Do you foresee any issues with this? Hay and water placement

[SugarCubes]

My heated trough is right next to my barn, but I would like to put a round bale in my front pasture, which is probably a good quarter mile away. Horses have to travel through the woods to get to the pasture, it’s definitely a hike.

They do this all summer long with no problem to go down and graze, but I am a little worried about their water consumption in the cold weather. I have no way to keep water heated down in the pasture. Am I asking for trouble by having their hay that far away from their water?

[fourfillies]

I wouldn’t worry unless there is deep snow/ice that makes the 1/4 mile treacherous. Mine love their heated waterer and would certainly make that trek.

[trubandloki]

If they have been doing it this way all along, I would not worry about them having a problem about it in the winter.

Keep an eye on their manure, you will know if they are not getting enough water and if that happens you can figure something out.

[EssexFells]

Not a problem at all. My horses routinely graze 1/4mi away from the trough, year-round, and choose to come in to drink 3-4x a day. I would want to keep some small squares on hand so you can throw hay near the barn for times when the weather’s just awful.
I might answer differently if you get really heavy snows in the winter. I know they’ll plow their own path, but still, seems like that’d be making them work pretty hard for the essentials.

[SugarCubes]

Thanks, all! I do have slow feeders in the dry lot by the barn, but prefer to keep their hay in the pasture for a couple reasons… I do fill their slow feeders when the weather is bad and keep them locked in the dry lot, so in the event of snow or ice they will be up near the barn anyway! Sounds like this shouldn’t be an issue, which makes my life way easier! Thanks again!