There is nothing more worrisome than having a horse which is a picky drinker. I've been lucky for years to not have this problem, but my current gelding turns his nose up at strange water no matter how long it's been since he's had a drink. While on the road for 3 long days traveling to and from AZ, I fretted on how slowly the water level went down each night. On two occasions, my horse looked so gant but still drank little water for several days.

     However, while attending a recent clinic, the instructor's husband gave me a tip: black strap molasses!

     Coat the bottom of your water bucket with the molasses and then fill with water. That' it!

     Note:

• Black strap is NOT a brand name. Rather, it's molasses that has most of the sugars extracted.
• Look for blackstrap molasses that is unsulphured since it does it not contain a processing chemical to which some animals may be sensitive, and it also has a cleaner and more clarified taste.
• To buy your molasses for a reasonable cost, check with an area feed mill. (I ended up buying a quart at an Amish health food store, but a feed mill offered to order some for me.)
• Black strap molasses water not only helps with hydrating your horse, but the molasses contains lots of the minerals as seen on the chart below:

     I've observed that a good drinker (like my filly and Peg's horse Butterscotch) will literally DIVE into the molasses water. It appears that my gelding drinks better, so I've decided that I won't leave home without my molasses!

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