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 Having Smokin Bandits
Posts: 4572
  
Location: Woodstown, NJ | A horse I am looking at to purchase dunks his hay in his water. I've heard of this before but I don't know anything about it. Why do they do it? Is it something to worry about? |
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 Veteran
Posts: 254
Location: Kaufman, Texas | We've had two that do that. Never had any health issues. I like it, they are staying hydrated! Just messy everyday when cleaning buckets. I keep two buckets in his stall. He also dunks his grain also. I wouldn't worry about it. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 600
Location: Oklahoma & Texas | My horses all learned to do this from one of my mares...in the winter I will purposely put a water bucket by their hay bags so they do dunk it..keeps em hydrated...my vet told me an old myth was that some that do have ulcers but none of mine do and he said seemed like they just like it better soft n wet...helps with dust too! I wouldn't worry about it unless they look poor. My horses will literally take huge mouthfuls of hay or especially their alfalfa and then drop it in the water bucket and then eat it out of the water bucket...because of this I keep their main water bins away from where I feed them but like I said earlier in winter I will hang a bucket inside by their hay bags and they love that lol... |
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 Saint Stacey
| Ulcers |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 928
Location: Bigfoot Country | Could be ulcers. I switched mine to pellets for a while, treated for ulcers and she stopped. It's a mess cleaning water tubs everyday! But I do like the idea that they stay hydrated. |
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Expert
Posts: 2685
| My gelding will dunk baled alfalfa. Not his grass hay or alfalfa cubes. I got tired of him spoiling water so now he gets soaked alfalfa cubes with his grass hay instead. |
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The Advice Guru
Posts: 6419
| Was just at a seminar on the stomach of a horse and dunking is one sign of hind gut acidosis or ulcers |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 928
Location: Bigfoot Country | I just treated one for hind gut ulcers with Equisure by KER. It worked great! |
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10D Crack Champion
| How does a horse know "my belly hurts and dunking my hay in my water will make me feel better"? I know many have had horses do this when diagnosed with ulcers....just curious.
Edited by sodapop 2015-04-26 8:34 AM
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 Goat Giver
Posts: 23166
| Dental issues |
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 Expert
Posts: 5290
| Or like in the case of a couple of horses I have had, they simply like to do it period. |
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The Advice Guru
Posts: 6419
| sodapop - 2015-04-26 8:33 AM
How does a horse know "my belly hurts and dunking my hay in my water will make me feel better"? I know many have had horses do this when diagnosed with ulcers....just curious.
I don't know
The other things I don't know how horses know is
There is veterinary research showing horses who are dunking their nose in water are showing a sign they will colic a few days later.
A horse that is yawning constantly is colicing and is in real bad shape
I have had one of each the first I never knew it was a symptom a few days later she colic'd with an inverted cecum
The second I had a yearling who was laying down more then usual and yawning, she had such bad colic we lost her 2 weeks later (2 was still at the vet clinic) |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 437
| They begin to soak their hay when it is painful to chew. The horse needs its teeth done. Unfortunatley once they learn to do this they rarely stop unless you make it too much work, like putting their hay as far away from their water as possible. My mare only does it to say my teeth are sharp and once her teeth are done she quits but she is one in a million. |
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 Morale Booster!!
Posts: 1459
| Wrapn3inAK - 2015-04-27 12:15 PM They begin to soak their hay when it is painful to chew. The horse needs its teeth done. Unfortunatley once they learn to do this they rarely stop unless you make it too much work, like putting their hay as far away from their water as possible. My mare only does it to say my teeth are sharp and once her teeth are done she quits but she is one in a million.
My mare dunks her hay. I just had her checked and her teeth were good. I think there are so many myths and rules of thumb that one could go crazy trying to figure these crazy horses out. I did go do a check on my mare for ulcers and she didnt react to any of them. Now im stumped and wondering if I should do more for her...  |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 830
Location: Paradise , tx | I have a 26yr old gelding that did this intermitanly , but doesn't seem to anymore Never had ulsers, has his teeth check yearly. Never had any illness since I have owend him at 7 yrs old. I do wet his hay somtimes, I think they just like it wet and soft, like grass in the pasture.
