Electrolytes and molasses water; help me figure out how to uber hydrate my large problem child

I completely missed the 800 miles away part. Sorry. I can see where that makes it more challenging.

No worries. Just putting together a bank of ideas to try and implement.

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The vet school large animal vet on call told me to add a handful of feed to the water to encourage more drinking, when I had a horse run a similar fever.

Put loose salt out for him, even including some pink/red Himalayan/Redmond salt, lots of horses like that due to the other minerals.

I’ll certainly try it. I, too, like boujie pink salt :wink:

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I have some horses who drink REALLY well in the trailer, and others who don’t. I’ve dealt with impaction colic due to dehydration after a 15hr trip, and since then I make a habit of dosing salt and soupy wet food the final two meals prior to travel. I also try to dose gatorade instead of water if they won’t drink. Hopefully pre-loading them with salt/electrolytes yesterday gives enough thirst response that they will drink well upon arrival.

With the horse in someone else’s care, 800 miles away, I’m not sure there’s much you can do to manage your horse.

But I’m throwing this out there, for others who may be reading. I don’t believe in “picky” horses. I have 35 horses on my farm and none of them are picky. I’ve had dozens of others over the years and they all eat their food with enthusiasm. If you have a “picky eater,” you have a health issue; probably ulcers, maybe an illness, maybe bad teeth. Fix the ulcers or the underlying health problem, and I pretty much guarantee the horse will snarf down his food. And sure, some horses will be suspicious of supplements-- the copper and zinc powder I add to their food tastes nasty, and some of them will leave a tiny handful of “tainted” beet pulp in their tub. I may have to reduce the amount of supp, but within a week they generally clean it all up. Same thing with salt, if you suddenly add 3oz the horse may leave a little, but a healthy horse won’t just Walk Away from the entire meal because of salt. Other supplements that are less palatable may put a horse off its food, but again a HEALTHY horse will eat its regular meal and lick the bowl every time.

Feeding horses isn’t complicated. We feed soaked beet pulp and ration balancer twice a day. This is very different from what many TBs are used to coming off the track or from other farms-- no sweet feed?! What is this mushy stuff?! A new horse may sniff and poke at the beet pulp, pick out the balancer pellets, and leave the rest. It may happen for three or four days, but sooner or later they ALL learn that beet pulp is good stuff. I hear lots of people say “My horse just won’t eat beet pulp!”, but yeah, they will. Just give it time. Let them watch their neighbors eat their leftovers, and suddenly it looks more appealing. They may be ulcery from travel and a new place; treat the ulcers and again, they will eat it up.

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I have one that doesn’t like salt in his feed but loves salt in a separate bucket that he can free feed on. Also the toys that you can add the Himalayan salt block is a hit. Likits I think is the name.

All of mine love drinking lukewarm water vs cold water even if it’s hot out.

Will he eat popsicles? If so he might like a frozen treat to lick on. Difficult when your 800 miles a way to test but hopefully your trainer will work with you on solutions.

Really does sound like tummy/stress issues if he’s that abrupt about not cleaning up his dinner.

I wish that was the case. I don’t think MOST are picky, but every single individual has its own preferences. Nobody, no matter the species, likes all the things equally. I DO think you can work with most of them to the point they aren’t picky. My 33yo has given me a run for my money, literally, in trying to find a feed he will enough of, often enough. I went through 6 feeds before settling on the one he’ll eat the most of, the most reliably.

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And that’s the part we are working with here. My trainer and barn staff don’t have time to give this or that concoction a try and see if he’ll tolerate it, or try things over and over that waste feed. I don’t expect them to do that. I’ll try things on my own dime when I’m there to ride. Once I get a solution established, they’ll gladly be able to implement. But I’d rather have all the things in my tool box to try at home, so that when we’re on the road, I know what will work and what won’t. And can use that as an indicator of if something is truly off, or if he’s being a bit of a weirdo for a day or so.

Watermelon. I haven’t had one yet that would turn down nice ripe slurpy watermelon.

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He might love Quench. My horses guzzle it down. I can’t use it as often as I otherwise would, as my two do not need any calories, but it is a barn favorite in hot and cold weather.

Will he eat wet hay? They can hose down his hay before getting on the trailer and that will hold a lot of water.

I’ve heard great things about Gallagher’s water as well.

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Mine is the one. I was shocked. He loves any and all treats. I figured a juicy piece of watermelon was going to be heaven for him on a hot afternoon after his bath. Nope. He took it, kind of worked it around in his mouth and…splat…it hit the barn floor. I tried twice more to get him to eat it, thinking he dropped it by accident because it was something new and he just wasn’t sure. He took it both times but…splat…it hit the barn floor. I was disappointed. LOL. I thought for sure I was introducing him to something he’d love. He’s more of a traditional apples and carrots kinda guy, I guess.

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It would appear so. They’ve been wetting his hay since it seems he has allergies. Or at the very least has little tolerance for dust. Which to me seems like a good opportunity to throw some salt on it. And yes, if this is the regular, he’ll get wet hay on the trailer as well.

I got to thinking, I wonder if he has a preference for trailers. When he’s been on a straight load, I’ve seen him happily eating hay (at least when the doors are shut, and his net would be eaten down some by the time we get where we’re going). I wasn’t the one hauling this last time but he clearly didn’t appreciate the slant load; he came off with substantial rub spots on his butt from sitting on the back wall. I wonder if it bothered him enough that he didn’t eat and the stress just snow balled. Unfortunately sometimes the slant needs to be used as it has the LQ. But he gets the straight load when it’s an option.

Just another thing to think about and look in to….

If it makes you feel any better, this large man child has to bite apples in to the itty bittiest pieces in order to eat it. It takes a solid 5 minutes to get through a small Apple. I’m like you could likely fit a whole bag of apples in that gargantuan head of yours. But he insists on chopping off small chunks with his front teeth :roll_eyes:

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Mine too! First time I gave him a piece he spit it right back out.

If he sees me feeding another horse a piece he comes over and decides that he can eat a piece or two and it won’t kill him. :joy:

Offered him a little bite of banana just to see and he scarfed it down.

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Alfalfa pellets or grain in a bucket of water before going in the trailer. I’ve been teaching my horses to drink the bucket down and eat the rest. Especially in hot weather. I have one horse that is picky about water. She only wants water out of the big trough or straight from the hose. She will wait until I go outside to fill buckets and come over for cold fresh water. No warm water, no small buckets. Big trough has to be fresh.

Add a little water to the feed and increase daily. Mix a small amount of unflavored electrolytes in… Not a scoop. Start small and work up.

Beet water! Make it extra soupy, drain off the excess water, and use it as flavoring.

Also consider soft fluffy earplugs during travel to reduce the overall stress level.