A DIY we have wanted for awhile.

[AmarachAcres]

So we were tired of the “thaw the hose” winter trudgery.

Husband and I decide to install some plumbing in the barn. Nothing insanely fancy but that would allow us to run water to each stall. Not auto waterers though.

We splurged on pex tube piping and made it a gravity system. Each tube is angled so that the low points all end at each stall’s hose. (We used shower hoses for the end part so they are flexible enough to go in the stall for watering but hang outside it when not in use.)

The piping ends outside where it quick connects to a frost free hydrant. It hangs down when not in use and is only connected while watering. Once watering is finished, it is unhooked and the whole system drains out into the water buckets and outside. Then we shut the valves off and pull the hoses out of the stalls again.

Lot’s of testing this weekend and it is working great so far.

Just wanted to share.

Oh, and we got clear tubing so we can see if there is any water sitting in it when not being used.

[ChocoMare]

Very clever!

I treated myself to a Bar-Bar-A Horse Drinker for the pasture.

[csaper58]

Would love to see pictures!

[Pippigirl]

[QUOTE=ChocoMare;8386415]
Very clever!

I treated myself to a Bar-Bar-A Horse Drinker for the pasture. :D[/QUOTE]

Would these work in really cold climates like Northern Ontario? That Bar-Bar-A Horse Drinker looks awesome!

[RTF]

Yes I have bar bar a waterers and I live in Michigan. They are lovely!

[ChocoMare]

[QUOTE=Pippigirl;8390561]
Would these work in really cold climates like Northern Ontario? That Bar-Bar-A Horse Drinker looks awesome![/QUOTE]

Yes, you’d order the super insulated version.

[Ambitious_Kate]

Yes, the key to not frozen hoses is draining them after use. In my trainer’s barn, she has her hose on a wheel. Every single evning, after watering, before putting the barn to bed at night, the hose is wound up on the wheel, which has a crank handle, so you wind the hose round and round on the weel. Once wound up, the end attached to the hydrant is unhooked and hung up high around head height. Then the wheel is continued to wind round and round, not too fast, but fast enough you can hear all the water moving out the end of the hose, and it will, until all water has stopped draining fom the wheel of hose. This way these isn’t any frozen hose in the morning. Ta da. Takes bout 6 to 11 minutes. Worth it.

[AmarachAcres]

[QUOTE=csaper58;8387462]
Would love to see pictures![/QUOTE]

Highest point of the gravity system. You can see in the back we weren’t done. That pipe will eventually head out side.

http://imgur.com/LVUyE5l

High point between two stalls. The stall on the left if the final spigot. When the water turns off we just drain the remaining water into the bucket.

http://imgur.com/NuZjEMl

Close up of a valve that isn’t attached to the final shower hose yet.

http://imgur.com/jNPT27n

We went with shower hoses because they are flexible enough to hang inside while being used but be pulled out of the stall when not in use. Read too many stories on here and other places of horses destroying or getting hurt on interior stall plumbing.

http://imgur.com/FLoUO95

Same hose hanging outside the stall:

http://imgur.com/c2MqZhE

Our OMG IT WORKS moment (as a note, yes I cleaned that bucket afterwards):

http://imgur.com/MDWxldu

No pictures of the outside, by time we were done it was too dark.

The piping goes outside, then down to where it converts to a short hose that then attaches via a high quality quick connect to our no frost hydrant. After each use the hose is unhooked so it can drain. All tubes on the inside are see through so we know the water drained out correctly.

So far no issues since we have had it up. As I clean each stall I fill the water and then move on to the next stall.

[csaper58]

What a genius idea, thanks for sharing the pics! Your barn is lovely.