Horse drinking too little

Hello. Oh dear, then it is important to do everything you can to get them drinking. Sometimes they have already drunk plenty out in the paddock, but if the droppings are dry and sparse, that is a warning sign. It is great that you are keeping an eye on it. On a hot day a 500kg horse needs more than 50l. Feel the gums, and if they feel dry or tacky there is no time to lose in getting fluid into the horse. If you cannot get it to drink on its own, a vet must be called to tube fluid into the stomach or put it on a drip.

One trick is to offer a "water bar". Set up a row of buckets with water flavoured in different ways. In one bucket put a couple of tablespoons of bicarbonate of soda, in another a good splash of apple cider vinegar, in a third drop a bunch of mint or a couple of Mentos, in another a handful of mash, another molasses or sugar, and one with half a decilitre of salt. Ideally one with an electrolyte solution too, though you do not always have that at home. Different horses prefer different things on different days, so when there is a crisis like this a bucket bar is brilliant.

As for salt in the feed, 30g a day is a good guideline. There can be many reasons why horses drink less. In early summer they drink less because they are eating masses of water-rich grass, and in late summer and autumn because bot fly larvae are wriggling around at top speed in the tongue and gums when the environment in the mouth suddenly changes, such as when drinking. Sometimes something may have frightened or disturbed the horses.

Have fun with the water bar. It is fascinating to see what they choose and to watch their mood or gut health improve. Good luck.