Today, I learned yet another valuable horse lesson.
My pony always drinks alot of water, between morning feeding and afternoon, his bucket is usually almost empty.
Today however, I noticed his water level didn't change at all, and that he kept going over to his bucket, sticking his muzzle in, then pulling it out
without drinking.
I thought something seemed off, so I asked my BM about it. She didn't think it was serious, it looked clear and fresh,so she thought he just wasn't
thirsty because he hadn't gotten his afternoon hay yet, it wasn't hot out and he didn't get worked.
Well, by the time the barn was fed for the afternoon and the horses were half done eating, he still hadn't touched his water. Thinking it was way too
strange, i decided to dump his bucket incase I was missing something.
Well wouldn't you know it, the bottom half of the water was BLUE! The sides and bottom of his bucket were covered in some kind of blue sludge. Completely
confused and abit worried as to what in the world would have caused his water to be blue and undrinkable, I suddenly remembered that his salt lick, a blue one,
was positioned above his water bucket and i hadn't seen it that morning. I had replaced it just over a week ago so he shouldn't have finished so fast.
Talking to my BM again, we figured that was the only possibility and after thoroughly rinsing the bucket, I returned it to my pony's stall where he kept
butting me out of the way trying to get at it. I had to wrestle with him for abit, trying to get the hose into the bucket to refill it, but as soon as i'd
even started the water flowing in, he'd go crazy and try and drink again, so I'd fill it only about 2 inches before he'd plunge his head in and
gulp it all down. Deciding that wasn't working out, I took bucket back down after a struggle with the pony, and proceeded to fill it 3/4 outside his stall
before attempting to re-hang it. Well, as soon as I opened the door and he saw the bucket, he thrust his muzzle in and gulped the whole thing in less than
minute. So, back outside the stall I went , with the bucket. I didn't want him to get sick from drinking so much, so I waited a bit then filled it half way
and actually got to hang it up again before he attacked it with the same thirst as before. Then, I was able to completely fill it and he just continued to eat
his hay.
Anyways, the morale of this is, that if you feel like there's something wrong, chances are, there is!
Just thought I'd share, and see if anyone else has had an expierence like this, where they asked someone else's opinion and there own instincts turned
out to be right.
