Winter Water for Horses

stay warm and the added liquids will increase total fluid intake.
Increasing salt intake will also encourage a horse to drink more. The idle adult 1000pound horse should be consuming about two ounces of salt per day. Provide horses free choice trace mineralized salt preferably in a loose form as opposed to a salt block. For horses on a daily grain ration loose salt may also be added to their feed.
Know your horses and be creative...
Last winter a pregnant mare was frequently experiencing mild bouts of colic typically in the middle of the afternoon. The owner knows that this particular horse for whatever reason prefers to drink from a trough as opposed to the automatic waterer. Although it created some extra work she kept a trough filled and heated through the winter and the bouts of colic disappeared.
The owner of a different horse one who had more serious colic episodes every winter found that adding some flavour to the horses water encouraged her to drink more. This is a common trick used by travelling equestrians to mask the unfamiliar flavour of water away from home but worked very well as a winter watering solution. Some experimentation may be required to find a flavour that suits your horse but peppermint extract molasses apple cider vinegar some KoolAid flavours and carrot apple or grape juice are some options that have worked for others.