10/09/2026
Its supposed to get cold here too! Make plans accordingly. SALT, water heaters, wet mashes, protection (blanket or shelter) a bit more hay.... check! Bring it on!
**Cold snap this weekend in Central OR**
It is one of our busiest time of year at the clinic, and a significant number of cases we are seeing currently are colics! Colic in horses can often be related to dehydration, and it is best practice to be prepared with a number of strategies to encourage your horses to continue drinking through these weather swings;
1) Add a teaspoon of salt to grain 1-2x's day to encourage drinking.
2) Soak all pelleted feed. If your horse receives pelleted grain or hay, soak the pellets in water for a 1/2 hour before feeding. You would be amazed how much water you can get into your horse this way. Some horses will turn their noses up to soaked feed at first but many will come around to it.
3) Beet pulp is a great addition to your horse's diet because it is a highly digestible fiber source, provides low sugar calories and it absorbs a lot of water. Just a small amount of beet pulp can add 1-2 gallons of water to your horse's daily consumption. To feed beet pulp start with a small amount (1cup pellets/2cups shredded) and add ½ gallon of water. Slowly increase this amount over a week to a 1/2-1full grain scoop of beet pulp depending on your horse's caloric needs and add 1-2 gallons of water.
4) Make sure your water heater is working and keeping the water at an appropriate temperature in the winter months.
5) Provide electrolyte water: follow label instructions for adding powdered electrolytes to a bucket of water. Be sure to provide plain water in addition to the electrolyte water.
6) There is commercially available product called Horse Quencher that for many horses works excellent for encouraging water consumption in some horses. It is an additive to water that will make them gulp the whole bucket down! We have them at Bend Equine or you can order them at Horsequencher.com
7) Purina Hydration Hay is an easy to use prepackage Hay cube that soaks up water in 5 minutes. Purina Replenimash is another great product we have found our horses to love. They are another great way to increase water consumption.
8) Blanketing your horse during really cold days may keep them more comfortable and more likely to drink when it is really cold out.
Stay warm out there folks!
