Although horses may be consuming a little water from snow during the winter months, access to fresh drinking water is crucial. Some horses are not interested in water that is too warm, as may be the case when using heated buckets or troughs. Consider turning off the tank heaters during the day, but keep them on at night.
Feeding salt can encourage drinking. Offer at least a heaping teaspoon of salt twice a day; if more goes in the feed bucket, that’s okay. Horses will usually just leave extra salt in the bucket. Keep some loose salt in a separate bucket along with a chunk of Himalayan salt, giving your horse his or her choice.
Reports on Celtic salt claim “that the horse is capable of extracting up to seven times the nutritional value from its food [when consuming Celtic salt]. The salt increases the nutrients, enriches saliva and creates needed hydrochloric acid for digestion. Lack of proper nutrients can be a major cause of lameness in horses.”
By adding Celtic salt, horses are getting better nutrients from the feeds, and will be inclined to drink more, too.
Thanks to Susan Schultz, Basic HS Acres, www.basichsacres.com