1. Nutrients: Water
EQS 125

2. 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

3. Functions & Facts

4. 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!

5. 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!

6. Consumption & Dehydration

7. 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!

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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!

12. Water Sources & Quality

13. 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

14. 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

15. 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

16. Finish

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