Edited by Tailwind 2015-04-26 2:28 PM
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 560
Location: Where the buffalo roam | All my horses do this and their teeth are fine, never have coliced and don't have ulcers. They just like it that way. My 2 YO taught everyone how to dunk their noses in the water and then into the HorseLic buckets to get more of the slurpy juice! Really made the water gross. I also think mine occasionally do it because they're bored and like playing in the water. |
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 The Vaccinator
Posts: 3810
Location: Slipping down the slope of old age. Boo hoo. | I had a gelding that loved to dunk his hay so I kept a bucket just for hay dunking and then had his water bucket on the opposite side of his stall. His teeth were good - no ulcers. It was a habit, but I did not mind -- as he got older I knew it added hydration and when at a show for days on end...again I knew he was staying hydrated. My mare watched him intently after meeting him in the barn and after about two weeks she began dunking, too. But she also loves to play in water puddles and the big pasture water tub -- splashing out as much water as possible, etc. I have not had any colic issues with either of these horses. For some it may be a sign of something, but for others it is just something they enjoy doing.... I think you just have to look at each horse as an individual and consider if there are other things going on that may link to the dunking... It is a mess to manage though... |
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 Hugs to You
Posts: 7550
Location: In The Land of Cotton | I agree that some of the reasons that horses may dunk their hay could be medical reasons. Teeth. Ulcers. Some just like to do it. I have one that when you change baled hay in her stall she will for a couple of days.
if yawning, and dunking were truly indications of colic, my broodmare should have died 16 years ago. I don't buy that one. |
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Having Smokin Bandits
Posts: 4572
Location: Woodstown, NJ | Good stuff to know. Probably nothing but may be teeth or ulcers. Thanks guys!
Cheryl, just an FYI, some horses who have headshaking syndrome (I have one--this may be why I was paranoid about the hay dunking) will dunk their NOSES in water. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 399
| We had a few bales of stemmy type hay when normally our hay is really soft grassy mix. They all dunked it then and now I have one or two that will still do it occasionally. |
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Nut Case Expert
Posts: 9305
Location: Tulsa, Ok | My gelding has been dipping for 33 years and could pass for a teenager, so I guess it is not a big deal. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 725
| When I had to feed my gelding bute mixed in his grain he ate it like a good boy and literally rinsed his mouth out when he was done, sucked water out of the bucket and spit it all over his stall, did it like 5 times until he got the taste out! Anyone else have this happen? My horse is just extremely intelligent!
Anyway we have a hay dunker and it isn't fun with automatic waterers! He only does it when the hay is extra dusty. |
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 Expert
Posts: 3815
Location: The best kept secret in TX | My old gelding used to do it. Only would do it on the road tho lol. Made cleaning buckets a nightmare but I never had a problem with him like ulcers and such. He was always pretty healthy. Just had Fibrotic Myopathy in his hind leg. Other than that he was golden!
I also had a filly who used to dunk her whole nose under water, blow bubbles, splash, play, and THEN drink from the tank. It's an old Cowboy Saying/Legend that if a horse dunks his/her whole nose under water he/she isn't scared of much and will make a great hand in the pasture. Lots of guys I know still believe that little saying Lol. |
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Boot Detective
Posts: 1898
| I've seen horses dunk their hay too and in my opinion, it simply means you found a smart horse. They are cleaning their hay and making it more palatable. When I go places and my horses don't want to drink the water, I put some of their hay in a bucket of water to get them to take in water. I especially like another posters idea to hang 2 water buckets (one by the hay bag and one on opposite side of stall). Great idea! |
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Veteran
Posts: 139
Location: Abbotsford B.C. Canada | This could be a very smart horse ho has figured out it adds water at a time when his stomach is actually stimulated to ramp up acid production and he is literally diluting acid in his stomach by dunking the hay as well as the other suggestions here.
We often see more cribbing at meal time if acid jumps up, and they feel a bit of distress from that. If they add water it may help them feel better. The solution to polution is dilution ?
Cheers,
Coastal Rider
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Having Smokin Bandits
Posts: 4572
Location: Woodstown, NJ | There were bigger problems than dunking hay in water and so I didn't buy the horse. But good stuff to know though! Thanks! |
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Anything to Worry About When Horse Dunks Hay in Water?