Orange urine in the pasture

[Tatooed Lady]

I've noticed that there's orange-ish pee in the snow in our mare pasture, and I hear it's the same in the gelding's pasture. Not ALL of it, but there are spots, and we don't know who's doing it, as each pasture has 8-10 horses, and we haven't caught the culprits yet.
I've read that it's possible that this is a sign of horses not drinking enough water, and the first sign of dehydration, but when I brought it up to the YO yesterday (who, by the way, shows up maybe once per week to pay the barn manager, complain about money, then go home), he actually LAUGHED at my suggestion, and said that he'd called a vet a week ago, one of the horses might have stones or something.....he just did NOT seem very interested in the whole thing, and I seriously doubt he made the call. When I suggested salt or mineral blocks in the pastures, he said that we (boarders) could buy them, as they're not worth it to him to get. :mad:Lousy so-and-so....in any case, they're not THAT expensive...and if this is the problem, it sounds pretty fixable in a cheap way....another boarder had said she might add some molasses to the water trough (heated troughs for winter) to help them drink a bit more....
If it's NOT fixed by upping the water intake, what could other possibilities be? Like I said, it's in 2 pastures, which aren't near each other, so I tend to rule out any weird virus....and it seems to be maybe one horse in each, which is why I thought first about the water.....
Ideas?:confused:

[Harry Hobbes]

Dark (orange) urine is normal in winter for many, many horses; they just don't drink as much during winter. So by itself, it's not a major concern.

You might check the heated water troughs to ensure there is no current leakage into the water. If there is, the horses will shy away from drinking because they feel the current: they get zapped. Ensuring that the water itself is well grounded (with a large copper wire) will prevent horses from receiving current. My neighbor's horse colliced last month because of this. Now the gelding will not go near that particular water trough.

Also, change the water often so that it's clean. Horses tend to turn up their nose as water that is less than clean and clear. I dump Missy's 100 gallon trough weekly at minimum so that she get clean, fresh water.

If the water trough is a permanent fixture filled by an automatic valve, then the trough may be pretty dirty, as people tend to presume those fixtures require no cleaning; and may have algae, which the horses may not like.

Generally, providing clean, clear water is your best course of action. But you'll still have some horses that will not drink enough, and will expel dark urine.

Best regards,
Harry

[Julz]

Horses tend to turn up their nose as water that is less than clean and clear.


Well that's not strictly true..... our feild troughs only get cleaned every so often, and the horses always drink out of them whatever they look like...

It's not the YO/YM's job to supply mineral/salt licks... (can check your livery contract for this) but generally if you want your horse to have access to it, then either buy a small one for when you have your horse in, or club together with other feild liveries and have a big one in the feild.

Orange or deep red pee, is a sign of horse not drinking enough, but unless you know which horse isnt doing the drinking, then not much you can do about it.

[never again]

It could relate to the amount of ADH (anti-diuretic hormone) being released. During summer time, a horse will drink more causing higher volumes of urine to be produced, of small concentraion (so less browny). During winter, the horse may consume less water which will create small volumes of urine production and higher urea concentration in the urine- this is why the wee may be orange in colour, and can indicate little water intake.

I would try to find the horse who is doing this and monitor their water intake.

[lachlanandmarcu]

Adding a small amount of salt can help reluctant drinkers to guzzle more too, but obv difficult if you cant isolate who needs it....

[Tatooed Lady]

Thanks, everyone...I bought a salt block with trace minerals today, along with a salt block holder to keep it off the ground. When I set the block out, my mare was the first one to check it out. She sniffed it, then gave a lick....then we thought she was going to chew off the corner. :D The rest of the herd came over to see what was going on, and they all seemed pretty appreciative, as well. Like a kid in a candy store.
We've ruled out my mare and one other boarder's, as we had a chance to see them pee...so hopefully we'll either find out which mare had issues, or find no more dark urine stains. The boarders that share the pasture have offered to take turns buying salt blocks. While not expensive, it's nice to be appreciated like that. :)