"Finicky Drinker"

[minskeep]

Does anyone have any suggestions for a horse that always looks like it needs to drink some water? She has always been a fussy drinker when away from home but I notice she always looks "sunken in" at the flanks more often then the other horses. She has fresh clean water available at all times and I do see her drink often but she still looks like she needs to drink more. I have tried the gatorade trick and she wanted nothing to do with that water. I guess I have only been able to get her to drink "foreign" water if she sees another horse drink it first. I did a little searching online and found a product called Horse Quencher. Has anyone tried this stuff?

[WashingtonBay]

Is she actually dehydrated? Do a skin pull test, if don't know what I mean, ask... and look and feel in her gums, how moist is her mouth, how quickly do the capillaries refill when you press her gums? Particularly when you think she looks 'sunken in'.

Could be she just needs more weight and it's not really a water problem.

And it could be, as you say, that she's finicky away from home, and doesn't drink enough. My stallion I showed in high school would not drink strange water... when we went for trail rides or to shows, even for days at a time, I had to bring his water from home in buckets, with lids.

[Fork]

Have you tried adding electrolytes such as Gatorade to the water? It's probably a little bit cheaper than Horse Quencher.

[grandmadeb]

I don't think Al is a picky drinker, I think he just forgets to drink at times, especially when the weather turns cooler. We put warm water in his food just to make sure he is getting it. We tried adding Gatorade etc. to his water ane that just didn't work.

[mare]

I have a friend whose best gelding is like that. It really worries her because we occasionally work long days in extreme temperatures (you know what those are like in ND!). She had blood work done and it was fine. Her vet rolled his eyes, because at 26 this horse is in great shape!

Hope your mare has nothing to worry about. :)

You might just allow for her unique metabolism/preferences/build. I would be slow to add a supplement just to satisfy what I want to see - for my comfort. Maybe find out if she has a problem first.

Some horses just have that "ganted" or tucked up look, too.

[Apaches Mom]

As far as being finicky away from home..

In my teenage years when we showed during the summer, we'd start putting koolaid in the water at home. We had to start early spring and start with very little and then we slowly increased the koolaid so they got used to the orange smell and taste. Then used the same ratio in the water at the shows. Fooled my finicky horse every time.

My elderly mare at home (will be 30 next year) has a tendency to look gaunt all winter. She just doesn't drink water in the winter. Even if it is warmed up. We soak her beet pulp so it absorbs the water and forces the water into her.

[vicklynn]

My mare loves crushed peppermints in her water.
Also, if your away from home, take water from home with you. Preferably out of their tank.

[walkinthewalk]

One of my horses is like that. He would never drink enough water when I had him boarded at a barn that was on well water ---- that had a good amount of sulphur in it.

I even had the vet out to be sure he was ok and, like others have already stated, my vet rolled her eyes and said he's fine.

Then we moved and our new place had city water --- good bye sulphur ---- hello Duke starting to drink like there was no tomorrow.

That was 12 years ago. My horses have been on city water since then, and this horse has not had a (ahem) drinking problem since:cowboy:

I said all that to say, my guess is your horse does not like the taste of the water, whether it's well water or city water, there is some taste in it that your horse finds offensive:)

[CaddoCinnamon]

We use it in the winter mostly because is a finicky drinker as well. We have had great success with that and also peppermints. Thanks Vicky for that info it worked great. He started drinking the whole 5 gallon bucket of water. I like to feel their water buckets up at least 2 a day in the winter and 4 to 5 x's in the summer. I personally think it is worth your while to try the thrist quencher. I have had success with it.

[minskeep]

Thanks for all the replies. I have been busy the last few days and havnt had time to get back on here. I got a few samples of the horse quencher at Equine Affaire and Im going to try it on our first trail ride. We have a portable water tank for the trailer and I think she will drink from there. I also think it could be her "build" that makes her look extra ganted up. When she does take in a lot of water I can notice a difference but it still looks like she should drink more. Im hoping she puts on some weight this summer. Shes growing like a weed now and Im trying to keep up with how much more I should be feeding her. Shes not a large horse at all but she has had a major growth spurt this spring.