How do you make sure your horse keeps drinking in cold weather?

Drinking enough water is essential for your horse’s health, regardless of the season. But when temperatures drop, the water becomes ice cold, and most horses and ponies don’t like that. So pay extra attention to whether your horse or pony is drinking enough. In this article, we share key points and practical tips to encourage your horse or pony to drink more during cold days.

Check the water at least twice day

Make sure your horse or pony always has access to sufficient, good-quality drinking water. That’s why it’s important to check at least twice a day whether enough water is available.

Keep an eye on frozen pipes and water troughs

Frost can cause pipes to freeze or water troughs to ice over. A smart trick is to place a ball or another floating object in the trough. This keeps the water moving and reduces the chance of the trough freezing over completely.

Offer your horse or pony a salt lick

Salt licks can help stimulate thirst. In our webshop, you can order the KNZ Horse Lick 2 kg, which contains magnesium, zinc, copper, iodine, selenium, and iron.

Provide lukewarm water at feeding times

Horses usually drink around feeding times. That’s why it’s a good idea to offer lukewarm water during feeding, your horse will generally drink more of it.

Tips to check whether your horse is drinking enough

Finally, here are a few tips to help you monitor whether your horse is drinking sufficiently:

• Look at the color of the urine. If it is dark, your horse is not drinking enough. Urine should be light yellow.
• Check the manure balls. They should be moist and pliable, not dry and hard. If the manure balls crumble apart too quickly, it’s a sign your horse or pony isn’t drinking enough. Be cautious—this can increase the risk of impaction colic.
• Provide your horse or pony with both buckets and water troughs so you can more easily keep track of how much it is drinking.