Rehydration Research

As you untack from your lengthy trail ride, which consisted of several gallops, your mare stretches longingly toward the nearby water trough. You notice she is still hot and breathing hard. Do you let her take a sip, or are you putting her healt

Share
Favorite
Close

No account yet? Register

ADVERTISEMENT

As you untack from your lengthy trail ride, which consisted of several gallops, your mare stretches longingly toward the nearby water trough. You notice she is still hot and breathing hard. Do you let her take a sip, or are you putting her health at risk?


A research group at Michigan State University has been investigating rehydration methods of equine athletes. Hal Schott II, DVM, PhD, Dipl. ACVIM, Assistant Professor of Equine Medicine at the MSU College of Veterinary Medicine, is a principal investigator in the studies.


“The focus has been to look at a strategy to improve the horse’s ability to rehydrate after work, and a way to stimulate drinking during breaks in competition,” he said.


According to Schott, there is a myth that has been passed on from generation to generation of horsemen probably since the 1600s. The myth claims that if you give hot horses water, ailments will appear as a result. He assures that he has found there is no evidence of colic or founder after giving water to hot horses

Create a free account with TheHorse.com to view this content.

TheHorse.com is home to thousands of free articles about horse health care. In order to access some of our exclusive free content, you must be signed into TheHorse.com.

Start your free account today!

Already have an account?
and continue reading.

Share

Written by:

Stephanie L. Church, Editorial Director, grew up riding and caring for her family’s horses in Central Virginia and received a B.A. in journalism and equestrian studies from Averett University. She joined The Horse in 1999 and has led the editorial team since 2010. A 4-H and Pony Club graduate, she enjoys dressage, eventing, and trail riding with her former graded-stakes-winning Thoroughbred gelding, It Happened Again (“Happy”). Stephanie and Happy are based in Lexington, Kentucky.

Related Articles

Stay on top of the most recent Horse Health news with

FREE weekly newsletters from TheHorse.com

Sponsored Content

Weekly Poll

sponsored by:

Where do you primarily feed your horse?
276 votes · 276 answers

Readers’ Most Popular

Sign In

Don’t have an account? Register for a FREE account here.

Need to update your account?

You need to be logged in to fill out this form

Create a free account with TheHorse.com!