My Horse's Hydration Equation
Lead a Horse...
How many times have you heard the saying, “you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink”? How many times have you wished it wasn’t so incredibly true? Hydration is extremely important to horses, but for a good number of them it’s something that they struggle with. My horse, Truffles, has always been on the edge of a poor drinker but this winter she really started to struggle with drinking water inside. Despite free access to a salt lick, and electrolytes in her regular feed, she still was drinking barely an inch out of one of her two buckets overnight, and sometimes not at all. In my eyes this was an emergency in the making, so I knew I had to jump into action to get her drinking more at night!
The first thing I went about doing was identifying if there was an issue with her water buckets, as she seems to drink well outside from the trough but not from her buckets inside. I thoroughly cleaned them and inspected them to see if there were any spots that might be sharp or snagging her hair. Once these passed inspection, I moved on to the water itself. Since the other horses were drinking fine, and she drank the same water outside without issue, this was easy to confirm as ok. I have been at barns in the past with less than clear water, or even water with a distinct smell! Luckily the water at our barn currently is clear and has no odor.
Electrolytes & More
Once I determined that this was more of a Truffles herself issue rather than an environmental issue, I broke into my SmartPak tool kit. That first night I gave her a tube of SmartLytes Paste to give her an extra serving of electrolytes and try to stimulate her drinking. I absolutely love the SmartLytes Paste to keep on hand for emergencies like this! It gives a fantastic panel of electrolyte ingredients, in a tube that is easy to handle with one hand, with a tasty flavor that horses enjoy. That same day, I ordered some exciting water additives for her to try. While waiting for those to arrive over the next few days I monitored her drinking and gave her additional tubes of SmartLytes Paste. This definitely improved how much she was taking in, but I felt there was more to be done.
Truffles’ new water additives arrived a few days later, and I set about my master plan for a Truffles water taste test! Given that she already received a feed through electrolyte, I wanted to try something other than a paste to entice her to drink more water. These additives that I bought were the perfect solution, as they are blended into water and thereby ensure she is drinking more in order to get that tasty flavor they offer! I can also toss the powder in her bucket after I clean, and when I fill waters it will be all made up for her. The Truffles water taste test was comprised of two products: Equine Elixir’s Chug, and Gallagher’s Water.
Will Truffles Chug the Chug?
To start, I put Truffles in her stall at her usual time in the evening and let her relax for a bit while I finished some chores. After that, I brought the bag of Equine Elixir’s Chug to her stall. As soon as I opened this bag she was interested in the smell and was practically trying to eat the powder out of the bag itself. I added one scoop of Chug to one of her buckets and mixed it in as best as I could with Truffles trying to nudge me out of the way to get at her exciting new treat. Immediately she was sniffing and licking at the frothy green water. I was genuinely surprised with how interested she was in it!
At that initial mixing she drank for several good seconds, which is more than she would for some entire nights. I opted to leave the mixed bucket in her stall overnight. Not only did she drink about half of this bucket, but she also drank some of her unmixed water as well. I was thrilled with the results! Truffles seemed to be a big fan of Chug!
What About Gallagher's Water?
That next day I scrubbed both buckets clean again and started the process over but with the Gallagher’s Water this time. Again, Truffles was extremely interested in the powder right out of the package and waited somewhat impatiently for me to mix it into her water.
The texture of Gallagher’s Water is a bit different than Chug, I feel it made more bubbles in the water. Truffles seemed to enjoy this factor of it. She spent a lot of time playing with the mixed water! Just like with the Chug, she took some immediate big sips from the bucket. I also left the Gallagher’s Water bucket in overnight and had the same result of her drinking a bit of the flavored water and a bit of the plain water!
... and Help Her Hydrate
Overall, I’d say the Truffles taste test was a success. I tried this again over a few days following and as we’ve done a few more tries she seems to favor the Chug over the Gallagher’s Water just a touch more. Chug is made with an alfalfa extract and Himalayan salt and is designed for enticing the horse to drink. It isn’t necessarily an electrolyte, however. Gallagher’s Water is also alfalfa based and is considered an electrolyte. With this in mind, I plan to rotate use between the two as needed. For days when Truffles works hard or might need that additional support, I will give her the Gallagher’s Water. On days when she seems to just need an extra treat to get her to drink, I’ll go with the Chug.
Horses always seem to throw us new challenges, but I’m glad that Truffles’ water strike just needed a little sample bar of water additives to resolve. I suppose it turns out in my experience I can lead a Truffles to water, and with some tasty green water I might just be able to make her drink!