Dehydration
During warmer weather, horses can become dehydrated but do you know what the signs of dehydration are and how to prevent it?
In temperatures above 33°C, we see the horses water requirement increase and in resting horses, it has been shown that their water requirements can increase 4-5 times that of normal intakes. An average horse will consume 30 - 50 litres of water per day, however in warmer weather this can increase to 120 - 250 litres per day. Horses also have hypertonic sweat, which means that they lose more electrolytes in sweat than bodily fluids, so just offering water doesn't actually help to re-hydrate a horse.
One of the first signs of dehydration is a decreased thirst response. Offering plain water can ‘turn off’ the thirst response as it dilutes the body fluids, so when it is hotter offering salt and electrolytes alongside water and feed can help to re-hydrate them. Here are some tips to help you keep track of your horse’s hydration status:
- Mucous membranes – the gums should be pink and feel slimy to the touch. If they are red and or tacky this can indicate dehydration
- Capillary Refill Time- press a finger onto your horses’ gums until the area turns white then release. After 2 seconds the colour should come back, any slower can indicate dehydration
- Skin Pinch Test – use this with other methods as it’s not always reliable. Pinch the skin on your horse’s neck near the shoulder, if it returns to normal (flat) within 2 seconds they are well hydrated, 2-4 seconds can indicate moderate dehydration, longer than 4 seconds can indicate severe dehydration
There are also a few things to watch out for to help reduce the risk of your horse becoming dehydrated during hotter weather:
- Increased sweating
- Less frequent urination or dark urine
- Poor performance or lacking energy
You can keep your horse well hydrated by feeding salt, which we recommend doing on a daily basis to top up on sodium and chloride that are lost through sweat, and also feeding electrolytes when appropriate such as after hard work or when your horse has been heavily sweating. Electrolytes should ideally be added to the horse's feed, however if they are added to water, ensure that fresh, clean, un-supplemented water is also available to allow the horse free choice. Offering a salt lick in the stable, and or field, will allow your horse to top-up on their required salt intake, however salt licks cannot be relied on alone to provide enough salt in the diet. Horses have very smooth tongues and often they cannot get enough salt from a salt lick.
During extremes heat waves, when the temperature rises quickly from the 'norm', it's not uncommon for horses' appetites to decrease. A study looking into the effects of restricted fibre intake of ponies over a 6-week period found that on average, they consumed approximately 2.2% of their body weight per day. However, there was one week in the study where the temperature was unseasonably high, and this was found to bring the average daily intake of all the ponies down to 1.6% of their body weight. This decrease in intake will lead to a reduced fibre intake and could increase the risk of dehydration as fibre helps to hold water in the gut, creating a 'reservoir' for the horse to draw on when needed. Feeding soaked, fibre based feeds such as RE-COVERY MASH will not only help to top-up fibre intakes but will also increase your horse's water intake.
It is also important to remember that grass has a very high moisture content, however this will be reduced during prolonged periods of warm weather. If your horse lives out, make sure they have access to clean water to ensure that they are still able to maintain their required water intake as they will be getting less from the grazing. If you bring your horse into the stable when the weather is hot, try offering soaked hay to increase their water intake and to reduce the risk of impaction colic through lack of moisture (hay being much lower in moisture than grass) or if they are used to being fed haylage, this is a great way of increasing water intake as haylage is naturally much higher in water compared to hay.
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