Nutrients: Water EQS 125

icon located on the bottom right hand side of the slide Lecture Menu You may use the menu to the left to jump to main topics in the lecture or resume clicking your mouse or spacebar to progress through the lecture While we take water for granted, it is the most important nutrient for the horse Without water, almost all of the horse’s systems cease to function Function & Facts Consumption & Dehydration Sources & Quality If you wish to come back to this menu at anytime during the lecture click the icon located on the bottom right hand side of the slide

Functions & Facts

The Hydrated Horse An adequate daily intake of water is essential for good health, especially digestive health as discussed in Lecture 2 Water represents the largest component of the horse’s body! A mature horse requires 8 – 12 gallons of water per day for maintenance This is not accounting for increases due to exercise, temperature, etc. A horse can survive without feed up to three weeks – but can only survive without water for 5 – 6 days!

A horse can survive longer without water than with food Knowledge check A horse can survive longer without water than with food True False Incorrect A horse can survive without feed up to three weeks – but can only survive without water for 5 – 6 days Correct!

Consumption & Dehydration

Water consumption The amount of water needed varies with the amount of water lost from the body There are many factors that can influence consumption, including: Accessibility & palatability (taste) Dry matter intake Climate/Temperature Water loss from feces, urine, and lactation Exercise/Work If water is not accessible and/or does not taste good, a horse will consume less How much feed (forage & grain) your horse eats dictates how much water he should consume A horse suffering from diarrhea will lose water quickly due to wet feces Water consumption is an indicator of overall health It should always be monitored!

How can we encourage water consumption? Horses prefer warm or tepid water – if needed, get heated buckets or a bucket heater to keep water an appropriate temperature in the winter Horses can be picky about “foreign” water if you ship them to a new place – bring water from home or get him use to drinking flavored water so you can add flavoring to the new water upon arrival Add water to either the hay or grain to increase your horse’s intake

The harder the heart works, the less efficient it is! Dehydration When a horse is dehydrated, the blood loses fluidity and causes the heart to work harder The harder the heart works, the less efficient it is! If a horse has not had water within 24 hours, he loses 4% of his body weight through: Sweating Urination Manure Respiration Exercise, climate, temperature, etc. is not even present! The addition of those factors can increase this percentage greatly A lack of water can cause gastrointestinal issues, a main one being colic Water is essential for transportation of digestive material, digestion, and absorption In addition to the risks of dehydration for the heart, it also destroys digestive efficiency

Dehydration & Exercise “A horse’s physical performance ability is decreased long before a water deficiency induced dehydration can be detected from the horse’s appearance” By the time we start seeing visible signs of dehydration, the body has already been internally suffering the consequences What are some of the signs of dehydration? Always keep hydration in mind while exercising! Dry mucous membranes Sunken in eyes Skin tenting Dry stool Little urination Collapse/exhaustion Slow capillary refill

Dehydration causes the blood to become more fluid Knowledge check Dehydration causes the blood to become more fluid True False Incorrect One of the main components of blood is water. Dehydration can result in the blood losing fluidity (it becomes less fluid), making it thicker. This causes the heart to work harder to pump it through Correct!

Water Sources & Quality

A horse’s water source must always be clean and accessible! Water sources A horse’s water source must always be clean and accessible! What are ways that a water source can be inaccessible? Frozen Dried out Too many animals Poor placement Electrical / mechanical malfunction Colics tend to increase in the winter months – one potential reason is that horses are not drinking as much due to very cold and/or frozen water sources Competition over water sources may cause horses that are lower on the hierarchy to not drink – always make sure you have enough sources for the number of horses in your pasture Automatic waters are timesavers, but they can also malfunction. Always check your automatic waters daily

Poor water taste is normally related to poor water quality Find out where your water comes from – public or municipal systems, common in city or suburban areas, typically purify and filter the water, as well as test for contaminants Well water, which comes from the land you are on, has a greater risk for contamination Ponds and streams also have a high risk of contamination

Poor water taste is normally related to poor water quality What would contaminate a water source? Pesticides, herbicides Disease-causing bacteria Toxic chemicals Radioactive elements Blue-Green algae is a toxic algae that blooms in ponds during hot, dry weather due to large amounts of organic matter in the water (ex. manure) Ingestion can cause muscle tremors, labored breathing, diarrhea, liver damage, and even death

Finish

End of lecture You have finished Lecture 3 – Nutrients: Water. Complete Homework #3 prior to taking your Homework quiz in Blackboard.