salt and water intake in horses Archives

Hydration In Horses Many regions of the country have been experiencing high heat and humidity this summer, so naturally, the concern of proper hydration comes to mind.

Reduced water consumption in horses may impair performance and increase the risk of impaction colic.

Additionally, horses may sweat more profusely, resulting in faster dehydration. So what’s a horse owner to do?

The first key element is to make certain that horses have ready access to clean, palatable, cool water at all times or at very frequent intervals. Horses will normally consume about 1 gallon of water per 100 lbs body weight, so an 1100 lb horse will require a minimum of 11 gallons of water per day. This quantity can increase substantially during periods of exercise, high heat/humidity or for lactating mares.

Some tips to keep in mind to keep water consumption up:

Horses do not like to consume warm water in warm temperatures. Automatic waterers or large tanks, located in the shade and cleaned regularly, may be good options. If water is supplied in buckets, they need to be cleaned regularly and re-filled regularly.
If you are traveling to a show or other competition, it is essential to monitor water consumption, particularly if temperature conditions change.
It is routine in many barns to flavor the water with something like wintergreen or peppermint at home so that you can flavor the water in new facilities to match the home water. Read here for tips on training your horse to drink water away from home.
Do NOT use soft drinks or any material containing caffeine as these can trigger positive drug tests.
Taking horses to facilities with chlorinated water can sometimes reduce water consumption without proper precautions.

The second key element is to make certain that salt is offered free choice. Things to keep in mind for salt consumption in horses include:

Horses require 1-2 ounces of salt per day, and this can increase to 6 ounces per day with exercise in hot weather conditions.
Loose salt is consumed more readily than salt blocks in many cases.
When evaluating the total diet for salt consumption, commercial feeds normally contain 0.5-1.0% salt. It is not typically any higher than this, due to problems with palatability.
If a horse has been salt deficient or is bored, they may over-consume salt while in a stall.
Additional electrolytes, commercial or personal recipe, may be used per directions before, during and following completion, but care must be taken to ensure that the horses are drinking adequate water. Administering electrolytes to a horse that is not drinking properly, or allowing a horse to over consume salt without adequate water, can lead to electrolyte imbalances. If electrolytes are added to the water, plain water should be offered also.

Horses need to be offered water throughout the day at a competition, and should be re-hydrated following exertion. They cannot cool out and recover properly without being re-hydrated.

Keeping horses properly hydrated and maintaining electrolyte balance is extremely important in order to make a safe transition from cool temperatures to summer time and competition.

We normally think of salt more as a warm weather requirement. Horses do require about 1-2 ounces of salt per day to provide help meet their requirement for sodium and chloride. This requirement can increase to 4-6 ounces of salt per day in hot climates or under exercise where losses in sweat increase greatly. Inadequate salt in the diet can result in abnormal eating behavior such as licking or chewing objects which have salt on them (fork handles etc.) or licking/eating dirt. Water intake may also decrease, increasing the risk of impaction colic. In more extreme cases, horses will stop eating and may experience muscle incoordination.

Cold weather salt intake is sometimes overlooked. Horses do not lick salt blocks as readily as some other specie even when the salt block is a comfortable temperature. During cold weather, outdoor salt blocks become even less inviting! Would you lick something that is freezing cold?

A good option to maintain year around salt intake is to offer loose salt available free choice, either in stalls or in a covered mineral feeder. Salt intake from loose salt has been observed to be higher than from salt blocks due to the ease of consumption. When purchasing loose salt, ensure that you are selecting salt that is intended for animal consumption (NaCl, iodized table salt, plain white salt), and not a mineral salt blend (red salt), or salt that is intended for de-icing.

If horses are salt starved, it may be a good idea to limit the amount of salt put out for them until they have adjusted their intake. It is essential that fresh clean water at an appropriate temperature be available at all times as well.

Commercial feeds normally contain 0.5-1.0% salt, so horses on this type of feed will typically consume less free choice salt than horses not receiving salt in their feed. They may still benefit from having loose salt available free choice. A salt block is better than not having any salt available free choice, but may not be as effective in maintaining salt intake in cold weather or when high intakes are required in hot weather.

Providing salt free choice is a good management tool that can help your horse eat and drink well all year long!

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