This message is from: Jean Ernest <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Brian Jacobson wrote: > One reason horses colic in >cold weather is because they don't drink as much water which can lead to >impaction. It has been shown that horses drink something like 30% more >water at a water temperature of 40 degrees (i.e. warmed slightly) than >they do at 33 degrees (just above freezing). Keep in mind that the 40 >degree water does not induce them to drink 30% more than they need. >Rather it just helps them want to drink the amount they do need. When >the water is just above freezing they are drinking approx. 30% less than >they really should.
I have an insulated water tank with an insulated cover, with a hole on each end big enough for the horse's head. I keep a large sinking type stock tank heater plugged in all winter, it is thermostat controlled and the water is always 40 degrees or warmer. The salt blocks are right next to the tank and the horses stand there, after finishing their hay and lick salt, drink water, lick salt, drink water. Their manure is never dry, but quite moist and almost soft. Presently they are drinking 8 to 10 gallons a day each. In really cold weather, when I give extra hay they drink even more, and when it is -40 to -50 degrees I often take out buckets of lukewarm water in which they will slurp and splash their lips and nose, sort of washing the ice out of their wiskers and nostrils. My friends the Brunners who live out the road, will average about ten degrees colder at their place in a cold snap. They also have Fjords. They prepare a soup or slop for the horses with their grain ,soaked alfalfa cubes and the locally produced brome/barley pellets. While they also have heated stock tanks, the horses really go for this warm gruel and it get more water into them. A number of horses do colic up here in the winter, and the biggest cause is dehydration. Many people still just haul water to their horses in buckets and they just don't get enough. While there is snow on the ground all winter, and moose can survive eating snow for water, horses can't. The humidity is so low in the winter (sometimes only about 15%) that just breathing will remove a lot of water from the body. Dry skin is a big problem with people here, and humidifiers are popular. Jean in Fairbanks, Alaska, where we haven't had any really cold weather yet but it'll probably get us in January! ****************************************************************** Jean Ernest Fairbanks, Alaska [EMAIL PROTECTED]
