SARAH: I know during the fall and winter it
is a lot easier for horses to become dehydrated.
Because of the cooler temperatures,
they aren't as inclined to drink their water as they
are in the hotter months.
This was the reason my horse got impaction colic last week.
Oh, that's a bummer.
It was a very scary experience, and I really
don't want it to happen again.
What are some ways to encourage horses to drink during the fall
and winter months and make sure they
stay hydrated, other than keeping
fresh water in front of them all the time
and providing a salt lick.
DR LYDIA GRAY: OK.
SARAH: Nobody likes colic.
DR LYDIA GRAY: Nobody likes colic.
So I was really tickled when I read this one because there's
a piece of research, it might be my favorite research ever.
SARAH: Oh.
DR LYDIA GRAY: I know, and we get to--
SARAH: I'm excited.
DR LYDIA GRAY: --talk about it today.
And we'll put it on the screen.
So because it's volume--
SARAH: An early Christmas for you.
DR LYDIA GRAY: Oh my goodness.
It's just the gift that keeps on giving.
So what this research says, and here's what I like,
it's been misinterpreted for years.
SARAH: A good myth.
We all love a good myth.
DR LYDIA GRAY: So there's a behavior group out of New
Bolton Center in Pennsylvania.
And they have this herd of feral or wild ponies.
SARAH: Oh, adorable.
DR LYDIA GRAY: Yeah.
And they said, we want to solve this drinking, winter,
cold issue question once and for all.
So what they did was they measured
if we give a herd of ponies warm water, do they like that?
Do they drink it?
And the cold water-- and what they found
was, horses, ponies, prefer-- drum roll-- cold water.
SARAH: What?
How cold?
Very cold?
DR LYDIA GRAY: No, like 40, in the 40s.
They like cold water best.
So if there's three buckets sitting cold, warm, hot--
they'll go to the cold.
SARAH: OK.
DR LYDIA GRAY: But they don't drink as much.
They'll take a sip of the cold, and oh, that was delicious.
If there is only-- take away the cold,
and now there's only warm water available-- they'll drink it,
and they'll drink more.
SARAH: How interesting.
I could see that.
DR LYDIA GRAY: Yeah, they prefer cold, but they drink more warm.
So the key takeaway from this research
is make sure your only source of water for the horse is warm.
And then, they will drink more.
SARAH: But if you provide both, they're
just going to keep sipping on the cold.
DR LYDIA GRAY: They'll drink a little bit of the cold.
And then, you could run into trouble.
SARAH: OK.
DR LYDIA GRAY: Isn't that fascinating?
SARAH: That's pretty cool.
DR LYDIA GRAY: It's kind of backwards to what we all think.
And it's backwards of what many people took
away from it, but the primary researcher,
every once in a while she comes out, and she goes, you guys,
you got this all wrong.
They prefer cold, but they drink more warm.
SARAH: They don't always know what's best for them--
DR LYDIA GRAY: They--
SARAH: --these horses.
DR LYDIA GRAY: --hardly ever know what's best for them.
SARAH: These horses and, I'm sure,
extremely adorable feral ponies.
DR LYDIA GRAY: Oh, yeah.
So I am so glad I was able to share that research.
SARAH: That's fantastic.
DR LYDIA GRAY: Yeah.
SARAH: I think that's awesome.
Is there anything other than a salt lick
that would encourage a horse to drink
more readily in the wintertime?
DR LYDIA GRAY: Most people know I'm not a fan of salt licks
because--
SARAH: I know, that's why I wanted to give another chance
to answer.
DR LYDIA GRAY: Yeah.
They were made for cattle.
And if you've ever been licked by a cow,
you know it's really, really rough.
Their tongues are like sandpaper.
SARAH: But also adorable.
DR LYDIA GRAY: But also adorable.
But horses don't have tongues like that.
And they don't enjoy licking a salt lick.
And they won't get the amount that they should.
Because the minimum requirement per day is one ounce.
That's about two tablespoons.
So imagine having to lick a hard thing that's
rough to get two tablespoons of salt. I mean I can't imagine,
but so, you can top dress the feed with salt.
Still not very palatable.
There are pellets made with tastier substances that--
SARAH: That sneak the salt in there too.
DR LYDIA GRAY: Yeah, and so, horses like them.
Our SmartSalt pellets.
You can also just go with electrolytes that
have sodium chloride in them.
So something like that will stimulate thirst in your horse.
It takes a while.
The mechanism is the salt goes in the body,
in the digestive system, and it draws water from the blood.
Then the blood becomes more concentrated, right?
Which sends a signal to the brain,
"I'm too concentrated, drink more and dilute me."
And that's how it happens.
Now, it doesn't happen in minutes.
It takes hours.
So we tell people plan at least four hours.
If you're going somewhere or whatever,
don't give salt and then immediately expect
the horse to be hydrated.
It takes a while for these feedback mechanisms to work.
SARAH: OK.
While we're on the subject of this,
can we bust one of my favorite myths?
Which is people think if you have a powdered electrolyte you
can just throw that in your horse's water bucket
and then he's drinking Gatorade, and he will
feel so refreshed and hydrated.
DR LYDIA GRAY: Oh and I even wrote down here
to make sure to say, if you choose to put your salt
or electrolytes in water--
SARAH: I didn't even know that.
DR LYDIA GRAY: Oh, yeah.
SARAH: I set you up perfectly.
DR LYDIA GRAY: No, I'm very-- I wrote it down.
SARAH: I'm very excited about this.
DR LYDIA GRAY: If you choose to do that,
you must provide a second bucket of plain water
with nothing in it, because otherwise you're
defeating the whole purpose.
You're giving them salt to cause them
to drink plain water to restore volume and hydration.
If the only fluid they have is super concentrated,
you're not really helping.
SARAH: You're just making them thirstier and thirstier,
and they drink more of the super concentrated salty water.
DR LYDIA GRAY: Yeah, so they're getting
more of the electrolytes, the sodium, the chloride,
the calcium, the phosphorus, magnesium--
all those things in there.
And what they need is more fluid.
SARAH: So if you're trying to proactively hydrate your horse,
consistent daily doses of salt in their feed, always the best
bet.
DR LYDIA GRAY: Yeah.