Why won't my horse drink at shows

Question

My horse will never drink at a show even if we take our own water healways waits til he get's back. What can i do to make him drink at shows ?

Answer 1

put a cup or two of mollasses in the water......he will love it, and drink the whole tub!!!

Answer 2

My horse gets finicky about her water sometimes. It's strange that he won't even drink "Home" water though. Try giving him electrolytes to make him thirsty, and keep water in front of him at all times, even if he's not drinking it. I'm sure if he gets thirsty enough he'll take a sip or two

born eventer: good idea with peppermints. We had a colicky horse and I wanted to get water in her, so I boiled a cup of water and melted a bunch of peppermint candies in it. I dumped that in her water bucket and she sucked it down. Plus they say that peppermint soothes the tummy.

Answer 3

Flavor the water with Kool aid.  It's sweet, so it my encourage him to drink.  

Answer 4

a couple days before the show start putting either powdered gatorade or koolaide in his water so he gets used to it. then at the show do the same thing and he will think that is his water from home. that or u could put the powdered gatorade in his feed and that will also encourage him to drink cause it is kinda sour.  

Answer 5

neither does mine... sponge water into its mouth

Answer 6

I have the same problem..all i do is soak a sponge in the water then squeeze it into the corner or my ponys mouth then that way hes still gettin water it said it in a magazine i think =)

Answer 7

the warter may taste diffrent take a couple of botlles he/she yousted

to and yous that instead :]

Answer 8

my friends horse is the same it's strange isen't it

Answer 9

your horse knows best. he may just not be thirsty, or he knows that he may feel colicky (sorta like a side ache i guess) if he drinks water then. once i went on an 8 mile trail ride and chrome was completely pooped. she wouldn't drink a drop of water. she knew better, and just drank when she got home.  

Answer 10

Put some molasses in his water. It tastes good, and is a natural electrolyte, so it will help him replace his water/salt when he sweats.

Answer 11

Take an apple and put it in his water bucket when he is watching.  He will try to get it out but it's kinda hard with all that water in there, most horses finally figure out to drink it.

Answer 12

Try putting some juice or fruit flavored electrolytes into his water. Some horses will even drink Gatorade or Powerade You might also try putting a little bit of salt into his feed to help make him thirsty.  

Answer 13

WELL I DONT WHAT I WOULD DO BUT HE MAY BE EXCITED/SCARED CUZ ITS A TOTALLY DIFFERANT  STABLES

Answer 14

Here's something that used to work for me:

Take water from home, make sure it is in a container that it isn't picking up a taste from and keep it cool as best as you can.  Put it in a familiar black bucket (large enough for them to feel comfortable sticking their head into and tie it on the side of the trailer, not high, not low enough to get a foot in.  Tie your horse to the side of the trailer as well, with enough length to the lead rope that he can easily drink the water without having to tighten up too much on the lead rope.  Take regular table salt with you, pour some in your hand and hold his head with the side of his halter and put your hand into his mouth quickly and wipe as much salt at you can on his tongue...don't get it in his throat, but get it on his tongue...walk away, HE WILL DRINK AND FAIRLY SOON!

Answer 15

Mine never does either even though he really gets hot. I wouldn't worry about it, just wet his mouth and leave the bucket where he can reach it. They know when they need a drink.  

Answer 16

Maybe a little nervous or feeling uncomfortable in unfamiliar surroundings.

Work on some relaxation exercises like head dropping before bringing him to water.

David

http://gentlenaturalhorseman.blogspot.co...

Answer 17

Soak a handful of molassed sugarbeet in it. I had to do that for my endurance horse, she would never drink enough. But don't worry if you are not doing anything too strenuous, in the wild horses often only drink once a day

Answer 18

the water might taste different some horses are picky put kool aid in your water at home and have a separate normal bucket if they like the kool aid one also do that at shows.  

Answer 19

you could put a few drops of peppermint oil into it, that sometimes helps encourage them to drink, but i wouldnt worry about it, as long as he drinks when he gets home, he wont dehidrate.

Answer 20

You can take a horse to water but you cannot make it drink!  How true.

There are several reasons for this which are possible.

1 is that he does not need any.

2 is that different water tastes different in different areas - depending upon the supplier, and he simply may not like the taste or smell of the water.

3  The container that you take your own water in will give off a taste which perhaps he does not like.  Plastic does smell, especially after it has been sitting for a while and not kept cool enough.

4. He might be a bit stressed.

When you take your own water try to keep it scrupulously clean and when not in use leave it open so it can air.  And when taking water to shows keep it as cold as possible.  Pour some into a bucket he is used to and leave it a while.  Maybe that will be enough to entice him.  Flavour it with peppermint oil too.

Damp his haynet so he is getting some moisture in when he nibbles that and if you feed him at shows damp that down a bit.

The only alternative is to get him home as quickly as possible to give him as much drink as he wants.

Answer 21

Maybe he's just nervous see a vet and ask them they should have a good solution

Answer 22

Some horse at my old barn did that too. They used to put a pack of the Gatorade powder mix into a bucket of water...and he would drink it right up ^^

If that doesn't work he is jus gonna have to wait till he gets home, if he is thirsty enough he will drink. Does he do it at over night shows too? Or has he never been to one?

Good Luck

Answer 23

My mare was the same... even at one day events on really hot summer days. The only way I could get her to drink was to put a couple of handfuls of sugar beet flakes/shreds in the water

Answer 24

Make it flavoured to a type he likes, this should make it smell nice and taste nice, lol.