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  Discussion on Multiple day shows- Take water from home?
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Member:
5691

Posted on Thursday, Jul 26, 2007 - 8:22 pm:

Hi All,

My daughter and I are entered in the Northern CA Jr Rider Championships held at Rancho Murieta a bit east of Sacramento.

We will be there the 8-12 of August (I hope I'm not jinxing ourselves..We haven't told the horse yet...) Temps should be in the high 90's- low 100's. Many of the suggestions I have gleaned from this site have been helpful in planning how to (try) to keep kid and horse from wilting too badly in the hot temps.

My question... Should I purchase a water caddy and bring water from home along to mix with the water from the show site? There is no way I can bring enough water for five days. When I showed my dogs I would bring water from home, but am unclear whether I should or need to extend the same consideration to the horse.

Checkmate is an Oldenburg/Clysdale cross with a bit of TB mixed in. He is black with four white socks, so keeping him cool is a concern of mine.

As usual, any suggestions and personal experiences are most appreciated.

Smiles and Thanks
Debra
Member:
leslie1

Posted on Friday, Jul 27, 2007 - 12:47 am:

Some people use gatorade to flavor the water with. start a week or so in advance at home flavoring his water. continue to do it at the show. he wont be able to tell the difference cuz of the gatorade. there is a post on it here,just do a search for gatorade. Also, bring extra electrolites(horse kind) with you, it should help, with those kinds of temps. Make your daughter drink lots of water and gatorade too:-)
tell her good luck!!!
Member:
5691

Posted on Friday, Jul 27, 2007 - 1:30 am:

Thanks so much for the Gatorade tip, Leslie. I did a search as you suggested and appreciate your taking the time to respond.

Just added to my shopping list a variety of flavored gatorade powders to try on the boy to see what flavor he prefers. How many packets to a muck bucket size water container?

Thank you kindly for your good wishes.. She is very excited and I am enjoying her enthusiasm.

Smiles,
Debra
Member:
canter

Posted on Friday, Jul 27, 2007 - 7:47 am:

Debra, I seem to remember someone also suggesting powdered jello to flavor water in the same way Leslie mentions above.

Have fun!
Member:
36541

Posted on Friday, Jul 27, 2007 - 9:50 am:

My black bay loves the blueberry gatorade. I give him a straight drink as a reward after every ride. You should see him lick his lips in anticipation! He is visibly dejected if there isn't any to be found. His flavor choice was accidental - he just looked really interested when I was drinking it after a ride, so I let him lick it out of my hand and we went from there. You can add a small bottle to a large bucket of water, or whatever you can afford! Mine would break the bank for the stuff if I let him! It has also been comforting to know I can get him to drink in the trailer whenever we stop. Because of the heat and humidity in Alabama, I only trailer after dark whenever possible. Even though my trailer is well ventilated, and I leave all the DrOp windows down, I am always impressed at how warm he gets while traveling, in any season. Best of luck with the trip and the show. Don't forget to share your pics under the "Show Season 2007" thread. Oh, and Han would have nothing to do with the powder when I tried it...
Member:
leslie1

Posted on Friday, Jul 27, 2007 - 2:06 pm:

probably one 32 ounce bottle to a bucket. Ive never seen the powdered Gatorade. but from the directions you can figure out how much powder would equal 32 ounces and go from there. you have plenty of time to experiment.
Gatorade is safe, but you dont wanna give them just straight Gatorade (too expensive and too much sugar). when you get to the show have plenty on hand just in case the water there is really icky and you need to up the "camouflage".
Member:
leslie1

Posted on Friday, Jul 27, 2007 - 2:09 pm:

I was also going to add-- if you get there early you may be able to find a tree or some shade to park next to. might help with the heat.
Member:
aannk

Posted on Friday, Jul 27, 2007 - 6:24 pm:

The addition suggestions are good, but I would still bring water from home too. I never could get my girl to dring water with anything added, so I always brought lots of water from home. Just figure out how much he drinks, and bring as close to that as you can. Some tack shops sell very large capacity water tanks.
Alicia
Member:
mrose

Posted on Friday, Jul 27, 2007 - 8:44 pm:

Rancho Murietta is a great place to show, or at least it used to be. When we lived in California we showed there every year. The water there used to be really good evidently as our horses, who disliked Reno water, had no problem with the water at Rancho Murietta.

You can get for about $75 to $125 huge plastic tanks that are designed to fit into your trailer's tack room. One style fits into a corner and the other on the floor and is shaped so you can put saddles on top of it. Both have hoses connected to the bottom of them for easy fill up and access. I'd get one of those and gradually mix in more and more of the "strange" water. Good luck to your daughter!

btw...I've read that a little vinegar added to the water while at home and continued when away solves the problem as the horses usually like the taste. Beware of colored koolaids; at one show I rode a red nosed gray horse for three days! The color would NOT come off!
Member:
erika

Posted on Friday, Jul 27, 2007 - 10:26 pm:

Also, be aware that some containers can flavor the water you carry in them.

Ever drink from a canteen or bottle that tasted funny? Shame to bring the water all that way only to have your horse turn up his nose at it.

If you get a big container, fill it with water, let it sit for about the time of the trip plus the time you'd like your horse to drink from it, see if they will drink it. If they will, then take it with you.

But I don't find that my horses are so picky. I was told that horses will drink more readily from a black bucket. I swear by that one! Given a choice, they drink from a black bucket. Anyone else notice?
Member:
canter

Posted on Saturday, Jul 28, 2007 - 8:46 am:

Interesting, Erika, about the black bucket. In the case of my horse, when I started showing, I had an old green bucket hanging around that I scrubbed out and brought, along with the bucket from her stall (black). She preferred the green bucket -I fill that one constantly and end up dumping the black one & refilling with fresh water as back up, but she doesn't touch it. Needless to say, the green one comes with us every time.

Sara, I had to laugh about the red nosed horse. My horse isn't picky about the water (as long as it's in the green bucket, that is) but when I started showing her, I did pick up some CoolAid & stick it in my first aid kit, just in case I needed help getting her to drink. Never gave one thought to what cherry colored water would do to a a gray face! Glad I never had to use it!

When I showed in May, the show barn had automatic waterers. I hung Sparkles' buckets anyway as I wasn't sure if she knew what to do with the automatic ones. She had a grand old time playing with that thing. She'd stick her nose in it, snort and then when it turned on, the pipes would bang and she would jump straight back and then slowly reach her nose back into it and start the whole process again. As I approached her stall, I could tell she was playing before I ever set my eyes on her. I would hear something like this: splash, snort, bang...pause...splash, snort, bang...over and over. Silly girl!
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