: The Problem Nobody Sees Until January

Most winter colics we hear about are impactions, and most impactions are water problems dressed up as feed problems.

Two things change in winter

1. Grass disappears. Summer grass is roughly 80% water. Hay is around 12%. Swapping one for the other removes a huge volume of water from the diet before the horse drinks anything.
2. Water gets cold. Horses drink measurably less when water approaches freezing.

What actually works

• Warm the water. Even to 10 to 15°C. Intake rises noticeably.
• Salt daily. Around 30 g for an average horse drives thirst.
• Soak something. Beet, hay replacer or soaked chopped straw.
• Add fresh fodder. A 2 kg tray of sprouted barley carries close to 1.7 litres of water with it.

A horse that eats 12 kg of dry hay and drinks 20 litres is running much closer to the edge than the same horse on grass.