We’re biting the bullet and going to be digging trenches and laying pipes to put automatic /non freezing waterers in all of our pastures /paddocks …these will be for mainly horses , ponies & mini’s as well as for our cows, and pot belly pigs& goats
Has anyone used this company ? Or have ones that you recommend or say not to use ?!?
These were installed at my barn last year. They worked well all winter. One froze once when it got covered by snow blowered snow. Some hot water in the top thawed it. We’ve got sub freezing, snow covered for 4-5 months winters here.
Some horses needed more training than others to use it. My older horse figured out that people would push the paddle for him if he stood at the post, and had the other horses filling it for him too! I had to clicker train him to push the paddle for himself.
We had one installed a year ago. Best money ever spent. The company has great customer service and videos to help with installation/maintenance. Our waterer is outside and in freezing temps the paddle can get stuck but one push on the paddle and its fine.
I was concerned since I have a cribber that he might damage it but it has held up with only some scrape marks from his teeth (I sometimes need to smear a little hydrophane on the outer post to discourage him). The other horse is a hay dunker and he would go out to the waterer with a mouthful of hay to dunk his hay. It became a mess so I provide him a bucket of water for dunking. He will go outside to the waterer for a drink.
In the beginning we used the riser attachment for one horse that had never used a waterer. It didn’t take him long at all to figure it out and we were able to remove it and use the regular paddle.
We put in a Bar-Bar-A last year and have been very happy with it. We went with that waterer because it didn’t require electricity at the site and had good feedback on CoTH.
No issues over the winter (New England) and the horses figured it out quickly.
Our BO installed 7 heated Nelsons about 20 years ago. They are accessible from all of the turnouts and paddocks. There were around 45-55 horses on the farm. About half were on pasture, primarily school horses and some boarders, which included my Paint gelding. They ran off their own well and she installed a generator hookup so water for the horses was never an issue. No hoses to haul around, no ice to pound in 100 gallon tubs. When the kids used to grump how much work doing chores is, I would threaten to turn off the waterers and steal the Gator and they could do it all the old way.
Nelsons are tough and reliable. I used to check the one in our field daily during the cold weather They never froze. From time to time the float for a bowl would need to be adjusted. We had one problem with stray current affecting one. DH kept parts on hand so if a unit needed work he would replace parts including the heater while he had it apart.
The horses figured it out. If the bowl wasn’t filling they would bang it with their nose to attract attenti\on. If they didn’t get a response several would gather around and they would kick the side of the unit. It is tough SS and showed no signs of problems.
We retired to another barn that had indoor units in the stalls. We were there for 2 winters and their were no problems with freezing.
Nelson’s customer service is excellent. We are in southern Maine.
Another BIG vote for the www.horsedrinker.com - No electricity, easy to install, horses learn quickly and it’s about 99% maintenance free.
Mine is going on year 8 without a single hitch.
No dumping or scrubbing. No critters committing suicide by drowning. No freezing! So worth every penny for the piece of mind.
Are pot belly pigs not hard on things like regular pigs??
We did have a period of time where our Mule Foot pigs could get to the waterer and oh my what a mess they made…
Surprisingly, no… The potbelly pigs are very neat and extremely smart!
They look very narrow. Will a horse wearing a grazing muzzle be able to drink out of this?
Just something to think about.
What I don’t like about those waterers is what is that made of? Aside from being skinny and small, it looks like something that over time will degrade. The sun and elements will make the material prone to chip and break and you know horses. No way.
We installed Nelson’s in 2020 and I installed the large bowls to accomodate muzzles. We did the install that meant dropping 8 foot concrete pipes in the ground to get natural geothermal help to prevent freezing.
Nelson’s are durable - if a horse or tractor (right?) hit them - things happen - they aren’t going anywhere or break. You can set them up between fences (I did that) and last year during a weather event with a wind chill at -30 degrees they worked great. In fact, because of the warming element the water is luke warm meaning they drink more.
It’s a big job putting in waterers but the best thing ever. Do it right the first time. Do Nelson’s. Stainless steel - concrete pipes.
I have heard of instances of horses getting shocked from drinking with water sources that have electricity?
I have too. Let’s have others jump in on that. Here’s a thread about it:’
For sure, key is a correct installation. You need an engineering mind doing it. My husband is that kind of person and made sure every single component and piece was done exactly as they instructed.
We put in 2 Bar-Bar A waterers two years ago and did another 2 last year. They are my absolutely most favorite things we’ve added to the barn EVER!!! As in why did I not do it 20 years ago!!
Seriously…well worth the installation, which actually wasn’t that hard if you pay someone with a backhoe to come in and did the main hole. We are in NJ, so we do get cold enough (last few nights have been in the teens). They have worked great. The horses love them…even if they are in the stall and have fresh water, they will sometimes wait until they are back out and go straight to using the waterers. Only my one gelding took a bit of teaching for him to figure out to use it (which was odd, as he is the one always into everything and he was a bit slow on the uptake with this…my mare went out and instantly figured out what to do).
The only thing I have to watch is if there is a power outage…since that means the pump stops running and then there is no water going to the fields. But I love they don’t need electric at the waterer to run.
my barn installed a DP Waterer a couple years ago in one of the paddocks, and while the horses did learn to use it, the mini donkeys refused to. They would stand at the post and bray until someone came to push the paddle down for them. one mare wore a grazing muzzle and she couldn’t use it. Since this group lived outside, a trough was eventually put into the paddock so everyone had a reliable water source. There were problems with the post leaking, and at one point stopped working entirely. With the addition of the trough, the horses just eventually stopped using the post all together.
A couple paddocks have something similar to the 2 Bar-Bar waterer, andwhile it takes some horses a little longer to figure out the paddle, they all get a hang of it eventually.
LOL… my donkey, Fanny, refused to “learn” how to use the Bar-Bar-A. In the beginning, I did a wee tub for her, since my Drinker was a little high for her. But within days, my husband built up the dirt berm around it, giving her the height she needed, so I let the tub run dry.
She’d stare at that wee tub and donkey whine, kick at it and donkey whine. All of which worked to convince my tenant that she was DYING of thirst and HAD TO HAVE her wee tub filled …again.
I told the tenant: “Don’t believe her. She’s know how to use it but is lazy and has you wrapped around her wee hoof.” Tenant didn’t believe me until! Tenant went on vacation for a week. So no one to donkey whine at… no one to bend to her pitiful harumphs… no one to jump into action at her kicks to said tub.
So I watched her from inside my den. There she stood, looking around. Checks the tub and looks around. Walks to the Bar-Bar-A and looks around, just in case anyone is looking and -SHAZAM- she stuck her donk nose in and took a drink. Stinker!!! LOL
Omg how funny 
When the BO first installed the Nelson’s we followed their suggestions for the transition from the 100 gal tub to the fancy bowl with automatic fill. My guy was the last to make the move. It became a challenge when the tub was empty. It’s not that he was dumb, he just hated the moving water. I started going out with thinly sliced apples which I dropped in the bowl. It worked. Once they all made the transition we didn’t see any problems with new horses using them.
We had to shut theirs down due to stray current. Every single one of them would check the dead Nelson, bob the bowl around, kick it and stand there waiting for water. Eventually they would move reluctantly to the tub. Very reluctantly. Once the stray current problem was resolved the Nelson came back online and the tub was irrelevant. They would stand in line for the Nelson.
You can learn more about behavior and herd dynamics standing in the den with ChocoMare. That little donkey checked carefully for spies. They are so creative!
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