Does anyone do this?

[2DogsFarm]

I need to vent, but not on that thread.
About this practice, in use by neighbors with Drafts. Pricy Show Hitch Drafts.

No water buckets in stalls.
Rarely turned out of the stalls - which they could lie down in, but barely.
There are small paddocks for turnout, no pasture (small acreage is kept as hayfield).
Horses can walk, no room for more in these turnouts. IF they were put out.
Horses are brought out to drink from a trough.
Maybe 3X daily?
Owners work, so nobody home during the day.
I am home & across the road.
If horses were out, I’d see them.
I’ve been told this is a common practice & I buy that… IF someone is onsite during the day.
We’re having a week+ of 80+F & drought conditions.
My 3 - horse, pony, mini - are drinking 20-30gal from my 50gal trough daily, plus anywhere from 1/3-1/2 the 5gal buckets in the stalls (they have free access to stalls).

Does anyone here keep their horses like this?
When I worked in barns I was taught, water first, feed hay, feed grain, recheck water.

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[cilla1]

I agree with you but I saw this habit in Spain, in some breeding farms where mares and foals drink twice a day when they are moved from the barn to pastures and back. There are these big water troughs outside the barn and horses drink there. When I asked I was told that wild horses have to walk a lot to find water and they drink once or twice a day but they graze just like spanish horses, I understand your neighbour’s ones are on hay only

[trubandloki]

I personally know more than one person who has a similar watering technique.

The horses quickly learn to drink their fill when offered, kind of like animals living in a range setting who have to travel for their water.

I would not do it, but it seems to work for these people.

[2DogsFarm]

No, they get grained as well.
Some commercial mix.

Sigh…
I try not to anthropomorphize, but I feel everything needs free choice water.

Guess I’m just a Speshul Snowflake …
Or my horses are

[candyappy]

I have known this to be a practice in the Winter where horses are brought out to drink 2x a day but no water in stalls our turnout . Winters were well below freezing in daytime and -0 at night in winter so the 2 heated water troughs were there for drinking as horses were brought in and out.

Not my preference but they learned to drink when it was offered and didn’t seem to suffer one bit. They had free choice water as long as temps were above freezing.

I have learned that I can’t do much about those who keep their animals differently than I would. It is hard to see but nothing I can do…

[sascha]

I have known people that have managed horses that way.

An interesting observation I’ve made of my own horse over the years is that in summer she barely drinks indoors overnight. It has to be very hot and humid for her to touch her indoor buckets apart from swirling her mouth out while eating*. She drinks absolutely fine indoors if confined on stall rest or for bad weather. Several of her stablemates are the same. Water indoors is the same as outdoors and in buckets (so no tingle voltage or anything like that to deter them) only cleaner LOL.

*this makes me crazy because I usually end up dumping full to the brim buckets as I’m not always the one to fill hers up. When I do the filling, she gets no more than 2/3 in each so I have less to dump the next day lol

[LCDR]

From my reading, calvary horses were watered several times a day, either by leading them to a nearby stream, or by leading them to a communal trough where each drank in turn and was then returned to stalls or pens. Water was either drunk at the source as with a pond or stream, or well water was hauled in buckets to a trough.

I also recall reading in a Monty Roberts book about ranch horses being led to a stream a couple of times daily for water. Modern plumbing and pumps have altered watering to what it typically is today.

Having just spent this weekend with my well out and having to pick up water two miles away and then haul buckets, I say thank goodness for running water! I think the horses increased their water intake over the weekend just to make me work harder.

[2DogsFarm]

One of my Worst Farm Nightmares
When power goes out it’s the 1st thing I worry about.
To date - 19yrs & counting - worst was a Winter outage. Lasted 11hrs.
I bought 12 gallons of bottled from Dollar Tree.
Still have 1

Okay, I’ll stop worrying about other folks’ horses.
But I won’t like it any better

[tabula_rashah]

It is common among the Amish but severely ticks me off
In Maryland, watering like that goes against the minimum standard of care and is reportable. Maybe something like that is in your state?

[B_and_B]

I know a lot of draft/working horse people that do it. I can see it with working horses (i.e. working 8 plus hours a day), because they do learn to drink when it is in front of them. And that is a useful skill to teach.
However, if the horses are not working that hard, and your neighbors don’t seem like they are, it almost certainly leads to issues. The horses aren’t thirsty enough to drink always, even if they are trained that Now is the time to drink.
Personally, I wouldn’t do it. But, at the same time, it is natural for horses to only drink once or twice a day, so it sort of works. However, if you have a ‘shy’ drinker who needs to take their time or horses that aren’t working all that hard (your neighbors and 90 percent of the horse populating in North America!)…you do end up with chronic, low level dehydration.

