Winter Hydration: Why Your Horse Needs Salt

As the days grow shorter and the temperatures drop, many horse owners focus on keeping their horses warm and well-fed. But there's another crucial, often overlooked, aspect of winter horse care: hydration. And the key to encouraging your horse to drink enough water? Salt!

You might think adding salt is only important summer, when horses are sweating and losing electrolytes. However, adding salt to your horse's feed during the colder months is absolutely vital for several reasons, primarily to encourage them to drink.

Why is salt SO important?

• The Thirst Mechanism: Salt plays a fundamental role in regulating a horse's thirst. When horses consume salt, their bodies naturally crave water to balance the sodium levels. Without adequate salt, their thirst drive can be dulled, even if they are subtly dehydrated. In winter, horses often drink less because water can be unpalatable (ice-cold!) or even frozen. Adding salt provides that essential trigger to seek out water.

• Preventing Impaction Colic: When horses don't drink enough, their digestive contents can become dry and compacted, leading to blockages in the gut. Consistent water intake, stimulated by salt, helps keep everything moving smoothly through the digestive system, significantly reducing the risk of this painful and potentially life-threatening condition.

• Maintaining Electrolyte Balance: While not sweating profusely, horses still use electrolytes for vital bodily functions, even in winter. Providing salt ensures they have the necessary sodium, which is crucial for nerve and muscle function, and helps maintain the overall fluid balance in their bodies.

• Palatability and Absorption: Many horses readily accept a small amount of salt mixed into their feed. It's a simple, cost-effective way to encourage them to drink more without resorting to more complicated methods. The salt is easily absorbed and quickly gets to work on stimulating that all-important thirst response.

How Much Salt?

A general guide is to add 2 tablespoons of plain, non-iodized loose salt (with mineral salt blocks alone, horses usually won't consume enough) to your horse's feed daily (less for ponies). This may need to be adjusted based on your horse's individual needs (e.g. are you feeding other supplements containing sodium chloride?) and workload, but always ensure they have constant access to fresh, unfrozen water.