Cool Clean Fresh Water

Imagine what happens without access to water. We have all heard of the hallucinations of thirst parched travelers their pleadings for waters their illusive visions of water. In 1982 a study was done in Paris, France to investigate nutrient deprivation in the horse in a warm climate. Deprived of feed but given water, the horses were capable of surviving 20 to 25 days. Deprived of water but not feed, the animals lived only five to six days. It was observed that after two days without water, the animals refused to eat and showed signs of colic. At day three, the horses becomes restless and expressed severe discomfort.

Why is water so important in nutrition? This answer is a complex and involved phenomenon. Water plays many roles in the body. It aids in sight, temperature control, digestion, regulation of sound, and as a solvent it lubricates the joints and acts as a cushion for the central nervous system.

Dehydration or lack of water in the body is a general condition that affects these body functions. Two factors cause dehydration: inadequate water supply and/or excessive water loss.

As horsemen with compassion for the animal, we would not knowingly distress a horse by limiting water consumption. However, this condition can occur if we are not diligent to assure that our horses have unlimited access to this all important nutrient.

Take, for example, the use of all season automatic waterer used in paddocks. Having managed several farms with this set up, it is common for farm personnel to visually check the water level from a distance. Although this practice is unsatisfactory, constant reminders to inspect tanks individually are usually unheeded. That is, until experience, like the following, proves the point.

One hot summer day, all of the horses in one paddock become restless and uneasy. Investigation revealed that they were all dehydrated a condition which the farm crew found unbelievable as the water level in the tank was high. Examination of the tank produced the answer. A dead bird was found in a position which could not be seen from a distance and the horses refused to drink the tainted water.

Partial frozen water in a trough also limits availability for consumption and can cause dehydration. However, left to the design of Nature, an abundant source of frozen water may not be a lethal condition. Several years ago a group of horses were stranded in a Alaskan valley due to an early blizzard that left the pass snow bound. Unable to get the horses out, air lifts were used to drop hay to the animals to prevent starvation but all the water had turned to ice and snow. When people were finally able to get back in the valley, liquid water was still nonexistent. Amazingly the horses did not show any signs of dehydration they had obtained water by eating snow and licking on ice.

Later a controlled study was conducted to determine the effect of ice and snow as a source of water for the horse. Initially the horses did show signs of dehydration as they adjusted to solid rather than liquid water. However after a period of a few days, these horses like the Alaskan horses made the adjustment and no longer demonstrated any symptoms of dehydration.

The crux of the matter is the period of adjustment. When the temperature drops drastically and water, that has previously been unchilled, forms a thin layer of ice in the bucket, many horses will reduce their intake of water. This initial lack of water consumption presents little problem but, as indicated in the Paris study, the amount of water in the diet is relative to the incidence of colic. Horses which rapidly reduce their water consumption appear to be more prone to colic.

This point was hammered home by an equine referred to as "Three Queens Call" . Turned out on in a forty acre field with two ponds, every year, after the first cold night produced ice around the edge of the water, this broodmare came up with signs of mild colic. A day up in a paddock with access to warmer water, the mare quickly made the transition to winter water and never had any problems again.

This certainly isn't a unique story. Many horses of various ages seem to have to adjust to cooler water temperatures. Mild colicky symptoms appears commonplace in early winter; however water temperature is often not noticed as the reason for the disruption of gut activity.

Other causes of reduced consumption of water include such mechanical problems as a fractured jaw, chocking or an obstruction in the throat, and lock jaw (tetanus) just to name a few.

The other major reason for dehydration is excessive water loss. The most obvious loss may come in the form of diarrhea. Foals with acute scours produce signs of dehydration very quickly. It is in these infantile equine that we observe the function of temperature regulation which is attributable to the body water supply. In the foal, dehydration can quickly result in fever. This weakened and stressful condition may then allow opportunis tic bacteria to invade the young horse and cause diseases such as pneumonia.

Obviously, sweating can create an excessive water loss. Although perspiration does not cause as much alarm as diarrhea, it warrants serious consideration for horsemen managing racehorses and other heavily exercised equine athletes. Maximal output during warm weather causes large losses of water which must be replaced in the horse as quickly and as safely as possible.

To serve this purpose, the "watering off" of a racehorse following strenuous exercise has developed into a very strict ritual. The horse is walked until his breathing becomes less labored. Water is then presented to the horse and he is allowed to drink about six swallows. Removing the head from the bucket the horse is walked another turn around the shed row before he is allowed another six swallows. This procedure continues until the horse refuses to drink anymore. This process replenishes the loss of water due to exercise without shocking the system by having a large dose of water hitting the stomach all at once.

Regardless of the cause, dehydration should be detected early and corrected before it leads to severe biochemical prob lems in the body. The pinch test is one way to quantitatively diagnose the severity of dehydration: Pinch the skin in the middle of the horse's neck and pull it gently from the underlying tissue. Upon release, it should almost immediately snap back into its original position if there is not dehydration. Skin that takes 2 to 5 seconds to get back in place is indicative of mild dehydration. Skin that retains its puckered state for 10 to 15 seconds before resuming its original flatness against the neck classifies the horse as having severe dehydration.

Outward symptoms of dehydration that can be seen without actually touching the horse are sunken eyes and a tucked up appearance in the flank. Internally, the blood of the horse becomes less hydrated (has less water in it). This will cause the osmolarity to in crease, hemoglobin (red blood cells) values will become elevated as well as total proteins in the plasma. Capillary refill time may be checked to further evaluate the extent of the dehydration. Curl back the lips exposing the gums of the horse and firmly push your thumb against the gum. After quickly removing the pressure, you can observe the time it takes for the pinkish color to return to the sight made white by the thumb pressure. In animals showing signs of dehydration, the refill time will be longer than two seconds.

As animal caretakers, we are in charge of the amount of water available to our horses. We determine how often to fill the water bucket hanging in his stall and how big that bucket should be. It would then be to the horse's interest that we know some of the factors which determine how much water he requires.

One of the first of these factors to consider is the ambient temperature. The hotter the weather the more water is required due to sweating and vaporization. As already mentioned activity increase the amount of water required as does body temperature. Horse are not quite as homeothermic as people. Their body temperature not only fluctuates with viral and bacterial activity (fever) but also varies 2 to 3 degrees depending upon weather conditions. In either case, when the body temperature is elevat ed water consumption should increase.

Injuries, especially those involving a loss of blood, dramatically increase the horses requirement for fluids as does the physiological condition referred to as lactation (the production of milk).However, the most consistently present factor determin ing the water requirement of a horse is his diet. Both the type and amount of food consumed greatly effect water consumption. For example, hay requires more water to chew and swallow than grain. Green grass needs less water than dry matter.

Purity as well as amount also influences hydration and health. Horses drinking from ground water sources may be poi soned by chemical spills or other environmental problems. Salt contamination is prevalent in areas of the country where oil and gas exploration occurs. A salt concentration of 1000 parts per million is a reason for concern; seven thousand parts per mil lion becomes life threatening.

With all the factors influencing water consumption, it is easy to see why there is not a finite answer to the question of how much water any specific horse needs in a twenty four hour period to keep properly hydrated. The reality of this statement was documented in a study which monitored the daily water con sumption of one horse for a year. The low was found to be 2 gallons. The high 20 gallons. This individual variation again brings home the wisdom implied in the age old advice: Provide horses free access to fresh, clean water.