Water Analysis for Horses | Test Your Horse’s Drinking Water
Why You Should Test Your Horse’s Drinking Water
If your horse drinks from a spring, pond, river, stream, or borehole, it’s essential to check the mineral levels and quality of the water. The composition of drinking water can significantly impact your horse’s health, particularly when dealing with metabolic disorders like laminitis.
Forageplus Water Analysis for Horses offers a comprehensive mineral profile of your horse’s drinking water, helping you understand any potential risks or benefits that the water may have on your horse’s health.
Why Water Quality Matters for Horse Health
The mineral composition of the water your horse drinks can play a key role in their overall health and well-being. For example, excessive amounts of certain minerals in water can lead to oxidative stress, potentially affecting metabolic processes. Monitoring the mineral content of water is particularly important for horses prone to conditions like laminitis.
Our water analysis for horses checks 16 essential elements and provides detailed insights into the pH and the potential presence of antagonistic minerals. For instance, some water sources may be high in iron, manganese, or aluminium, which can have an adverse impact on a horse’s health.
What’s Included in Our Water Analysis
We offer two types of tests for horse drinking water:
1. Standard Water Analysis
The standard test covers the following 16 key elements:
- Calcium
- Phosphorus
- Magnesium
- Sodium
- Potassium
- Electrical Conductivity
- Chloride
- Nitrate Nitrogen
- Nitrate
- Sulphate
- Copper
- Iron
- Manganese
- Zinc
- Dissolved Solids
- Ammonium Nitrogen
- pH
- Lead
- Aluminium
- Total Dissolved Solids (TDS)
2. Extended Standard Water Analysis
The extended analysis includes all the elements from the standard test, plus the following:
- Arsenic
- Beryllium
- Uranium
These tests are carried out by a UKAS-accredited laboratory to ensure the highest accuracy and reliability.
How Does Testing Help Your Horse?
Understanding your horse’s water quality can make a significant difference in their health. Here’s how testing can benefit your horse’s overall well-being:
- Calcium Levels: High calcium levels in water can affect the absorption of other minerals, which may interfere with your horse’s diet and health.
- Heavy Metal Contamination: Testing for lead, arsenic, and other contaminants is vital to ensure your water source is free from toxins.
- Nitrate Contamination: Nitrates from fertiliser run-off can affect your horse’s metabolism and contribute to digestive issues.
- Palatability: High mineral levels can make water taste unpleasant, affecting your horse’s water intake.
- Antagonistic Minerals: Certain minerals in water may act as antagonists, interfering with nutrient absorption and causing imbalances in your horse’s diet.
- Suitability of Natural Water Sources: Forages, ponds, streams, and other natural water sources may not always be suitable for horse consumption due to mineral or contaminant content.
How to Collect and Send Your Water Sample
Sample Containers:
- Use either the sample bottle sent by Forageplus or follow these guidelines when sampling water without our kit.
- Only clean plastic containers should be used for holding your water sample(s). The container and cap should be rinsed at least 3 times with the water being sampled.
- Do not use glass bottles – they can break in transit and may contain high levels of minerals.
- Avoid using any containers that have previously held pesticides, surfactants, or fertilizers.
Sampling Instructions:
- Tap Water: Allow the water to flow for 1-2 minutes before collecting your sample.
- Stream Water: Collect samples from running water, well downstream from any tributaries. Take the sample from the centre of the stream, where the water flow is average, and where the chances of solids settling are minimal.
- Well Water: Collect the sample after pumping the well for 1 to 2 hours.
- Avoid Sampling from Troughs/Buckets: Never collect water from troughs or drinking bowls as they are usually contaminated with feed, faeces, or urine.
Handling and Storage:
- Fill the bottle to the top and securely seal it with the lid.
- Tip: You can tape the lid as an extra precaution.
- Attach the provided label to the sample bottle, writing your name, order number, and identifying the sample (e.g. “Borehole 1” or “Stream Water”).
- Post your sample to us using the free post envelope provided in the Forageplus kit or send it to: Forageplus Unit 10, Broncoed Business Park, Wrexham Road, Mold, Flintshire, CH7 1HP, UK Please use normal first-class post – do not send it signed for as it can delay processing.
- Upon receiving the sample, we will send it to the lab for testing.
- Your results will be emailed to you within 2-3 weeks.
Personalised Feed Suggestions for Your Horse
Once we receive the water analysis results, we can provide bespoke feeding suggestions to optimise your horse’s diet. Our recommendations may include increasing levels of antioxidants such as selenium, copper, and vitamin E to mitigate any oxidative stress caused by excess minerals in the water.
Why Choose Forageplus Water Analysis?
- Comprehensive Report: Understand the exact mineral composition of your horse’s drinking water.
- Bespoke Recommendations: Tailored advice on how to balance minerals in your horse’s diet.
- Accurate Testing: Performed by a UKAS-accredited laboratory for reliable results.
- Free Guide: Access to educational resources to help interpret your results and understand when water testing is necessary.
Delivery & Returns
- Free UK Mainland Shipping on orders over £80*
- 60-Day Returns on unopened items
- Order before 1pm for Same-Day Dispatch*
Check out our article on when to test the water a horse drinks.
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