Water tank woes

Mominis · Jul 17, 2010

The pasture horses at the barn where I board them have developed a habit that has become a real problem for the barn owners and I wondered if anyone had some advice that I could pass on to them. One horse learned to put his front feet in the water tank and paw to splash water on himself to cool off in the amazingly bad heat we've had. The other horses have all picked up this habit too. Recently, the big 16.2hh Walking horse gelding that is out there actually got IN the tank, fell down, and broke the tank. The horse is okay, but the tank didn't make it.

Is there anything you can think of that I can suggest to them to keep the horses from getting their legs in the tank? We are all afraid that the next time this happens, the horse in question won't be as lucky as the Walker was and will actually get hurt. Thanks.

LittleRibbie · Jul 17, 2010

Mominis said:
The pasture horses at the barn where I board them have developed a habit that has become a real problem for the barn owners and I wondered if anyone had some advice that I could pass on to them. One horse learned to put his front feet in the water tank and paw to splash water on himself to cool off in the amazingly bad heat we've had. The other horses have all picked up this habit too. Recently, the big 16.2hh Walking horse gelding that is out there actually got IN the tank, fell down, and broke the tank. The horse is okay, but the tank didn't make it.

Is there anything you can think of that I can suggest to them to keep the horses from getting their legs in the tank? We are all afraid that the next time this happens, the horse in question won't be as lucky as the Walker was and will actually get hurt. Thanks.

LittleRibbie · Jul 17, 2010

Boy Im glad your friends horse didnt get hurt, it must have been scarey for the horse too!

Your post really hits home for me for another reason too. My dogs dont like their own kiddy pool but as soon as I open the gate to the pasture they will run in and flop down in the kiddie pools I have for the horses...it makes me so made the dogs are usually very sandy/dirty and now the horses water is all yucky....like I have nothing better to do all day then change kiddie pool water :arg! :arg!

But back to your ?. I was afraid the horses would slip in the pools years ago when I first tried them so I bought mats for them. They are not the big heavy black stall mats but these are red with about 2 in holes all thru them. Not as thick but are definatley heavy duty industrial size.IMO they are over kill for the minis but would really hold up well with your friends bigger horses. They were easy to cut( maybe b/c of the holes in them )into the right size. I can still pick up and empty and clean the pools but it does provide great traction just in case. Maybe you can try this. Will be waiting to hear what others suggest....especially about the silly horses stomping their feet to "splash" themselves.

For a fun treat the next time you go to a convenience store stop and buys 2 20lb bags of ice and dump them in the water cooler. My horses love to splash, toss their heads, and play who can hold their nose in the cold water the longest game.My little Peanut puts her head right up to her eye ball and just stand there holding her breath....I always tell her "your nose is going to freeze and fall off"...she loves it!!

Magic · Jul 17, 2010

I have horses that like to paw in the water too, so what I do is use barrels instead of tanks. My stepdad gave us several fifty-gallon barrels (make sure that they've only been used for food-type stuff, nothing toxic, etc) and we cut them down to the right height for each group of horses that will be using it. The full-size horses have them full-height, and the minis have them cut to about the base of the neck. This way they can't get their foot in there. When I have to temporarily use buckets (like when our water system was being adjusted) I make sure to hang them up so no "foot play" is allowed. *grin*

If one already has a tank, it could be placed on cinder blocks or something similar to raise it high enough that the horses can't get their feet into it. It's time-consuming enough to keep water troughs clean as it is without horses washing their hooves in them!

Margo_C-T · Jul 17, 2010

One idea, I think, might be to do some research about the way stock tanks can be built, w/ a LARGE, high-sided main storage tank, but w/ some sort of auxiliary narrow 'trough', placed next to/partially 'around'the round)storage tank, that allows drinking from the narrow trough which is continuously refilled from the larger 'storage' tank. You might even be able to fabricate your own. Try contacting people in the cattle business, who run pastured cattle. I have seen many a stock tank like this--where there is a large 'storage' tank, partially 'encircled' by a narrow trough for drinking from. Most were filled by windmills, but I'm sure you could 'engineer' it so that you could fill the storage tank w/ a hose or a directly plumbed supply line.If nothing else, I'd bet a good welding shop could fabricate something, maybe on a smaller scale than a true livestock tank, but using the same principles, for horses--as long as you can provide them with some dimensions and a clear view of how you want it to work.

I had a 30" mini mare nearly get herself into my small oval galvanized tank(2'X 2'X 3')not long ago, by rearing and slinging herself while tied to stand in the mud hole at the tank's base(trying to soften her feet for easier trimming). Good thing I was still right there; was able to 'lift' her front half back out of the tank! So,I can completely relate to this problem; making the main tank too high-sided to get into, and the trough too small, seems like a possible solution. Just one idea....best of luck in finding a safe solution!

Margo

muffntuf · Jul 18, 2010

Maybe the barn folks should take a few minutes in mid-afternoon and just put a sprinkler up and spray the horses down. Sometimes the horses are looking for water so they can get wet and go roll to pack their skin with mud and dirt - keeps flies and biting insects from effecting them so much. I have ponies who love to just stand under the sprinkler I hold up to cool down, but then they go roll too eventually.

I wonder how big the tank is, it is reaches chest high on them? If it doesn't reach chest high - I would say its fair game to play in. I have a 100 gallon tank and a 50 gallon tank. They leave the 100 gallon tank alone, the 50 gallon, they play.