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 Expert
Posts: 1258
  
Location: MN | ok, I recently moved my gelding to a stable. He is used to being outside all the time, coming and going out of a lean to and drinking out of a stock tank with 2 other horses. Well when he comes into the stall at night my horse is drinking over 10 gallons of water. We monitored his drinking outside during the day, and it is only 3-4 gallons. I did blood work on him, and EVERYTHING is normal, except he was slightly dehydrated? I am so confused? that day the vet did take an extra dose of blood and spun it down just in case we needed to send in for Cushing's but, he doesn't look at all like a Cushing's horse, the vet said, no thick neck, no curly hair etc. PLEASE, any thoughts? Keep in mind, the barn is at a steady 60 degrees at night because there are pricey reiners there, and my horse is not ALL the way shedded 0ut but, that is not too warm.... |
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 Money Eating Baggage Owner
Posts: 9586
  
Location: Phoenix | Where is the water when he goes outside? Does he maybe not know where it is? Or is he maybe too lazy to keep going back for water? |
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  Ms. Manners
Posts: 1820
Location: Oklahoma | Is the outside water from a different source? Is he inimidated by the other horses? That is a very normal amount of water to drink, but it is unusual to be drinking only - 4 gallons during the day. |
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Expert
Posts: 1258
Location: MN | it is from the same source, I put him in a small paddock where I can monitor the amount in buckets outside. Inside, it is an automatic waterer but I shut it off for 2 nights and put 2, 5 gallon buckets in there instead and they were empty both mornings. My question though is why is he still dehydrated, and why only drinking so much at night? And he is in the paddock by himself, so no other horses to intimidate him.
Edited by snoopy 2014-05-18 11:08 AM
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 Expert
Posts: 1482
Location: on my horse | I would be looking at his exercise schedule. How often do you ride/work him? Also what type of horse is he, if he's a more nervous type then that will affect his drinking habits. Also is he a worrier or a pacer in his pen? Another thing to consider is what time of day your vet drew blood and what your horse had been doing up until that point in his day. Those are all things that will affect his water consumption and what the vet saw on his blood results.
If everything else is normal and he eats well and his behavior hasn't changed I wouldn't worry too much. It's good that you are very observant and pick up on his habits like this.
I've got a gelding that is fairly active in his pen and will down 15+ gallons in a day, he's just a big drinker. We've supplemented with electrolytes, had numerous blood draws done, tested for different things, and all his tests etc. came back perfect. Vet told me to quit worrying finally  |
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 I Chore in Chucks
Posts: 2882
Location: MD | I'm going to go into a different direction here...
my horse in the default photo will refuse to drink out of a metal water tank, and if the tank isn't clean enough he for sure will not drink out of it. Have you checked that out? i scrub my tanks once a week, soap them up once a month, if your tank is metal and is rusty it might send new "flavors" into the water, and the water isn't tasting good to him. plastic buckets and rubber buckets don't usually send off a different taste. try drinking water out of a thermos with a metal interior and then try drinking out of a plastic cup, there is a distinct metal taste that is left behind. I'm going this direction since you said blood work came back good. |
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VERY weird thing going on with horses drinking habits...