# horse won't drink, dehydrated



## mrwithers (Jun 25, 2014)

Got a call from the BO 2/14 saying my horse didn't eat or poop overnight and was laying down (colic). He didn't seem in much pain and after some bran mash, hand grazing wet grass, walking and bute (per the vet) he started pooping. I shut off his automatic water and put 15 gallon buckets with 10g of water in them in his stall and paddock but have only seen him take a few sips. No measurable amount of drinking. He's getting at least a few liters from the wet bran + soaked hay. He is urinating but it's maybe 1/4 of his normal amount. His sides still look sucked in at the flanks. He still seems bright and alert and acting like his normal self.

Since it doesn't seem like an emergency right now the vet is scheduled to come out on Wednesday. Any ideas on how to get him to start drinking again? Any suggestions on self-diagnostics I can do before the vet comes out? I tried putting a couple tablespoons of salt in the bran but it didn't help. His temp was 99.3 which is in the normal range.


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## Foxhunter (Feb 5, 2012)

If his feed is wet then he will not want to drink as much. 

My horses in work, fed dry hay would drink around 6 gallons overnight, sometimes a little less. When. Wet hay the water consumption went right down to aroundm2'gallons overnight. 
These were horses in hard work so if not being worked they will drink less.


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## 4hoofbeat (Jun 27, 2013)

as the saying goes, you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink. 

how do you know he isn't drinking? are you there for hours at a time? 

my guy loved apples, so a little apple juice would usually work if i was worried about water intake. 

sorry i dont have more ideas


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## Sarahrachael (Dec 31, 2014)

Maybe try putting something in his water that smells good and tastes good. I've heard of people putting apple juice in horses water that were not drinking even gatorade. I also wonder if he has lost some electrolytes.. you could try putting that in his feed as well..

Good luck!


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## mrwithers (Jun 25, 2014)

4hoofbeat said:


> as the saying goes, you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink.
> 
> how do you know he isn't drinking? are you there for hours at a time?
> 
> ...


I'll try adding something to the water. The water buckets have marks on the side. I filled them up to 10g but they're still at 10g


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## 4hoofbeat (Jun 27, 2013)

mrwithers said:


> I'll try adding something to the water. The water buckets have marks on the side. I filled them up to 10g but they're still at 10g


are you the only one filling his buckets? (probably what i should've asked :?)

also as Foxhunter said, when they're getting wet feed they drink less. 
fresh grass provides up to 10% of their water intake ( i think thats the percentage.. not 100% on that )


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## Foxhunter (Feb 5, 2012)

Is he dehydrated or are you just guessing?

If you pinch his skin on his neck it should flatten quickly.
If it stays pinched then he could be dehydrated.


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## BowmanFarms (Jul 24, 2014)

We put Gatorade in one of our mares water because she wouldnt drink water from different places, like on weekend trail rides.

So i would add some Gatorade to her water for a week before the trail ride and then the water at the trail and she drank just fine.

The water then tasted and smelled the same.

I know its not the same thing as having a horse that is overcoming an illness or such but it might work


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## farmpony84 (Apr 21, 2008)

Is it cold outside? Offer some warm water as well


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## mrwithers (Jun 25, 2014)

4hoofbeat said:


> are you the only one filling his buckets? (probably what i should've asked :?)
> 
> also as Foxhunter said, when they're getting wet feed they drink less.
> fresh grass provides up to 10% of their water intake ( i think thats the percentage.. not 100% on that )


I put a note on his stall that says not to turn on the automatic water or fill his bucket without contacting me first. I told the BO and the barn workers. I was the last one out of the barn last night and the first one in so I'm pretty sure. Also I have it filled to a specific line so I'd notice if it got overfilled or something.



Foxhunter said:


> Is he dehydrated or are you just guessing?
> 
> If you pinch his skin on his neck it should flatten quickly.
> If it stays pinched then he could be dehydrated.


I'm just guessing. A vet tech, the BO, and my trainer all said he looks dehydrated but nobody has done diagnostics on him. This was following a mild colic. His flanks look sucked in. What else might cause that? I'll try the pinch test and gum press test this evening when I stop by.


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## Dapples123 (Jan 9, 2015)

I have a picky drinker who won't drink at shows - we put cherry koolaid crystals and a bit (a bit) of sugar in the water and he'll drink it like crazy.

The other issue you could be encountering is that horses don't like change - so, changing to buckets might make the water taste a little different (I totally understand why you have to go to buckets - but, you might need to convince your horse it's a good thing by adding something yummy to the water).

As another poster said - maybe try some luke warm water if you are in a cold climate. They will tend to drink more if it's luke warm rather than ice cold.

Keeping him moving will also help - digestion occurs most naturally when they eat and then move, eat and then move.


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## Dreamcatcher Arabians (Nov 14, 2010)

It's not unusual for horses to refuse to drink if the water gets too cold. I have a couple that I do 2 things for and it has completely stopped the winter colics for me. 

#1. Feed a warm soaked beet pulp. Beets hold 3X their weight in water, so you can make a significant improvement in his water intake this way. I put 1 oz of white stock salt in each feeding, to make them thirsty and want to drink.

#2. Get a heated bucket that you can plug in or one of the real insulated ones that you can put warm-ish 50-60 F, water in. And only let him drink from that bucket, so you KNOW he's drinking.


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## mrwithers (Jun 25, 2014)

Again he went all day without drinking. Tonight I tried warm water and warm water with apple juice in it but no luck. I'll check again in the morning. Since he's not impacted anymore I gave him one last round of bran mash and now back to the dry hay.


