Is this a thing (horse “tea” in cold weather)

[shadesofbay3]

i’m always hesitant to offer something new to my
horses, especially my elderly, special snowflake mare, but saw something on my horsey-flooded tik tok that did look like it would be a wonderful treat, if safe

warm (not too hot) water mixed with either apple cider or sweet feed … some people add varying other supplements as well, to make a “tea”… usually a full water bucket full. the video i watched, owners gave it every night to promote hydrate, which sounds great in theory

my concern would be introducing new elements, especially in large quantities (horse drank all it), especially if it’s something they don’t eat regularly. on top of that, my elderly mare has cushings, so i know that the extra sugar isn’t great

probably overthinking, but would love to do this if it isn’t unsafe!

[rcy]

my girl loves her “tea”. i use hot water and just a handful of her grain or senior.

[luvmyhackney]

I do it for my horses a couple times a day but with alfalfa cubes and apple slices. Just a handful of cubes soaked in a bucket of hot/warm water works great.

[GraceLikeRain]

About 1/4 lb of my mares normal grain in 3 gallons of hot water gets sucked down in seconds. She’s an amazing drinker but it’s amazing how little grain or flavor it takes to make the “tea” worth it.

[mroades]

Yes, its a thing. My recipe was half a bucket of warm water, a handful of Pro-Elite, a tbs of salt or electrolyte powder, and two peppermints.
It kept all of mine from colic in a hard deep freeze a couple of winters ago.

[IPEsq]

I had one who just loved warm water in the winter. He also liked tea for real…sometimes I opened a couple bags of peppermint herbal tea into his warm bucket.

[Janet]

In winter I top up the water buckets with straight hot water. The horses drink it up as I am filling the buckets. Nothing else added.

[GraceLikeRain]

@IPEsq

He also liked tea for real…sometimes I opened a couple bags of peppermint herbal tea into his warm bucket.

Mine goes HAM for rooibos tea.

[Laurierace]

Definitely a “thing” but whenever I have done it I just used some of their regular feed and hot water

[Demerara_Stables]

I’m intrigued about giving them actual tea @IPEsq @GraceLikeRain! Do you use just a single serving tea bag? I imagine that’s not enough caffeine/tea leaves to cause adverse reactions. Mine loves candy canes - wonder if she’d like peppermint tea?

[cilla1]

My Ciri loved his tea, just plain warm water was fine but his favorite was chamomile and/or a spoon of honey

[Marla_000]

It’s surprising how much extra water you can get into them by slowly making each grain or pellet meal into a soup.
Plus I 'allow/encourage hay dunking by always putting a water bucket next to their hay
Also feed a light lunch meal of
Soupy pellets
I want to see nice shiney, softish manure, not hard, dry balls.

[Renn_aissance]

Mine is not a great drinker as a matter of habit, and if I am concerned about hydration, our usual home recipe is two handfuls of alfalfa pellets per two gallons of water. Goes down a treat.

He also loves Starbucks medicine balls but I need him to stop stealing those from unsuspecting people.

[Pico_Banana]

My mare loves her tea so much that she gets it year round. A handful of triple crown senior and top tablespoons salt in five gallons hot water. It’s the first thing she looks for in her stall and drinks it until it is gone.

My senior mare gets five gallons of water in her Timothy/alfalfa cubes, plus very soupy triple crown senior three times a day.

I haven’t figured out how to get more water in my gelding yet. He drinks best outside and is not a fan of warm water. He won’t eat cubes with too much water - same with his grain. I might try the actual tea option … he does like peppermint.

[shadesofbay3]

excited to try this tonight at the barn

[GraceLikeRain]

I found out because she went feral over my thermos one day. The barn water get super hot so I toss in a bag with a handful of grain and then put in a few gallons of water. I fish the bag out before serving but probably could just empty the bag contents in now that I’m tying this out. Rooibos is a tesan so it isn’t a true tea and has no caffeine.

[SharonA1]

Another recipe, low-sugar but still has taste (apparently) is to dissolve a handful of Stabl 1 nuggets or Stabl-1 crumbs in warm water. Always went over well! Thanks for the reminder, in fact.

[AMWookey]

Mine go nuts over it, and I give them tea every night. They also just prefer warm water. Mine is a couple handfuls of alfalfa pellets, some crushed candy cane, and apple slices. I fill up a home depot orange bucket halfway, let it steep in hot water, then put warm water to top it off. Share it between two.

[vxf111]

I do this for the horses at my house. A handful of beet pulp or alfalfa pellets and a handful of grain in a tub of water. They love it and I feel better knowing they’re drinking extra. I do it almost every day so it’s not really a change in routine, and even if it was a handful isn’t much of any feedstuff.

[IPEsq]

It was just the herbal tea so no actual tea leaves or caffeine. Although there are some peppermint tea blends with green tea or black tea with caffeine. I wouldn’t want to give that to a show horse because caffeine tests. I took a couple of bags and just ripped them open and dumped the leaves into the warm bucket.