Re: [RC] Teaching a horse to drink?? - Karla Watson
At last years PNER convention, Mike Foss said that if
you can get a horse to eat hay, they will probably drink within 30 minutes. The
dry forage will stimulate their thirst by that time.
Did you use electrolyes at the ride?
Alot of riders also feed "wet" food at VCs. Beet pulp,
grain, oats, alfalfa pellets or whatever--all with added water to make into a
mash. You must practice this at home though to get your horse used to it. Riders
will also offer wet alfalfa since they love to gobble up alfalfa. I give my
horses a wet mash EVERY time I finish a conditioning ride at the trailer.
I start a new horse off less sloppy and more dry, then increase the wetness
a little bit every week. Now my horses get the wettest mash you have ever
seen--almost soup-like and they gobble/slurp it up. They are super hungry after
hours on the trail and if you let them share it with a buddy horse, like I do,
they will "compete" and eat every last speck! Its not ton of water but it
certainly helps and gets your horse used to eating really wet food.
Carrots help alot too. They have alot of water in them.
So do apples. You will see lots of riders feeding beet pulp mixes with carrots
and apples mixed in.
Also practice using electrolytes on some
longer training rides and your horse will be much more thirsty and want to
drink out on the trail or by the time you get back to the trailer.
