about horses standing in water

Question
During Hurricane Katrina, I heard about people having a hard time wth the horses, because they can't stand in the water for a long period of time. Why is that? Does it affect their hooves, or the respiratory system? Thanks so much, Nadine

Answer
The most likely reason is that the horses aren't used to standing in water and their hooves will soften and develop some forms of fungus. Most horses don't have issues for reasonable periods of time in the wet (even sometimes days or a week or so,) but others will depending on their hoof condition to start with.

Second, there is a likely reason that much of the grass is "fouled" by contaminated ground water. Or the contaminated water is the only thing to drink. Also there are a number of fungus spores which will "bloom" on horses that are continously getting wet. A few are even known to be fatal.

Also, from what I've heard, probably getting in feed or hay is hard with all the difficulty getting transportation re-established.

Lastly, if the areas they graze is okie (not contaminated) it might be reduced in overall acrage due to flooding and overgrazing. I've seen horses really suffer from a lush field turning into mud due to excessive rain.

I wish everyone in that area with horses good luck... they certainly seem to need a lot of it!