hard manure, hard time passing manure

Hi all

Cocoa is 32 yrs old as of last month. I noticed that now that the hot weather has arrived she hasnt been drinking enough. Her manure has become dry and I have witnessed her having issues passing the manure.

She gets fed 2-3 times a daY, a soaked rice bran mash, senior blue seal pellets and alfalfa cubes - its all soaked for a long time until its soup. But I have noticed she hasnt been licking the salt mineral block as much as she used to either.

How can I get more water into her? Do you think that her hard stool is lack of water?

Oh and I want to add that we moved the beginning of March. They went from a small dry lot to a 4 acre grass field. I have been keeping them up on a 1 acre dry lot during the day and letting them graze on the 4 acres at night because I didnt want to have them founder on the lush spring grass after being in a dry lot for the past 2 yrs.

Have her vet checked. I had one old timer that started doing this and he had cancer in his intestine. Not saying that's what it is, but your old girl deserves to be comfortable and I can imagine she's not feeling good right now.

Now, I don't know why it wouldn't work with horses, but when our goats or dogs get bound up I feed them canned pumpkin. Not pie filling mix, but pure pumpkin. It works really good and they love it.

Many times its not a lack of water, but a lack of fiber/long stemmed forage. Can you try adding in soaked beet pulp too?

Add 1/2 cup of apple cider vinegar to two of his meals. It will help increase water comsumption. Start with just 1/4 cup at two meals for a few days, then increase to 1/2 cup. My horses all hit the water trough HARD after their feed since I started using ACV. Just get the cheap store brand for $3.something a bottle.

You might also try adding some flavoring to the water to see if that will increase her consumption. Use a small packet of sugar free jello in a large tub of water. You'll have to try different flavors until you find one she likes best.

I also agree with calling your vet if this issue doesn't clear up in a few days.

I would soak hay.......maybe even fill up a muck bucket with water and let the hay float in it this way every time he picks up hay he will be getting water with it.

Super Nova

Whoops I see you don't feed hay.......maybe try adding more water or apple juice to his mashes.

Super Nova

I'd also add some oil to her feed - just to lube up anything that is a bit hard!!

What type of oil would you use? Veggie? Canola? Mineral?
Thank you all for the ideas. I am making her mash even more watered and going to try some ASV in her feed as well.

I do put hay out for the horses too but Cocoa has next to no teeth, so she chews some then spits it out. She can't really eat hay. :(

Veggie oil will be fine, start off with about 1/4 of a cup and increase to about a cup full over a week or so.

Adding veggie oil to feed does not lube her up. Her stomach will break it down. In order to lube her up you have to use an oil that is not digested. That is why they use mineral oil when they are treating an impaction. But mineral oil is not palatable.


I would start simple. Make her soup a little more watery. Add a little salt or electrolytes to her soup to encourage to her to drink more.

If she does chew hay then soaking it will help.