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## mrwithers (Jun 25, 2014)

Here are two side pics a week apart. Does that sucked in flank hint that he's dehydrated? I tried the neck pinch thing and it didn't snap back immediately but still maybe a full second. He's still urinating but only small amounts.

Today








Last week


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## jazzy475 (Sep 18, 2014)

I'd be pretty worried about him,get the vet out for him as soon as possible.


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## mrwithers (Jun 25, 2014)

Vet is scheduled to come out but not for another day. He doesn't think it's an emergency yet


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## Dreamcatcher Arabians (Nov 14, 2010)

I'm sorry, I can't see the pics on this site anymore for some reason.


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## Elana (Jan 28, 2011)

FWIW I would offer warm water and add 1/4 c molasses to 10 gallons or body temperature (luke warm) water. Also put a little molasses in his grain so he learns to want that.. learns the smell. 

Does he have a salt lick available? That can help him want to drink.


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## mslady254 (May 21, 2013)

I've used and heard about molasses. Feed stores have a powder that doesnt add sugar to the water, but it you do use grocery store molasses with the sugar, it doesnt take that much to make the water yummy so not that much sugar added. Sonny loves molasses water!

Hope he is better soon !

Fay


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## Rainaisabelle (Jan 2, 2015)

Following the excitement of an almost cyclone I put my boy into the stables and found he wasn't drinking much water and was slightly dehydrated. I agree with putting molasses in water it is very effective as they just suck it right up! Just monitor how much you're giving him as to not rehydrate him to fast.


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## New_image (Oct 27, 2007)

This photo comparison does indicate possible pain or dehydration. You can tent the skin on his neck and see how rapidly it snaps back to get a good idea. If you pinch his skin up, it should snap right back. Any delay and there is a level of dehydration. This only tells you so much though, if you do not know what is 'normal' for him. Some are great water drinkers while other horses just sip enough to get by. 

There are 1,000 tricks in the book, all worth a try but in my unfortunately experienced opinion with colic and dehydration, if this is serious the tricks won't help. 

If he tents dehydrated and is eating sluggish and clearly not drinking enough the vet can insert and suture on a IV. This can stay in for five days and the horse can be hydrated manually by running a few liters of IV fluid in. In cases such as impaction this insures there is enough fluid in the horse to help break up the impaction and move things along. A horse with an IV isn't likely to drink, because you are providing the fluid. So that is the downfall. 

You can syringe salt water in, slap salt on their tounges, offer hot, cold and med temp water, water from a new bucket, water from a bowl, coolaid water, gatoraid, molasses water, applesauce, heavily soaked feeds, stringing water in manually and everything else in the mean time if you'd like to try. I've never had luck there, either they want to drink or they dont. When their skin falls slowly from a tent, but before dark urine, I IV them.


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## jaydee (May 10, 2012)

If the weather isn't freezing where you are you should soak all his hay and keep feeding 'wet' food - you can use sugar beet or soak any pelleted food. As long as his food is going through that's OK - but if he's not pooping properly then you need the vet out ASAP


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## 4hoofbeat (Jun 27, 2013)

mrwithers said:


> Here are two side pics a week apart. Does that sucked in flank hint that he's dehydrated? I tried the neck pinch thing and it didn't snap back immediately but still maybe a full second. He's still urinating but only small amounts.
> 
> Today
> View attachment 599866
> ...



I know what you are referring to, I dont know what causes the change. My guy used to get that sucked in flank look, and I'd worry he wasn't drinking enough, or eating enough. with changes to his diet from not having enough teeth for hay, so he was getting more grain mush and soaked beet pulp. Some days he'd look like that, and then two days later he'd be fine. I wish I had more answers. 
is he getting his normal dry/wet hay ration along with the bran?


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## mrwithers (Jun 25, 2014)

He drank a 5g bucket of water with apple juice mixed in last night but didn't touch the 10g bucket of plain water. He also ate all his dry hay and grain last night and this morning which probably helped. He's also starting to look better too. 

This morning:


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## Dapples123 (Jan 9, 2015)

I'd add apple juice to both buckets until the vet appt as it seems that he likes it. 

You want him to drink as much as "normal" in the meantime and you can always slowly wean him off the apple juice/water combo after the vet checks him.

I hope everything works out!


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## stevenson (Sep 12, 2011)

it is very good that you got him to drink. If he is doing normal poops and pees it seems you are on the road to recovery. You can get apple dex, electroylte that is apple flavored, and add that to feed or water, Mine prefer it on wet feed . i would also be adding some psyllium into his feed/grain . He could be sanded and that caused the colic. If you do not have a feed store nearby, you can get generic ground psyllium at any drug store, walgreen cvs wallmart. for examples.. I get the plain and just put the adult dose onto dampened feed.


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## Luv equins (Oct 10, 2014)

Try putting some apples in the water bucket.


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## WildAtHeart (Jul 17, 2013)

What if you leave the auto water off but fill the bowl. Maybe he will drink from his normal location. He definitely does look better in the last pic. He is lucky to have such a dedicated owner.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## mrwithers (Jun 25, 2014)

He's 90% back to normal now and also drinking plain water again. Going to keep doing the manual water at least until Thursday then going back to automatic. Thanks for the advice.



WildAtHeart said:


> What if you leave the auto water off but fill the bowl. Maybe he will drink from his normal location. He definitely does look better in the last pic. He is lucky to have such a dedicated owner.
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


His auto water in the stall is too small. I turned it off and put out a 20g bucket filled to 10g.


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## WildAtHeart (Jul 17, 2013)

When you go back to auto water, I have heard of people adding a drop of food colouring to the water in the bowl. That way if you see the colour gone or diluted, you know the horse is drinking. Obviously you don't want to put a lot of colour in, just a drop or two. Just an idea


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