02/10/2026
HELPING PREVENT COLIC IN HORSES
While colic can have many different causes, keeping horses well-hydrated is one of the things we actually CAN do to help prevent it (specifically by preventing clogging (AKA impactions) of dry feed in the gut). But even though you can lead your horses to water, we've all heard the old saying that you can't make them drink!
If your horse doesn't seem to want to drink, here are a few tricks that might help:
- Always make sure the water is clean and thawed
- If feeding grain, consider adding a tablespoon of table salt per day as this will encourage more drinking (you’re not going to cause any issues with this amount and it’s very cheap)
- If you're traveling or have to change your water source, consider offering a second bucket of water and adding some apple juice, electrolytes, molasses, or a handful of sweet feed to one. Not all water tastes the same and this trick can encourage them to drink from the new water source.
