STAYING HYDRATED IN THE SADDLE…

It’s well known we need to stay hydrated.
When riding horses, doing groundwork or even mucking out stalls – our fluid intake is critical but often forgotten. Here are our top tips to staying hydrated in the saddle (or while doing anything outdoors with our horses).

Firstly, How Much To Drink?

The USA Health Authorities recommend we drink at least a gallon (approx. 3.7 liters) of water per day. Of course, that’s just a ‘recommendation’ and factors including temperature, heat, level of activity, body mass, gender, age etc. can all affect how much is right for you. We found this handy calculator to tell if you’re drinking enough water… Try it out!

Should you drink just water?

Water is always your go-to and best source of hydration. Sometimes however, if you’ve been extremely active, you may require something more. Adding Himalayan Rock Salt (and a squeeze of lemon juice) to your water can enhance minerals and benefit.
Drinking plain tap water, or heavily filtered water rather than ‘still mineral water’ may not hydrate you as well. Instead of being absorbed by the body, you’re simply visiting the toilet more often!
Minerals assist the hydration process in becoming effective.

Are you dehydrated?

Statistics indicate most of us don’t consume enough water each day and are actually ‘dehydrated’ to some degree. But, what happens when you get extremely dehydrated? It’s worth exploring to learn about such topics as electrolyte imbalance, dehydration symptoms and hypertremia (which are more ‘sciency’ terms than we’d like to get into for this article) to realize how serious this can be. 
If you’d like to read a more in-depth article on dehydration and the dangers. Try here!

Some Easy Tips To Help You Stay Hydrated

We know you’re GREAT at making sure your horse has access to water. But making sure YOU are hydrated in the saddle and beyond can be critical to both of you!… We hope these suggestions help!

• Get yourself a water bottle holder that can be attached to your saddle to keep it close at hand. Make sure it can hold a fairly large amount of water. Check out our leather water bottle holders. Some can attach to you OR your saddle!
• Ensure you’re drinking water that has some extra benefits – i.e. Still Mineral Water – avoid tap water that is heavily treated as this can strip your water of its benefits
• Try and reach your recommended amounts each day by keeping your water bottle topped up! Keep a bigger jug in the car, tack box, horse trailer or barn so you can easily get to it for refills
• To make your water more palatable, try adding some lovely infusions. Lemon slices, fruit, herbs like mint, whatever makes it more enjoyable to drink and increases your likelihood of reaching for it
• Download a water tracking app, or use some of the free inbuilt smartphone apps – Some good ones to consider have been reviewed HERE
• Plan your drinking patterns. If you plan to take ‘drink’ breaks throughout your day you’ll be more likely to remember them
• When your horse drinks, be sure you do too!
• Try some of the insulated drink bottles like the YETI RAMBLER range (which fit perfectly in our Hydration Holster). Keeping your water cool makes it much more enjoyable on a hot day

If you are planning a busy day in the heat with your horse/s, we found a fantastic recipe for a Natural Sports Drink (along with some wonderful information on hydration) at the Dressage Rider Training Website.
CLICK HERE to go to the blog post directly.