Equine All-Sports Medicine Center

02/03/2026

Good to know!

💧 𝐃𝐨 𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐬 𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐈𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐖𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐇𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐬?

Soaking feed or utilizing mashes is a common practice intended to increase water intake in horses - but does it actually help?

I decided to take a dive into the research, as many horse owners soak feed in the winter, particularly during cold weather snaps, to encourage water intake. And while digging, I came across two studies you may find interesting!

🧪𝐒𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐲 𝟏 (𝐅𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐢𝐫𝐚 𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐥., 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓)
The first study took place in Florida, where the average ambient temperature during the study was 55°F (13°C). This research evaluated horses consuming soaked pelleted feed, alfalfa cubes, or beet pulp in a 2:1 ratio of water to concentrate.

This study found that horses rapidly self-regulated voluntary water intake based on the amount of water provided in the meal. This means, when water was added to their feed, they voluntarily drank less so total water consumption remained the same.

This was shown as horses on dry feed had a voluntary water intake of 32.2 L while horses on soaked feed reduced voluntary water intake to 25.4 L to accommodate the ~6 L of water provided in the mash, for a total water intake of 31.5 L.

But that brings us to the second study 👇

❄️ 𝐒𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐲 𝟐 (𝐑𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐇𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐲, 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟑)
This study evaluated seasonal differences in water intake during the fall (55°F; 12.8 °C) and winter (-4 to 33°F; -20 to 0.67°C) in Wisconsin. Horses were fed a pelleted concentrate at 0.5% body weight, with soaked feed provided at 2 L water/kg feed.

This study found that horses drank:
🍁 29.3 L/day in the fall
❄️ 24.7 L/day in the winter

This decrease supports previous findings that water intake drops by approximately 6–12% during the cold winter months.

However, this study also evaluated soaked vs dry feed.

While no difference in voluntary water intake was observed during the fall trial, horses in the winter consumed more water when eating a mash (26.9 L) compared to when consuming dry feed (22.4 L), a difference of about 1.2 gallons per day. The study found that horses consuming the mash drank equal to or more water than horses consuming the dry grain, in addition to the water they consumed in their feed.

✨𝐓𝐚𝐤𝐞-𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐠𝐞
Cold weather can reduce voluntary water intake in horses, but feeding a mash during winter can help combat that decline. In more mild weather, however, soaking feeds likely does not increase total water intake, as horses will self-regulate.

Will these studies make you more likely to soak you feeds - why or why not?

Stay warm out there!
Dr. DeBoer

Ferreira N, Binder D, Garbati IH, Lance JM, Warren LK. Effect of soaking feed on water intake and hydration in horses. Journal of Equine Veterinary Science. 2025 May 1;148:105449.

Rucker NK, Hiney KM. Voluntary water intake in horses when fed a dry versus mash grain in two different seasons. Journal of Equine Veterinary Science. 2013 May;33(5):355-6.

02/01/2026

Good to know...

Did you know that Prascend (and all forms of pergolide) tablets are unstable once taken out of their special nitrogen-filled foil compartment?

Some horse owners mistakenly take them out of the packaging ahead of time for convenience, which can lead to rapid degradation. Another dilemma is when horses are supposed to get a partial tablet. What's the best practice?

The very best option for storing partial pergolide tablets is to keep them in their original nitrogen-flushed blister packs until the moment of administration to prevent rapid degradation from light and other factors.

If a tablet must be split, store the unused portion in a small, sealed, dark container with a silica gel packet.

Store in Dark/Cool Location: Keep the container away from direct sunlight and in a cool, dry place (at or below 77°F/25°C).

Time Limit: Use the partial tablet within 24 hours to ensure effectiveness.

Alternative - Foil: Some owners tightly wrap the unused, halved tablet in aluminum foil and store it in a small, sealed container.

Do not pre-cut tablets for more than one or two days in advance.

01/23/2026

some info about riding in the snow

01/14/2026

A very weird case…

Last week, Dr van Wessum was asked for advice by one of our referring veterinarians. The horse the vet was talking about, a 19-year-old family horse (great with the kids) would suddenly not stand on LH, buckling over and not weight bearing on it at all. The horse was clearly in pain with an elevated heart rate. The vet did an initial work up, and radiographs of the entire lower limb were all within normal limits. The vet thought that likely the extensor apparatus (all the muscles and tendons involved in extending the leg, stretching in and reaching forward) was damaged, but could not find any clear problem.
Initially Dr van Wessum agreed with te thoughts about the extensor apparatus problem, but by looking at the video over and over, he felt it looked more like a spastic movement (stiff and jigged) than a not being able to extend movement. The referring vet had tried to make the horse stand on the leg with assisted forward movement (taking over the extensor apparatus function) but the horse refused to stand on it. With an extensor apparatus failure, the horse still can stand on the leg when somebody helps it to bring the leg forward and put the foot on the ground. Something very painful in the heel might cause this behavior, but the radiographs didn’t show any sign of it (no fracture or swelling of soft tissue). A heel abscess could still be a possibility, but the foot was cold to touch and checking the foot with hoof testers was negative.

Dr van Wessum was thinking of a spasm of the muscles that pull on the flexor tendons (muscles of the tight and croup) which might be caused by a painful problem in one of the joints higher in the leg like hock or stifle, but there were not any signs of that at all. Based on that, Dr van Wessum suggested a metabolic cause for the spams, likely low Magnesium. Blood was drawn to send to the lab and the horse was given a muscle relaxant and some banamine to deal with soft tissue pain and muscle pain. Within a couple of hours, the horse was sound again and moved normal. Lab work showed low Mg and since it had been on Mg supplementation it is moving better and better, according to the owner It “aged back 10 years”.

This case showed that good cooperation between a referring veterinarian in the field and a sports medicine and equine medicine specialist (much more trained and experienced in not only lameness but also metabolic problems) will be a perfect way to solve problems!

01/11/2026

Tip for the cold weather training: many horses do have stiffer and tighter areas in their back ( this horse has a tight sacrocaudalis muscle...top of the tail) which might take long to warm up and get looser in cold weather. Warm it up while tacking up and brushing with a microwavable hot pack ( filled with beans..gives also a moist heat) and your training will go much smoother..

01/06/2026

a good case report from the past

12/25/2025

11/25/2025

a case from the past!

11/25/2025

Good infor about the usefulness of PEMF blankets.. NONE!

Another paper on PEMF blanket showing no effect! Think before you buy!

11/24/2025

Two recent papers in the EVE Journal were punlished on the effects of corticosteroid injection sin joints. They were meta-analysis, meaning they took information from over 600 papers about this topic into account. This means the outcome of a meta-analysis is more reliable as an "overall opinion of scientists" than a single paper. Both papers show clearly that 1 injection in a joint (when needed, because acute joint inflammation is present) might be beneficial, but that more than 1 injection in the same joint will cause cartilage damage and degeneration of the joint. Think about that when you do "regular joint maintainance" or inject multiple joints without a clear indication.

Your vet should know this information!

09/30/2025

We have a new tool to record gait symmetry on the fly with just a couple of minutes with a video set up to video the trot on the hard. It is a great tool to measure assymetry (not lameness!) and evaluate over time with our rehab cases. This tool (Sleip) is fully tested and confirmed to be reliable, so now we have a tool to back up data for some papers about our rehab cases/programmes in the coming years! This tool gives the same info as the so-called Lameness Locator, but setup is much faster. Because it is to monitor gaits for OUR research, clients will NOT be charge for this service. HOWEVER, they will be provided with a PDF file with all the results of their horse for their information.