Dehydration

[wildoak]

I only had one foal to wean this year, and have been trying to wait out the hot weather but he was starting to pull mom down so I pulled him off yesterday. I noticed the mare wasn't going up to the water trough (staying in sight of her colt) so I took her water last night and this morning, and she drank well. By early afternoon she was drawn and almost staggering, so we spent the afternoon at the vet......watching an IV bag drip is pretty close to watching paint dry lol. She's fine, wasn't down for long, but the reminder here is that it doesn't take long in this heat for them - or us - to dehydrate. When I brought her in she refused water. Gums were dry and pale, skin pinch did not come back quickly and she would hardly walk. We dodged a bigger bullet I think, but we've been running at least 100 degrees almost every day for weeks, with no rain, and it sure is starting to wear on everyone.

Jan

 

[Sabrina]

hope everything turns out okay, when i have moved horses and they go off water i add 7up to the water and they dive right in, don't know whether it would work in this case but who knows

 

[~Lisa~]

I am sorry - how scary this is another reason I will now only breed in the fall so I have Sept/Oct foals they are ready for weaning early spring before it is to hot but also not as the weather gets cold so hopefully they keep drinking- doesnt work good if you show your babies but just seems easier for me anyway all around

 

[luv2ridesaddleseat]

I'm so glad you are such an attentive mommy and caught that early.

I hope it doesn't happen again. Mother Nature is really messed up. Here in the North East, we've had nothing but rain. I'm so sick of mud! It's just crazy, isn't it? :arg!

 

[yellerroseintx]

Good call Jan.....you are such a good horse 'mom' I wonder when this heat will let up....soooooo hot and dry...my pastures are just crunchy. Silly horses have groves of trees to stand under and spend most of the day out in the full sun..go figure! But...they are drinking a lot of water, so...so far so good..pray for rain!

 

[wildoak]

my pastures are just crunchy. Silly horses have groves of trees to stand under and spend most of the day out in the full sun..go figure

What really scares me is how badly the ground is cracking. I'm pretty sure that's what happened to Artie last year when she dislocated her femur - put a hoof wrong and went into one of those cavernous cracks that seem to go to China. We put a shovel handle down into one today and it was at least the depth of the entire handle. More than enough to break a horse's leg. Trying to keep everything around the barn & house watered, but you just can't water 20 acres. Pray for rain is right! El Nino is supposed to change things in September....we'll probably have a wet Nationals

but I won't complain.

Jan