I has inquired on this with a vet the other day
after reading the report on things the girls did to "save the horse", as I had
heard of it for lowering a horses core temp., but did not know how well it
worked for rehydration. I was told that the rectum and caudal bowel does absorb
water, sometimes quite a lot of it, so it is possible to rehydrate in this
manner.. BUT it was added that this can cause huge problems on a dehydrated
horse, as they more dehydrated they are, the more fragile those rectal tissues
become, and horses rectal walls are very easy to tear. It was noted to me that
someone that doesn't have a LOT of experience and just stuffs a hose up
the horses rear can easily cause a perforation in the bowel, and feces
could get into the places it should never go, such as the abdomen, and the
horse is then pretty much dead.
Not that I'd have tried it myself, but now I am
pretty sure it would be something I'd leave for those who have attended all
those years of vet school.....
