How's your hydration?
During summer months, one of the most important aspects of your horse’s health is to ensure they remain suitably hydrated, and what is lost through sweating is replaced.
Water is essential to life, making up around 65 - 75% of your horse's body-weight, making it one of the most important elements of your horses’ diet. A lack of water can be displayed as a reduced appetite and poor performance; but dehydration can lead to worse problems. It’s vital that your horse always has clean, fresh water available in both the field and stable. Water is essential for all aspects of general health. For example, research now links a lack of fresh water directly to an increase in gastric ulcers.
When a horse exercises or becomes hot they will lose water and essential body salts, known as electrolytes, through sweating, therefor it is essential that we replace them to help avoid dehydration.
On a day to day basis, for general maintenance, allowing free access to a Himalayan Salt lick in the field and stable is a great way to allow your horse or pony to self-supplement with the most important electrolyte, sodium chloride.
However, we shouldn’t rely on on our horses' self-supplementing once they are in work, this is because when we leave our horse's to self supplement, adequate intake from a salt rock cannot be guaranteed.
Working horses require a broad spectrum of electrolytes to be added to feed or water, to replace those lost through sweating. A broad spectrum electrolyte supplement will provide all the essential body salts, ie. sodium, calcium, potassium, magnesium and chloride.
The best way of feeding electrolytes to replace those lost through sweating, is mixing them with water to create an isotonic solution.
An isotonic solution is one which provides electrolytes in the same concentration as sweat. Failure to replace these body salts can contribute to dehydration, as these salts stimulate the thirst mechanism, encouraging the horse to drink. Ensure you always feed electrolytes with clean, fresh water, studies have recorded horses can lose up to 60 litres (110 pints) of sweat per day during hard work.
Electrolytes should always be fed alongside fresh water, this is to ensure the horse isn't receiving a highly concentrated ration of the electrolytes, which could result in drawing water out of the gut, and increasing the likelihood of dehydration.
You can also mix electrolytes into a sloppy feed if you are in a situation where your horse may not drink, this is a tasty way to ensure your horse is re-hydrating.
Don’t forget to hydrate yourself – if you’re riding or working all day at home or away at a show, you can try an isotonic sports drink to replace your own lost electrolytes. To help keep you hydrated, for a limited time you can get a NAF aluminium water bottle with the purchase of any NAF electrolytes when you spend £20 on NAF Products!*
In conclusion, whether competing or just enjoying a summer hack, ensure you pay attention to you and your horse’s electrolyte and water requirements to stay alert, focused and hydrated.
Here are some of our electrolyte supplement recommendations for helping keep your horse hydrated this summer:
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*NAF water bottle offer valid while stocks last.
