Moved to new barn: Horse doesn't like the water

[RhythmNCruise]

So, I know there are other threads on this topic, but I guess I just want some fresh wisdom and reassurance that things will be fine.

I moved my gelding on Friday morning. He’s not a fan of being moved. This is only his fourth move in 14 years, and as expected, he stressed a lot. He’s on Ulcergard…finished the first tube today (had started it the day before we moved him, which was probably not soon enough, but nothing to do about that now.) I have one more tube and will start that one tomorrow and finish it out.

The first day, I wasn’t surprised that he didn’t drink much. He was too busy fretting. But he DID drink a little out of his water bucket that we brought with us (won’t drink out of the “trough” which is a manure bucket…no manure, obviously). Between Friday and Saturday, I’d say he drank a grand total of a half a bucket of water, if that. I do soak his meals (TC Senior), so he was getting a tiny bit of water from that. Otherwise, nada. And he has a copious amount of hay available, which he picked at the first day, started eating better yesterday (when I added some compressed bale Standlee Timothy to the mix). But the increase in hay consumption is not causing an increase in water consumption, and that is no bueno.

To top it off, it’s been 70 degrees all weekend. So, in his fretful state (he’s not that bad now…the first day was bad though), he’s worked up a sweat. I actually rode him today and he got fairly sweaty. He got a nice shower after. WHILE riding, we happened upon some decent-sized puddles from Friday night’s rain. He nearly pulled me over his head diving down to slurp up water from the puddles. I let him drink his fill the best he could with his bit in, promising I’d lead him back over after the ride to drink some more…which I did. He drank and grazed the dead grass in the water puddles happily.

So, I KNOW this horse is thirsty, but he still will hardly touch the water available to him in his stall/paddock. This evening I turned him out in a pasture for a bit that has an old bathtub under a pine tree that is full of pine straw and pinecones and dirty rainwater. He went right over and drank deeply like it was delicious!

I finally wised up this evening and went and got some timothy pellets. I served his TC Sr. and the pellets as an ultra-wet soup. When I went into his stall with the TC Sr. soup (feed still very much covered with lots of water), he slurped and drank happily. Same with the timothy pellets.

His manure is getting very dry…little apples. I’m hoping after my efforts tonight it will improve. I did notice that where he had looked kind of drawn/tucked up in the belly yesterday and earlier this morning, this evening he looked much more relaxed and filled out. I’m hoping that’s him getting some water back into his system.

Here are my questions:

1. Should I continue giving him regular hay? Or should I stop that until he’s drinking normally again and just stick to hay pellet soup for his hay?
2. If I do continue giving him regular hay, should I wet/soak it? Seems like that might be a good idea, and I just got a little water trough (like 15 gallons) that would be perfect for it.
3. Is there anything else I can do? Will making sure all of his “hard feed” is a sloppy soupy mess and wetting/soaking his hay be enough to keep him hydrated until he gets used to the new water?
4. He WILL get used to the new water eventually, right?
5. Oh, and he does get table salt in his feed (just a tablespoon once a day). Should I continue that? Increase it?

Thanks for any and all guidance. I’ve never dealt with this before. I think he isn’t a fan of the smell of the water. It has a stronger metallic/iron smell than our last barn.

[2tempe]

I would soak hay. Add water to everything - some is better than nothing.

Can you hang regular buckets with the barn’s water? Maybe its the trough thing he’s not sure of. Also consider mixing in something - maybe gatorade, or a couple handfuls of senior feed, or even sweet feed if he will be tempted by that - anything that might
add some positive flavor and encourage him to try the new water. If he accepts that then you can reduce the flavoring gradually
Not sure re the salt…
Watch him closely - which it sounds like you are already doing! Good luck.

[paintedpony]

When staying off property a hose filter has proven to be a valuable tool. Cost is in the $20 area. Amazon has multiple choices. They screw onto a hose the way a spray nozzle would. Once your guy is well hydrated you can begin to mix in barn water.

In the short term, haul some water that he will drink.

[RhythmNCruise]

@2tempe

Can you hang regular buckets with the barn’s water?

Yeah, I have. I’ve seen him drink from the bucket twice…probably 3-5 big swallows each time. I think he may have drunk some overnight one night, as the bucket looked slightly lower (still over half the bucket left). As for the trough, it was full to the top and I think he may have drank it down a little one night (or…possibly bumped into it and sloshed some out…which seems more likely to me). I cleaned the trough out and refilled about 3/4. It doesn’t look like he’s touched it. I bought him a 15 gallon little trough from TSC and brought it out, rinsed it, filled it. He looked at it, sniffed, nope.

He prefers puddles and old rain water full of pine straw in a bathtub.

Oh, and I tried putting about 3 pounds of timothy hay pellets in five gallons of water in his feed tub. I was talking to another boarder with my backed turned and heard him kind of slosh around in the water and then he picked the tub up and threw the water out of it and proceeded to search for the spilled hay pellets.

Freakin’ goober!

[RhythmNCruise]

OMG! Why hadn’t I thought of this??? Thank you! I’m ordering one NOW!

[TheHunterKid90]

I would soak all hai grain and forage until he takes to the new water.

In the meantime, you can try some apple juice or Gatorade powder in the water. It may have a funny smell or taste you can’t detect.

[2tempe]

horses make you want to bang your head against a wall sometimes…

[Pico_Banana]

One of my horses loves the “tea” I make for her. Use whatever size bucket you like, then add a handful of Triple Crown Senior and 2 tablespoons salt. Fill with the hottest water your horse will tolerate (mine likes almost straight hot). The hot water will dissolve the salt almost instantly.

My horse will drink 10 gallons of this basically non-stop until it’s finished.

Note: occasionally I forget to replenish my salt supply and only add the grain to the water. This is clearly not nearly as tasty as the salty water.

There’s also https://www.horsequencher.com/, but it’s much more expensive than my homemade concoction. OTOH, it does come in different flavors.

I feel for you, though. My senior horse also is not a good drinker in her stall. She gets soupy TCS and soupy alfalfa cubes. She drinks much better outside, even though it is exactly the same water.

[Djones]

My horses practically inhale the leftover water from soaking their hay. It’s a thought.

[BlueDrifter]

This. I add a tablespoon of molasses to the salt and sweetfeed. My guy prefers tea to hay. He is head down drinking non-stop. I have owned him four years and only tried this in the last month, post colic. He enjoys it so much I feel guilty for not offering it more often.

[RhythmNCruise]

Thank you guys for the continued suggestions and experiences.

I tried soaking hay yesterday and he wasn’t very thrilled with that. So, I’m giving a portion of his hay as super-soaked timothy pellets and then some regular hay on the side. His TC Sr. is super soupy too.

The good news is, he’s got a new little trough and his trusty ol’ water bucket both in his paddock. I filled both last night and this morning he had drank over half a bucket. That’s progress at least. And he’s still pooping. He pooped while I was there and I couldn’t see it (dark and he was a little ways away) but I heard it and it sounded good. LOL…only a horse owner would have an ear for a “good” poop, right?

[RhythmNCruise]

Just thought I’d update. He’s drinking the water just fine now. Of course, I bought the filter for the hose and haven’t even gotten it out of the box yet, but at least I have it should this problem arise again.

Thanks for everyone’s input and help!

[candyappy]

@RhythmNCruise

Just thought I’d update. He’s drinking the water just fine now.

That is great news. Always a relief when they settle in and get back to normal.

[candyappy]

@kerrycfendley

A mineral water is very cheap

Not when you are buying it to give to horses…??