[Weezer]

I briefly boarded at a place that, during the winter, turned the horses out during the day without water and the horses only got water in their stalls overnight. My friend and I didn’t know this was the practice when we decided to board there. We took turns going out during the day to water our horses. The BO got mad at us for doing that, so we moved our horses out. But there were lots of horses there that seemed to be doing fine with it. I don’t know if they did the same thing during the summer because the BO’s reasoning was that the water buckets would freeze if the doors to the individual pens were left open all day. This also meant the horses were outside all day without shelter. Oh! And I just remembered that they had the same practice for the horses in training at the equine program I was in at an agricultural college. But there each horse got two buckets of water during the day when it wasn’t winter. Both the college and that boarding barn cared for horses as if they were livestock rather than pets. I think that distinction is significant when you are comparing approaches to horse care.

[B_and_B]

I’ll be honest, my horses often get this. Mostly be their choice and sometimes not…they are out 12 hours in the pasture and based on the cameras, they do not come back to the water trough/shed during that time. However, the other 12 hours they are locked into their stalls/dry lots with the water right in front of them for the entire time. They drink. They have plenty of time to drink in the ‘shy’ manner.
The OP is referring to the method of running them past the tank on the way into or out of tie stalls. They really have to have the confidence to stop and drink, right then, right now. Last year, I had to manage a horse that way, it was difficult. She had never learned that she really had one shot to get a drink. We made it through the summer, but I would rather not do it!

[Weezer]

This is a good point. When my mini is out on pasture, she might go all day without drinking. When she comes back to her pen, she’ll pound back lots of water. If I bring her back to the barn during the day she’ll also drink. I am always a bit nervous when she gulp water after grazing all day, but she’s never colicked as a result.

[Highflyer1]

It was the norm for stabled horses for many, many years. There’s not much reason for most of us to do it now and it isn’t the best choice health wise. But I’m sure most horses learn to manage that way if they have to.

[sascha]

@2DogsFarm

To date - 19yrs & counting - worst was a Winter outage. Lasted 11hrs.
I bought 12 gallons of bottled from Dollar Tree.

Save your water jugs and make friends with someone in town where power outages don’t affect water flow. At a previous farm, before they got a generator to run the well pump, I was the one who ran water out to the farm. Filling jugs in my mud room (I have a floor sink so easy peasy, but a bathtub also works) doesn’t take that long and they’re easy to transport. A baggie and an elastic band are all you need to keep them from spilling. Alternatively, 5 gallon buckets lined with garbage bags and tied with elastic bands also work well.

All that said, I’m glad the barn I currently board at has a generator. It makes life so much easier when the power goes out, especially in winter.

[LCDR]

BTW, I did have power this waterless weekend. I had no water because the control box for the well pump failed. So this morning I bought a replacement. I also bought a second control box as a spare for peace of mind. I already keep a spare well pressure switch (OK, I really have three), and I also have a whole farm backup generator.

And being just a tad OCD, I also have a gasoline backup generator just in case the propane fired big backup generator fails. And I am toying with the thought of having a second well drilled and cross connected to the first well.

[2DogsFarm]

I did not need to know this about my well mechanicals
I prefer to blame the Gods of Utility, not the Things That May Fail & Cost Me

[WildGooseChase]

Not only does this go blatantly against the 5 freedoms of animal welfare, it’s likely not legal in most states. No access to fresh water, is grounds to have your livestock removed here in Michigan. We have relatively lenient livestock husbandry laws too.

The past is the past. We have evolved to a point were this practice is not necessary anymore. Our horses shouldn’t have to compensate for an outdated, unnecessary practice.

Personally,
I’d be calling local animal control to see if anything can be done. I would also talk with your neighbors and explain that this practice is likely not legal, outdated and unnecessary. You’d be surprised what a calm, adult conversation can accomplish.

[clanter]

@2DogsFarm

One of my Worst Farm Nightmares
When power goes out it’s the 1st thing I worry about.

there is water stored in a water heater, just be sure to turn it off then drain it if an emergency water source is needed

[2DogsFarm]

I doubt AC here would find any reason for seizure, or even censure.
Horses are in decent shape & seem adapted to the practices: watering & (lack of) turnout.
I have talked to neighbors, both father & son.
They’re good neighbors & my hayguys, at least 3 generations of horsekeeping.
So The Way We’ve Always Done This is not going to be changed by my asking Why.

I came here with this as a vent.
And apparently, from replies posted, it’s not an outlier way of keeping livestock.
Not my way, never will be, but my questions/suggestions fall on deaf ears.