Water Requirements for Your Horse

A stable owner was in the office last week, and in the course of conversation, he said that he was almost to the point of not liking horses.  After more discussion, this was more related to the effort needed to keep clean, fresh water in front of them than anything else.  As most folks already know in North Carolina, it has been unseasonably cold.  This has caused watering systems that normally make it through the winter with no problems to freeze up.  Thawing our drinking cups, water troughs, or chopping holes in ice are not usually needed around here, but that has become chore number one on the daily jobs list for a lot of horse owners.

Let’s review the water requirements for horses.  According to the Vet College at UC-Davis, a 1,000-pound gestating horse needs at least 8 gallons of water per day.  The chart below shows the minimum requirements for different size horses and different levels of activity:

Minimum Daily Water Requirement for Horses of Various Weights	Resting/Normal Environmental Temperature	Heavy Workload (double to triple resting requirement)	Gestation/Lactation (add 30% to resting requirement)	High  Heat and Humidity (double to triple resting requirement)
500-lb horse	3 gal per day	6 to 9 gal per day	4 gal per day	6 to 9 gal per day
1,000-lb horse	6 gal per day	12 to 18 gal per day	8 gal per day	12 to 18 gal per day
1,500-lb horse	9 gal per day	18 to 27 gal per day	12 gal per day	18 to 27 gal per day
2,000-lb horse	12 gal per day	24 to 36 gal per day	16 gal per day	24 to 36 gal per day

Cold weather does not drop the amount of water needed by horses.  Please note that the figures presented are minimum requirements.

Also, please remember that the water should be clean.  Many times, horses will refuse dirty, stagnant water until they are in dire need – and then only drink a minimal amount.  Dirty, stagnant water/water troughs/fountains can also be a source of bacterial or viral infections, so there is some extra incentive to make sure that the water systems are in top shape.

Other writers for this blog have mentioned the danger of impaction colic, so I’ll just say that avoiding this problem makes the chore of keeping fresh, clean water even more important.  A bit of heat for the water makes it easier to drink, so horses will consume a bit more than if left cold.

It is recommended that horses be watered at least twice a day; preferable, horses should have continuous access to fresh, clean water.  If the water lines in the barn are frozen, the buckets of water taken to the horses twice a day will be greatly appreciated by your equine friends.