Yes, I have one . Pulls hay out of haynet, crosses stall to water buckets and dunks. Messy stall and MESSY water buckets!! Any suggestions- someone told me to put a clean muck bucket of water next to haynets but I envision a flood.
I use to have a muck bucket full of water for my hay dunker. He never flooded. I did scrub the bucket everyday.
You could do two smaller hanging buckets (like people use for shows) it at least keeps it more contained.
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Dunking is generally seen as an asset.
Dunkers are at least getting enough water in them, if also all over everything else.
I also would hang net by water, or water by net for dunking and another water bucket on the other side that hopefully will stay clean?
How old is the horse?
We had one oldster with few teeth left that dunked everything.
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Let him dunk! It’s much better and healthier than dry hay. 
When I had a committed hay dunker, my supportive barn had me buy one of these giant rubber tubs for my horse. He was in the stall overnight. The hay and the water buckets (two) were on the wall where he could mix them, the tub just below them. The tub captured his carefully soaked scatter of hay.
https://www.agrisupply.com/oval-tank/p/39391/
He got a water bucket for hay dunking, and another one on the other side of the stall for staying clean and drinking.
He was the most culinary of any hay dunker I’ve ever known. He would create three piles of hay: the “hay soup” in his bucket, then on the ground he’d have the wet “hay pasta” pile and the merely damp “hay al dente” pile. After the hay was all sorted he would munch contentedly while looking out the window, like eating dinner in front of the tv. :winkgrin:
Another tactic is to feed the hay outside on the ground, alongside a larger, stable water tub, so he can dunk as he wishes. Without the stall bedding mixed in he will probably eat it all and not leave a mess. That was the case when my hay-dunker wasn’t at home with his rubber tub. If your horse has a stall with a run, you can use the run for his hay & dunk-water.
If you keep the drinking water separate it’s not terribly hard to figure out how much water makes him happy for hay dunking. The dunking water bucket shouldn’t be full of water. Just put enough in for him to wet his hay.
Hats off to your horse for crossing the stall to dunk his hay. 
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If you soak his hay well before you feed it, does he still dunk? If so, get him a water bucket for dunking, and perhaps a muck tub to catch the falling bits under his hay bag and be thankful he’s risk of impaction colic is lowered.
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I heard dunking could equal ulcers but I never saw a study or any facts that backed that up. Just one girl saying her horse did it and then after ulcer treatment he stopped completely.
Never really jumped on that train. Many of the TB mares I worked with did it and always seemed happy. I just think they liked the taste of alfalfa water. My mare did it a bit until I started soaking her hay. I have heard it helps reduce colic and I find it mildly precious😅
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Dedicated bucket for dunking, right by the hay. Keeps the mess confined to that area/bucket, generally, which leaves another clear bucket for drinking.
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Definitely put buckets and hay source close to each other so there is no dragging the hay across the stall and dribbling water on the way back. I find less mess if you can avoid using a net as well.
Thanks for ideas. I will try a water bucket next to his 2 hay nets first and hope that he gets the message. (That will make 3 in his stall ;)) Young horse with a big eat and drink appetite!
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I have one of these, too. I find it hilarious how meticulous he is about separating his different “dishes”…!!
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I had one.
When he got going it sounded like he had a topload washer in there :rolleyes:
In Summer I had to dump his water every couple days or it fermented & reeked.
Winter the hay would freeze into a “wreath” around the top of his bucket.
I feed hay on the ground in stalls, so just put his pile of hay near the bucket.
I just let him be & cleaned as needed.
@OverandOnward :lol:
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Dunking is good for the horses and I’ve figured out why they each do it now with our imported hay. The hay can be coated
with dust, soil, and is rinsed off when they dunk. Sometimes there’s a layer of mud in the bottom of their large muck bucket
size water troughs in their stalls. I’m glad they’re not consuming that. And ONE dunker WILL teach the others to dunk.
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The dunking of the hay can take the pain out of ulcers, as you said they stop doing it when the ulcers are treated
Just out of curiosity, what does he get for feed? Do you feed a soaked feed?
My guy used to be a dunker (didn’t get soaked feed) but after awhile I changed him over to soaked feed (included beet pulp and soaked hay cubes). Awhile later I noticed that he wasn’t dunking his hay anymore. He no longer does it. Another boarder where I keep my horse has noticed the same thing with her guy. He used to dunk his hay and make a mess. After a choke episode she started doing soaked feeds and noticed one day that her horse no longer was dunking his hay too.
My hay dunker has been confirmed ulcer free (twice). I have 2 buckets, side by side. He uses one for dunking, one for drinking. He is meticulous. However, if he used both, I would just put one over by the hay and I think it would solve that issue.
I love that he does it. He works hard and even though he’s a good drinker, I worry about dehydration.
Keep us posted!
Mine has dunked all his life. He also eats soaked meals. I’ve never been worried about it. He gets a lot of the dust and such out of the hay. I have wondered if he would still do it if he was fed steamed hay, but steaming isn’t an option for me right now, so it will stay a mystery.
Mine just recently got another water bucket added to his stall because he has been drinking even more water since it started getting cold (good boy!). He has now turned the bucket closest to his hay into his “dunking” bucket, and drinks out of the other one. He also uses the clean one to wet his lips before he licks his salt blocks. Its so funny to see their little routines.
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I rode a horse who loved to dunk his hay. He had two hanging water buckets by his feeder for his dunking pleasure. It made cleaning a lot easier. Just unhooked the water buckets dump out gross green water and spray out the inside. Hang back up. I thought it was adorable how happy it made him lol
Other than being messy, I kind of appreciate it in my mare. It reduces her colic chances and helps her dust allergy! I’m sure I wouldn’t be so kind towards it if I had to deal with her mess every day though. I do warn potential BM’s about it whenever I have had to move barns, and I emphasize that as long as she’s got some clean water somewhere in her paddock, I don’t care if the dunk bucket is messy for days at a time. I would feel bad for someone having to wash it out every day! She will drag hay all the way across her paddock though, if her dunk bucket is empty and she has to hike to reach the next closest thing :lol:
Annoyingly, she just broke her __th bucket yesterday, darn it. Thus far we’ve just had 2 regular buckets on the floor of the shelter beside her haynet, but she’s notorious for knocking them over when they get low and clearly this one couldn’t take the abuse of being trampled any longer.
We’re going to try one of those big muck bucket types as it should be far more difficult for her to damage or knock around. Failing that, I’ll be attempting to secure her water buckets to the wall!
What if you built a little wooden framed box to put the muck tub in and attach that to the wall it would be easily removable in the two screw holes or maybe three or four to hold the base and place would not be a big deal to remove and fill in if you ever switch Barns or stalls?
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