# At my wits end - horse won't drink when stabled - any tips?



## Tnavas (24 January 2012)

My mare is stabled approximately 20 hours a day and 4 hours out in the paddock. She eats well but just doesn't dring when in her stable.

The water is from the same source as the paddock water and is fresh twice daily. 

I've tried molasses in her water - she drank it once then not since. I'm getting concerned as in a few weeks she will be going to Horse of the Year and will be stabled 24hours for 7 days.

Does anyone have any more tips for getting her to drink. 

She gets meadow chaff, oats and sugarbeet which I am now damping really well so I know that she has had some fluid over night.


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## Mince Pie (24 January 2012)

Have you tried putting anything other than mollasses in her water (apple juice/sugarbeet water/carrot juice/thirst quencher)? IF not perhaps try several small buckets, one with each of the above and one with nothing.


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## Elsbells (24 January 2012)

Oh dear, that's not good. Isn't there something on the market called a thirst quencher? You add it to the water and I think some eventers use it?

Other than that, does apple bobbing work?

Good luck.


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## applecart14 (25 January 2012)

This is the website the previous poster for the product Elsbells and Brokebuthappy were talking about.  Its quite expensive though.  http://www.horsequencher.co.uk/

Not being funny but are you certain that her water container is thoroughly cleaned?  I scrub mine every other day and my paddock once a fortnight but I am amazed that other people hardly ever think to clean their water buckets, and some water buckets I have seen are positively gross, with thick grey slime at the bottom of them and when you touch the bottom your hands slide in the gunk.  Eurrrgh.

Not only is this encouraging bacteria to flourish in the water and cause all manner of digestive problems, it also encourages colic if the water is not fresh.


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## FabioandFreddy (25 January 2012)

If she eats sugarbeet then i'd put some in her water and make a 'beet soup'. I always make this up when going to shows as it guarantee's my horse will drink! 

I tried the Quencher things you add to the water - he wouldn't touch it! Complete waste of money.


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## ginger76 (25 January 2012)

i have steamed hay so a bit of fluid in there, and i also feed watery speedi beet so he gets some that way too, have u tried floating bits of apples in there? i tried this with my old tb and he would play around in the water ingesting some at the same time, have u tried smaller buckets with juice?  at shows mine wont drink so i squeeze wet sponges in his mouth in the hope he gets a bit! soaked hays good too


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## Amymay (25 January 2012)

FabioandMiro said:



			If she eats sugarbeet then i'd put some in her water and make a 'beet soup'. I always make this up when going to shows as it guarantee's my horse will drink!
		
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This.

But of course, the ideal answer is to turn her out........


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## Tnavas (25 January 2012)

AmyMay - I can't turn her out as we are in the middle of summer and she only has to look at the paddock and you can see her dimensioins increase. The stabling is for her own good. She will also be stabled 24/7 at Horse of the Year - no turnout there so I am getting her whole system used to hard feed and minimal turnout. 

AppleCart14 - Yes her water bucket is scrubbed daily and rinsed clean twice a day. 

I've tried different containers, different locations and molasses. I'm going to try floating apples tomorrow and see how that goes.


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## chrissie1 (25 January 2012)

I have one of these.  Her water all comes from the same source, her buckets and field troughs are clean, she drinks in field, not in stable.  If you can get Global Herbs where you are, then Black Salt has been the answer.  I put some in her teatime feed and by bedtime she needs about 2/3rd of a bucket to top up, and has drunk at least some more by morning.  Mine is out from 7 until about 4.30 at present.  Plus it is cheap!


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## fatpiggy (25 January 2012)

Don't forget that all horses are individuals.  My 15.1 28 year old has never been a big drinker.  I give her a 4 gallon bucket overnight which is filled to the last couple of inches and if she drinks as much as half of that I think she has had a thirsty night. Sometimes (quite often actually) she literally doesn't touch it or just whets her whistle after eating from her chop bucket.  She much prefers to drink from the flood puddle in the field (clearly doesn't like chlorinated water).  She has just been diagnosed with mild Cushings but her water intake and output hasn't changed one jot.  I do soak her feed as her teeth are past their best-before date but that is still only another half gallon of water in 24 hours.   to cap it all, remember that the given average for poo output is 7-10 piles in 24 hours?  Well she does precisely 4 piles in that time.  It is just what is normal for her so I don't worry about it.


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## jnb (25 January 2012)

I see you have tried different water buckets/troughs, I heard once of a horse that WOULD NOT drink from plastic containers and almost faded away (100% turnout), in desperation they moved his field to one that just happened to have a metal water trough - BINGO! he drank the second they let him loose.
Just a thought.


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## Misog2000 (25 January 2012)

Agree with jnb about trying a different bucket, my friends horse will not drink from a light coloured bucket, swapped to a black one and he is happy as Larry. x


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## fuggly (25 January 2012)

a few thoughts , what colour is the water bucket ? silly question i know but one of the horses on my yard will not drink out of a black / dark coloured bucket changed it to a horrid bright  yellow one and he glugs away !!! maybe something to do with making the water look clearer ??? . also are you making it too clean ? ie like a cat you put down a dish of lovely clean water and they drink from a puddle , we also had a horse who on a previous yard wouldn't drink in the stable and his owner said the water was odd even for tea , so could you get a water butt and catch rainwater ? or if she drinks trough water fill her water bucket up with that


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## ILuvCowparsely (25 January 2012)

have you triked apple juice in her water??
 my wouldnt drink she is stable cos of lami    so we put apple juice in an it got her drinking again


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## Tammytoo (25 January 2012)

I have one like this.  We have rigged up a small woodchip turnout area in front of  the stable, and put her water there and in the stable.  She chomps away at her haynet in the stable, then comes out for a drink and goes back in. The only time she ever drinks from the stable is if it is very windy as she hates the wind!

