Page 24 - January 2005 The Game

24 The Game, January 2005 Your Thoroughbred Racing Community Newspaper
OF WINTER AND WATER
Equine Health
by Karen Briggs
Dave Landry Photo
Get Tied On
with Chaplain Shawn
I'm currently reading a book on the 23rd Psalm. What strikes me as the most appropriate part of this chapter in regards to the off-season is the following:
He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul.
This is a great time of the year for reflection and restoration. Just as horses need time to recuperate from a long season, so do the people that tend to them. Although many travel south from Ontario, many also stay here. We may not find green pastures and the water is probably frozen, but that
doesn't mean that we can't be restored physically, emotionally and spiritually. Some will move to new jobs with or without horses- a change can be as good as a rest.
Whether you're working or not, this can be a good time to try some- thing new: a hobby or a skill that you've been putting off. Just as some young horses keep training and yearlings are broken, we can also work on things that improve our everyday life. During the racing season we tend to focus solely
on horses and/or racing, with limited chances of starting something new. I find I have to force myself to read something other than a racing form!
Some of us have to slow down- notice the Psalmist says that before any restoration, God has to make us lie down. We are in a hurry up industry that is tuned to speed. It's impossible to keep that pace up with- out something giving in. If you've ever had a horse that stall-walks, you know how frustrating it can be to try to get it to settle down. You know that the energy it is wasting can be used for better purposes. I once saw a horse that stall-walked settle down and began winning races after the trainer put a big mirror across from its door. It was enough to keep the horse interested. But the horse couldn't do it on it's own- the trainer had to find a way to make it settle down. Only then could it save its energy for training and racing.
The anticipation of a New Year gives opportunity for hope. We have more to be hopeful about if we can prepare for a new season by allowing God to let us reflect on the year that was and restore what is needed to function in our world, our industry and in the lives of those around us.
I will be away from December 21-28 and January 5-11. Otherwise I will be visiting farms and holding a get together called the Winner's Circle in the dorm on Wednesdays at noon. You can connect with me at 416-779-0860.
Increasing your horse’s water intake might just decrease his risk of impaction colic.
by Karen Briggs
When it’s -30 degrees Celsius, the January wind is howling, and your nostrils are threatening to freeze shut, absolutely the last thing you want to drink is a nice, tall, cold glass of ice- water. Your horses feel the same way, which is why most horses decrease their water intake as the weather gets colder.
Most of us are conscientious about making sure our horses have free access to fresh, clean water in the heat of summer, but we don’t tend to think about dehydration in winter. That’s a problem, because a horse who is not taking in enough H20 may suffer from:
• loss of appetite
• lethargy or depression
• difficulty maintaining his internal body temperature
• loss of condition
• dry mucous membranes
• an elevated heartrate
• kidney damage, and
• impaction colic.
Most veterinarians know that the
risk of impaction colic skyrockets as winter approaches. The combination of switching from pasture grasses (which contain 70-80% moisture) to hay (about 10% moisture), along with a reluctance to drink ice-cold water (or the lack of availability of unfrozen water), can quickly create a life- threatening blockage in the equine intestine.
So how can you ensure your horses take in the 20 to 40 litres of water a day they each need to stay healthy and hydrated in the winter months? Here are some strategies:
1. Don’t depend on snow. For each litre of water he needs, a horse would have to consume 10 litres of snow. No horse is going to eat 200 litres of the stuff, and in any case warming snow to body temperature inside his gut is a major drain on his energy reserves. Horses in the wild can satisfy their water needs with snow when there is no alternative, but the transition from drinking water to relying on snow takes several days, days when your horse would be at
extremely high risk for impaction colic.
2. Break the ice. Make sure your horses have a ready supply of fresh, unfrozen water by using stock tank heaters (available from your feed dealer) in your outdoor troughs, and heated water buckets if possible in your barn. If access to electricity is a problem, break the ice in your horse’s troughs and buckets at least two or three times a day. (The equine stomach can only accommodate about 10 or 15 litres of water at a time, so one drinking opportunity a day won’t cut it.)
Try these methods of keeping your trough‚s contents liquid, too:
• put the trough in a sheltered location near the barn
• place it on a bed of shavings or straw, to insulate it from the ground • place a piece of plywood over most of the surface of the trough, leaving a small area for horses to drink
• float a large plastic ball in the trough; the ice will form around it and horses will quickly learn to press down on the ball with their noses to access the liquid water underneath
3. Warm it up. Studies have
shown that water intake increases up to 40% in the winter months if you can offer tepid (around 10 degrees Celsius) water rather than ice-cold. If you have a hot-water heater in the barn, this is easy; if not, you may have to rely on boiling water in a kettle. Pouring a kettle’s-worth of hot water into each horse’s bucket before they come in from the paddock each night can take the edge off the cold and encourage them to drink deeply.
4. Feed lots of forage. Fibrous feeds (hay, haylage, hay cubes, or beet pulp, for example) help your horses retain water in the gut, and stimulate thirst.
5. Liquefy the diet. Though you shouldn’t depend on water added to feed to completely satisfy your horses’ hydration needs, every little bit helps! Easy-to-chew, palatable
feed can also help to encourage the appetite, keep them salivating, and increase their desire to drink.
A hot bran mash is a traditional winter treat for horses, and there’s no harm in serving one no more than once a week (to mature horses only - bran’s calcium:phosphorus imbalance makes it a poor choice for young growing stock). But a more balanced daily alternative, nutrition- ally-speaking, is beet pulp soaked in warm water, with a little grain added for taste value. Most horses relish these warm, sloppy meals on cold nights. You can also soak a pelleted ration to create a tasty mush.
7. Soak your hay. Not all horses need their hay soaked in water before feeding but if you have a horse who has trouble chewing (because of age or other dental issues) or your hay is particularly stemmy and coarse, softening up the flakes in a clean muck-bucket filled with water can be helpful. Don’t soak the hay for more than about half an hour, though, you’ll leach vitamins out of the hay, and risk the flakes freezing to the tub!
8. Don’t forget salt. Ingesting salt stimulates thirst. Add a tablespoon or so of loose salt to their daily grain if you think they’re not utilizing the salt blocks in your pastures.
9. Look under the blankets. If your horses have heavy winter coats, or are wearing blankets, it may be easy to miss signs of dehydration. Make sure you watch for signs of a, tucked-up‚ flank, which can indicate water intake has been inadequate and check the consistency of their manure too. Do a daily, pinch test‚ to see where each horse stands with regard to water intake: grasp a fold of skin near the shoulder with your thumb and forefinger, raise it above the muscle for one second, and then let go. If your horse’s body fluid levels are where they’re supposed to be, the skin will snap back within a second or two. If the skin stays, tented‚ for two seconds or more, he’s dehydrated and needs to get more water into his system.
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