Jessica Jahiel's HORSE-SENSE Newsletter Archives

Horse Won't Drink from a Bucket

From: Amelia S. Marshall

Dear Jessica -

Here's one I haven't seen in horse-sense:

Dolly was initially reluctant to drink at all on long trail rides, but now I can get her to gingerly take water from a stream or a trough. However, I would like to get her to reliably drink from a bucket for those occasions when that is the only option.

Any suggestions?

Also, how risky is it to let horses drink from public troughs where lots of horses have partaken of the scummy water therein?

My vet gave me electrolyte powder to put in her feed, but she just looks at me disdainfully instead of chowing down.

Thanks -- Amelia Marshall

Hi Amelia! Actually this problem is more common than you might think. Dolly isn't the only horse that prefers home water to the water on trails. And she's by no means the only horse that dislikes water in a bucket, especially if her water at home is served up in a stream and tastes fresh. Water that tastes of a plastic bucket can be rather unappealing.

One thing you can do is give her water in a bucket at home, after a ride when she is quite thirsty, and get her used to the idea of drinking from a bucket. There are ways of making water-in-a-bucket more appealing -- adding something tasty to the water, for instance! Then you can add the same substance when you are on the trail or at a show, to make the water taste familiar.

Peppermint oil is an old favourite, you can add a couple of drops at home and take a small bottle with you on the trail.

I've always found apple juice to work wonderfully well -- a cup added to a bucket of water generally means that the bucket will soon be empty.

Horses drink more eagerly if they have enough salt -- when you're on the trail, it's not practical to carry salt blocks along, but you can add a couple of ounces of loose salt to her feed.

Electrolytes can be useful, but only if they are needed -- does Dolly commonly work hard enough to sweat profusely for long periods of time? If not, she probably doesn't NEED the electrolytes. And if so, she may need them but she will need them DURING and AFTER her efforts -- you can't "pre-load" electrolytes, it isn't effective. The best way to offer them, incidentally, is in a second bucket of water, so that she always has access to one bucket of pure water and one of water laced with electrolytes. If you give her ONLY water laced with electrolytes, you run the risk of her refusing the water and becoming dehydrated.

Now, back to the bucket issue: some horses worry about getting caught in the bail! So if you can place the bucket on the ground or elsewhere rather than hanging it from the bail, perhaps Dolly will be more interested in drinking.

As for public troughs, I share your concern about cleanliness, but I suspect that under normal circumstances, the risk of dehydration if the horse has NOTHING to drink is more serious than the possibility of catching something from a public trough. This would be a good question for your veterinarian, who will have a clear idea of what diseases are prevalent in your area, and which, if any, might be passed from horse to horse through shared drinking water.

Jessica

Materials from Jessica Jahiel's HORSE-SENSE, The Newsletter of Holistic Horsemanship® may be distributed and copied for personal, non-commercial use provided that all authorship and copyright information, including this notice, is retained. Materials may not be republished in any form without express permission of the author.

Jessica Jahiel's HORSE-SENSE is a free, subscriber-supported electronic Q&A email newsletter which deals with all aspects of horses, their management, riding, and training. For more information, please visit www.horse-sense.org

Please visit Jessica Jahiel: Holistic Horsemanship® [www.jessicajahiel.com] for more information on Jessica Jahiel's clinics, video lessons, phone consultations, books, articles, columns, and expert witness and litigation consultant services.