I’m hoping you all can help me. I think I read something on here a while back about a bucket that was made of something that encourages horses to drink. I can’t find it now. Is there such a thing?
thanks!
stacy
I’ve heard of adding a little Kool Aid! Especially for a horse that travels, then the water tastes similar even elsewhere.
Electrolytes can also add taste.
I just add some squirts of the water flavoring for water bottles or a handful of sweet feed/alfalfa cubes. Mine prefers a few scoops of the orange Gatorade.
Add a handful or so of sweet feed and let it steep like tea for a while.
Horse Quencher is a bagged product like that, to add to water. Most horses love it. It got my senior horse drinking after colic surgery.
https://horsequencher.com/what-is-hq/
It is easy enough to make a home made version of it, but HQ comes in different flavors.
I add apple flavored electrolyte powder…my horse loves it, others I’ve had don’t care either way. You can play around with different flavors.
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She was probably referring to Horse Quencher.
My mare… 8 days away from being “2 years colic free” after colic surgerg-as it turns out-LOVES warm water. I fill her buckets with warm/hot water while i’m tacking her up and when she gets back into stall, drains the bucket of warm water. Why did I NOT know this 2 yrears ago (I have a lot of “why didn’t I?” as the colic “anniversary” -comes closer= horrible term, albeit accurate). I tried Horse Quencher, would put sweet feed aka “stud muffins” in his water bucket, apple juice, apple sauce…mints. Typical amatuear re-rider. ANYWAY… It took a while for her to get used to the warm water and I sort of did it as an experiement and would have one warm and one cooler (or as was when I got to barn"). Never saw anything like it. From rarely drinking to almost expecting the warm water when she gets back from thr ring.Fingind something that works isn’t easy.
Thuogh when discovered, allows you to breath (a little but) easier.
TRY warm water. Learned it from a friend who’s horses would drink buckets and i’d watch, complexed. Keep us updated!
I cut up chunks of apple and float them in a bucket of water. When the horse starts to eat the bobbing pieces, if they are thirsty they just seem to automatically drink. My one mare drinks the bucket every time (she also loves warm water too…maybe she just really likes to drink water), the rest of the gang most times - even if it’s to get to the bottom of the bucket to get apples they couldn’t catch.
If I am understanding you correctly, I think you are thinking of a product called Horse Quencher. It comes packaged in jugs and has several flavors such as peppermint and apple. Good stuff! I bought a sample packet while at a horse show once, and my horse drank the bucket of water I put it in right up. It seemed to do the trick wonderfully.
However, if you wanted to save a little money, I’m sure you could do the same thing with a little sweet feed and make a “tea” with it. That or you could just add a little flavored Gatorade to the water to give it a little sweet flavor. My horse’s favorite is fruit punch lol.
I definitely second trying the warm water method. Strangely, I have seen it work with a few horses myself. Seems odd, but I guess it just goes down a little easier than cold water. Worth a try!
When I used to take my TB to shows I brought a few bags of shredded carrots – I’d put the whole bag into a quarter bucket of water and he’d eat/drink.
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Is she getting enough salt? Even with free access to a salt block or loose salt, they will sometimes not take care of it themselves. You may try putting an ounce of salt in her feed once a day.
I’ve had good luck adding apple cider vinegar. Mine will drain the bucket with the acv during the day, but not touch their plain water.
I have a mare who isn’t a good drinker while away from the barn. I take Horse Quencher along wherever we go but am also on the lookout for new products or ideas to encourage her to drink.
While at a horse fair earlier this year, I bought some packages of something called Whinny Water. It’s similar to horse quencher. Mare gave her approval, drank the whole bucket.
I’ll trying some of the other ideas in this thread also.
I second/third the warm water, especially in cold weather,with a handfull of sweet feed to make a warm “tea”
