One of my miniature horses, Milo, and I recently went to a driving competition — it was our first trip away from home to a competition site where there was no stabling or nearby accommodation.
I am not one of those fortunate folks who have living quarters in their trailer so I was somewhat concerned about my own sleeping arrangements. Milo was completely comfortable with his 12-panel portable pen, complete access to the inside of the horse trailer via the ramp, his complete wardrobe for all weather conditions (and we encountered quite a few!) so he was a happy camper.
I, on the other hand, had a borrowed tent of questionable quality (I could see holes in it when I did a trial set up at home), a camp cot that takes several folks to set up, a good sleeping bag and self-inflating mattress, a portable pottie and a battery operated light.
It certainly is apparent who has the priority for nighttime comfort – the horse wins! When I arrived on site and began setting up my camp (horse pen first), the odd raindrop was trickling down – this did not bode well for a tenting experience. Fortunately for me, a good friend of mine brought her trailer that has a driving equipment store in one half and living quarters in the other half. She kindly invited me to share her abode and I did not hesitate to accept!
When the torrential rains hit the next day, I was very thankful for her generosity. I was able to sit in the comfort of her trailer and look out at my little horse in his insulated rain coat happily munching away oblivious to the “liquid sunshine” falling around him!
One concern I did have over the span of the weekend was that my horse was not drinking his water. I had brought water from home specifically for him but he chose not to partake. It was raining somewhat the first night and throughout portions of the next day but, since I did drive him twice during the day thus he was working, I thought he should be getting more water than what he was getting while grazing on wet grass. In this situation, dehydration is always a concern.
Milo was going to have to work quite hard the following day (driving a marathon with obstacles) so I wanted him to be in peak condition. Dehydration could affect his performance but more importantly can have serious effects including impaction colic or can contribute to other problems.
So how do you know if your horse is dehydrated?
The easiest way is a skin pinch test where you pinch up a fold of skin on the neck then release it – if the skin snaps back down then your horse is fine. If the fold of skin is slow to return, that is an indication that there might be a problem.
There certainly are a variety of strategies to encourage your horse to drink. One is to insure the water is clean and fresh and the water bucket is clean.
Sometimes flavoring the water with a little apple juice will entice your horse to drink. My big Canadian horse absolutely loves watermelon so if he is reluctant to drink in the summer, a slice or two of watermelon with its high water content disappears quite fast into his substantial mouth — he even eats the rind.
Some horses will drink if you put some Gatorade in their water. Some folks say to add electrolytes but you have to be careful with that – if there are underlying problems, you may cause further problems with the electrolytes.
If you are feeding hay or hay cubes, you can add water to those items and make a nice green hay “soup” that horses will often slurp down.
Regardless of the method you choose, always make sure your horse has water available and try to overcome the old saying “you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink!”
