Water! How much should your horse drink?

With all this beautiful hot weather, lets talk water!

Water is essential for life; we all know that but how much should your horse drink in 24 hours? This will vary depending on their size, workload, the weather and if they are nursing a foal.  

Typical water intake for horses is 40-60ml per kilogram bodyweight per day, this calculates out to roughly 20 – 30 litres per day for the average 500kg horse or in practical terms 2 – 3 standard size buckets per day. Their diet will impact how much they drink, for example - soaked hay or wet grass will contribute to some of their daily water intake. With automatic water drinkers it can be difficult to measure how much they have drunk, but if they are urinating a normal amount this will indicate they are drinking, but if you are ever worried measure the amount in a 24-hour period and speak to your Vet.

When the weather warms up, naturally requirements will increase. Times when water requirements increase include:

·        Hard work

·        Lactation

·        Hot weather

·        Diets high in protein

·        Excessive salt consumption

·        Certain medications

A horse in moderate work, trotting and cantering can lose as much as 5-7 litres of fluid in sweat, and 50-70g of electrolytes in an hour, and this increases as work intensity or duration increases, even more if the weather is hot and humid. So, after your horse sweats, whether that is through exercise, travel or just hot weather, it is vital to replace these lost electrolytes as well as water, to ensure that their thirst mechanism stays switched on, and to keep them drinking and hydrated to help them continue performing and feeling at their best.

Electrolytes – Equine America