Tips for Watering Horses in Winter
I grew up with horses. I got my first pony, a black and white paint Shetland named Chico, when I was 2 years old.
I wasn't tasked with his full care till a few years later. I remember from a very young age bringing leftover frozen water buckets in to thaw and taking a bucket of fresh water out every morning and night. My two younger sisters also got into horses, and with more horses came a bigger water trough.
Can Horses Survive on Snow?
We would fill the trough with a hose then drain the hose over the rafters to keep it from freezing and make sure the tank heater was doing its job. If it failed, that meant chopping the ice from the top so the horses could drink. Not ideal as horses don't like freezing cold water. The first time I heard tell from an old timer that horses can survive on snow, I was a bit hesitant to believe him. I mean, I had spent my whole life putting water ahead of all else (even used it as an excuse to get out of doing dishes).
I have never tried melting snow in bucket, but I imagine it takes a lot of snow to make 5 to 10 gallons of water. That's how much the average horse drinks a day. Plus, the calories needed to melt snow are the same calories our horses need to stay warm. Horses produce up to ten gallons of saliva a day to eat and digest food.
Without enough water, they may not be able to eat enough.
Winter Weight Loss in Horses and How to Just Beat it in Winter
Winter weight loss is primarily due to dehydration horses, like people, can live longer without food than they can water. While winter has its own special challenges, horses deprived of sufficient water all seasons of the year, run the risk of impaction, colic, and constipation.
How do you select the right feed for your horse in winter?
That means simply put, "Water your horses in the winter." Use a heated watering system to haul it from the bathtub, or drain your hoses every time you water make winter more bearable, and keep weight on your animals by watering.
Have them Drink the Kool-aid: A DIY Horse Hack
When you travel or change water sources often, sometime horses won't want to drink because they are not familiar with the taste. How do you fix this? During the summer months when we were competing and staying gone for longer periods of time, we would put unsweetened Kool-Aid in the water. Then, when we had to use water somewhere else, we would add the Kool-Aid. This way the water was always familiar and horses wouldn't quit drinking.