With the HOYS in mind, will she drink from a bucket if you just lead her outside for a drink?


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## Alphamare (25 January 2012)

What are you cleaning the bucket with?! Maybe she doesn't like what ever you may be using to scrub the bucket out.

Also I think water can be too clean.


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## Tnavas (25 January 2012)

Thanks everyone for your great response - she is a bit of a princess!
I've tried a white plastic bucket, a pink gubba bucket and also a green one. I have a black one and will try that. 

I've tried filling the water when she actually comes in so that it is very fresh and filling the bucket when I muck out and it has several hours to stand and get rid of the chlorine smell. I've tried salt, I've placed the bucket at the back of the stable where there is a bracket for it and also at the front of the stable. When I turn her out she goes and has a lick at her salt block then goes to the trough and has a good drink. She now has a salt block in her stable which she loves.


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## beeswax (25 January 2012)

I read somewhere horses only drink if they are thirsty not like you and i who will drink for the sake of having a drink, if you are giving her all these sloppy meals you are probably on the borderline of keeping her off being thirsty so therefore she is not drinking what she really needs for proper bodily function, give her a salt lick in her box, she will soon drink because it will make her thirsty and cut out all the other extra sloppy things too.


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## Tnavas (25 January 2012)

She has a salt lick in her box and I've only just started making her feeds wetter because she won't drink. She is getting approx 10litre volume in meadow chaff and three slices of hay when in - she should be wanting to drink.


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## lq22 (26 January 2012)

Some animals will only drink from running water. Is the trough in the paddock an automatic filler? If it is she might instinctively just prefer water that has a bit of movement in it. Such a pain for you - hope you work it out soon.


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## paddi22 (26 January 2012)

just another thought, knew of a horse who wouldn't drink in the stable, and it turned out she hated wetting her bed, she was on rubber with very few shavings and hated having it wet. i know some horses won't wee when travelling due to the same thing, but she was like that around her stable.


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## Lucyad (26 January 2012)

Have you tried collecting rainwater?  I appreciate that your padock water is from the same source, but will be diluted with rain unless under cover.

My horse is similar - will drink in the stable, but bare minimum only.  prefers the stream in his field.  If I ride straight from the stable he often asks to stop at streams / puddles to have a drink.


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## posie_honey (26 January 2012)

honestly.... i'd try not cleaning her bucket for a few days and leaving the same water in it - my mare - given the choice of fresh clean water and old slighty mucky water will go for the old water every time - i bet your water troughs have a nice flavoured layer of green on them unless you are very particular


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## jnb (26 January 2012)

Tnavas said:



			Thanks everyone for your great response - she is a bit of a princess!
I've tried a white plastic bucket, a pink gubba bucket and also a green one. I have a black one and will try that. 

I've tried filling the water when she actually comes in so that it is very fresh and filling the bucket when I muck out and it has several hours to stand and get rid of the chlorine smell. I've tried salt, I've placed the bucket at the back of the stable where there is a bracket for it and also at the front of the stable. When I turn her out she goes and has a lick at her salt block then goes to the trough and has a good drink. She now has a salt block in her stable which she loves.
		
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But....what is the trough made of? Metal? Have you tried a metal bucket/trough in the stable?


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## Tnavas (28 January 2012)

Thanks everyone for your tips - at the moment we seem to have cracked it.

She will drink the water with a small amount of molasses in it - she drank 20 litres the night before last and the whole lot last night. She came in at lunch time and when I went back to give her her tea she had again drunk about 20 litres.

Her trough is concrete and an auto fill and yes shame on me it has a green layer around the walls - soon to be cleaned out. Can't save rainwater as we don't get a lot at the moment and the roof area very small to collect it from.


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## Tnavas (3 February 2012)

Well we seem to have cracked the not drinking - she is drinking plenty but madam has now found it is fun to tip her water over and play with the bucket!

Two weeks ago I put a wool sack full of shavings into her bed - it looked beautiful and white - now it isn't, it's wet and a grubby brown. 

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR! I've bougt a wheeled bucket - plastic garden type with a high side with a handle and it's tied to the wall. She had a few snorts at it this afternoon when I brought her in but I actually caught her drinking from it.

We have to add a tablespoon molasses to about 30 litres of water and she is happy - so is her mum!


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## chestnut cob (3 February 2012)

Robinsons sell buckets you can attach to the wall and unclip to fill up.  She shouldn't be able to get those off the wall so that would solve the problem of her tipping it over.

My horse can be funny about drinking (he won't drink away from home unless it's water I have taken with me and I hold the bucket up for him.. won't drink from the floor (but he will at home..), at last yard he wouldn't drink from the auto water in stable regardless of whether I cleaned it daily or left it and would only drink from the field, at current yard he rarely drinks in the field and prefers to drink in stable...) so I either put sugar beet water in, or have been known to put a glug of molasses in too.  He always drinks if I've put molasses in.


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