How can I prevent my horse from becoming dehydrated?

How to prevent dehydration in horses.

With the arrival of the warmer weather finally upon us this summer our thoughts as horse owners must turn to hydration. A question that is often asked is ‘How can I prevent my horse from becoming dehydrated?’. Providing our equine friends with the best environment should always be at the forefront of our minds. A lack of hydration in horses can cause serious issues and in this blog, we will find out what to look out for and how to prevent it.

The signs

The first thing we need to discuss is what are the signs of dehydration in horses:

• Fatigue and tiredness
• No interest in its surroundings
• Concentrated urine which will appear dark in colour
• Infrequent passing of urine
• Eyes can appear dull
• Dry skin and/or mouth
• Thick saliva

Prevention

Now we know what to look out for, how can I prevent my horse from becoming dehydrated?

1. Is your water supply fresh and clean?

Always make sure fresh, clean water is available for your horse no matter what the time of year. Always check to make sure there is no fallen debris in there that could cause an issue. If it is a communal water trough keep an eye on herd dynamics as resource guarding may stop an individual accessing the water.

2. Do you know how to cool your horse down after exercise?

After exercise its best to walk your horse off in the shade. This can help reduce sweating, keeping essential water in the body. Another great method to cool your horse down after exercise is to wash it down with cool water.

3. Can your horse access shade at all times?

Keeping your horse cool in the paddock. If your horse spends a lot of time outside during the hotter months make sure they have access to a shaded area. If you have grazing options, always plump for the field with shade in the hotter months. This could be a field shelter or an area of trees, or perhaps the shadow from a near-by building.

4. The importance of diet.

Did you know a large proportion of a horse’s water intake is through their diet? In hot weather it is essential to help maintain a healthy hydration level by increasing their exposure to water-based forage. It is also important to make sure any feed is BETA NOPS accredited for peace of mind.

Feeding a daily nutritious mash by adding water to Silvermoor Grassabix is a healthy and hydrating way to increase your equines water consumption.

Grassabix are the healthy dried grass forage block. Sold in a twin pack they come in four delicious flavours and have a host of additional health benefits:

Grassabix with TurmerAid

Supercharged with the turmeric TurmerAid pellet this flavour Grassabix promote wellbeing. Turmeric specifically supports healthy joints, aids digestion, helps maintain a healthy, shiny coat and is suitable for laminitics.

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Grassabix with Linseed

With added conditioning linseed this flavour Grassabix enhances skin and coat, contains natural antioxidants and supports muscle development and recovery, as well as being suitable for laminitics.

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Minty Unicorn Grassabix

Flavoured with our signature minty unicorn flavouring this will tempt even the fussiest of eaters to consume additional water through their Grassabix mash.

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Grassabix with Cinnamon

Cinnamon is rich in antioxidants and is known to improve digestion, regulate blood sugar and fight infection due to its anti-inflammatory properties.

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Grassabix Bumper Pack

In this pack you get 10 x 1kg gorgeous grass Grassabix.

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Make the switch from hay to haylage, by changing from hay to haylage you can increase forage water content on average by 25-35%. Continuity of feeding is very important on competition days or times when your equine is away from home as getting water into them on such days can be very tricky. A forage such as haylage or a dried grass mash which they get daily at home is essential for increasing hydration on these days, this will also create familiarity to calm your horses.

Here at Silvermoor we have a type of haylage to suit each and every horse:

Recreation

A great all-rounder, a delicious ryegrass haylage is suitable for all types in all levels of work.

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Lite

Our low sugar, high fibre, ryegrass haylage is suitable for good doers, laminitics and horses suffering from IR and EMS. Always guaranteed to be under 10% sugar, we get every batch of haylage analysed with the details printed on each pack so you can always know what you are feeding.

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Timothy

Made from a pure UK native timothy grass ley, timothy is perfect for fussy eaters. It is high in fibre and low in sugar making it suitable for good doers, laminitics, IR and EMS sufferers.

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Veteran

A ryegrass haylage that has been short chopped to ensure it can be easily chewed by horses and ponies with deteriorating teeth.

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Minty Unicorn

A high fibre cocksfoot and timothy mix haylage that is native to the UK and naturally low in sugar and high in fibre. This haylage is particularly good for laminitics, good doers and weight-watchers.

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Conclusion

In conclusion, how can I prevent my horse from becoming dehydrated is a question that can be answered with careful horse management over the warmer months. By tweaking their diet you can considerable increase their water intake and decrease the risk of them suffering from dehydration.