Horse playing in the water trough - HELP!

[EAlli]

I’m at my wits end with this one and need some advice. My TB discovered the joys of playing in the water trough last June, and managed to injure himself during one of his “swims”. It was a mild sprain (vet did an ultrasound), but it took until October to heal because as soon as he went off stall rest he hopped back in the trough which caused the injury to flare up again. The barn manager tried putting it up on cinder blocks, but he and his friends just knocked it over. Cold weather finally solved the problem and the leg healed completely.

Fast forward to this year. Its been 60’s-70’s the last week or so and horse came in on Saturday with the same leg swollen again and BM reported that they were once again playing in the trough. She also explained what he is doing to cause the injury. He climbs in, splashes around, and when he goes to get out, he purposely hooks the back of his hoof (of the injured leg) to the edge and tries to pull the trough over.

He’s the kind of horse that get bored easily, but doesn’t like to play with toys designed for horses. He likes to make his own, which usually leads to some kind of injury (He’s spent a good chunk of his life injured).

Things we have tried:

-Water trough on cinder blocks: Horse’s kept knocking it over.
-Moved fields (new field has a large puddle to play in): Horse prefers swimming in water trough and ignores the puddle.
-Toys in field: ignores the toys unless it’s in his best interest to spook at one.

We’re at a large-ish boarding facility, so anything that happens needs to have BM and BO approval. As of now he is back on stall rest with a vet appointment scheduled. PLEASE HELP!

[Simkie]

As I watched my ^$%&^#& mare stick her foot in the (&%^%%# trough today and bang around, I had the same question.

Few thoughts:

Can you devise a cover for the trough, so the horses in the field can get their head in but no feet? Think covering the top except for a portion that’s not much bigger than the top of a five gallon bucket

Or, can you put the trough OUTSIDE the field, where the horses can reach it through the fence, but can’t stick their feet in? Might require removing or rejiggering some of the boards on the fence.

Or, can the water TROUGH be nixed and one of those 55 gallon plastic food grade drums be used for water? They’re tall and skinny–unlikely that he can get his feet in there.

I’m sorry your horse is doing this! Thankfully mine hasn’t hurt herself (yet, sigh.)

[EAlli]

Thanks for the ideas Simkie. The trough halfway under the fence was brought up last year, but was nixed by BO. We have the galvanized wire mesh fencing, and it would have required cutting a hole in the fence. BO was worried that one of the horses would somehow get caught up or injured (most likely mine :sigh:).

I’m not sure what kind of cover he would respect enough not to break, please feel free to make suggestions. I’ll talk to BM and see what she thinks about the 55 gallon drum. Maybe there would be some way to bungee cord it to the fence so they can’t knock it over.

[bird4416]

My horse does the same thing. I gave up on bigger water troughs and put two 30 gallon troughs with low sides in the pasture so he has one to play in and one that’s still clean for drinking.

[DarkBayUnicorn]

Just did a quick Google consult and there are soft-sided water troughs available. I’ve also seen people use kiddie pools.

[NoSuchPerson]

Two things that have worked for me, because I also have one who loves to play in the water trough:

Build a stand that raises the water trough up to chest height (horse’s chest, not yours ). It’s easy to do. 4x4s for corner posts and 2x4s for a frame to set the trough in. I used this with a medium sized (150 gallon?) Rubbermaid water trough. Make sure you get one with a plug so you can drain it for cleaning because you won’t be able to tip the water out.

LIke bird4416 said, go to smaller water troughs. Tractor Supply sells round flexible rubber 40(?) gallon tubs. Put several of those out. My mule still plays in them, but all he can do is stomp and splash.

An added benefit of the smaller tubs is that they are so much easier to tip and clean than the big tubs.

[Larbear]

Why not try big plastic barrels? He could potentially tip them over when the get low enough but he won’t be able to climb in.

Ooops, just saw that the suggestion of the 55 gallon drums/barrels was suggested. This is what is used where I keep my horse and they work well.

[EAlli]

Thanks for all of the advice.

I’ll present these to The Powers That Be and hopefully we can get this solved.

[rockymouse]

What about taking out the trough and installing one of these horse waterers? You might have to pay for it…but it might be cheaper than repeated vet bills…

https://www.nelsonmfg.com/horse-waterers/700/

[Sancudo]

I had a swimmer, I’d turn him out and he’d take off a gallop to that thing and jump in, even breaking the ice in winter. Also injuring himself in the process. I gave up and just hung a line of water buckets on the fence.

[clint]

I had a TB mare long ago who loved her water trough. She was in it all the time in the summer, and sadly destroyed all the goldfish living in it by splashing so much water out. I have soft sided big rubber tubs, and I have never had a horse get hurt in them. Water wasting is an issue, but fortunately nothing worse. They are 240 gallons, I think. I bought them years ago, and they are almost indestructible.

[candyappy]

How many horses are using the trough? I have a 16 gallon heated tub that i use year round for my 2 horses. I do have to fill it morning and night and on very hot days I check it mid- day, but he couldn’t hurt himself on that. If you have several horses you could put several out.

[Saddlebag]

I had a mare who as a yearling, learned how to get into the communal water trough in her pasture, and then play and splash as if it was her own personal kiddie pool. Then, as an extra bonus, she would sit in it and defend her new “fort” with such a vengence, that no other horse in the pasture was able to get a drink. She’d sit there, splashing away…happy as a pig in mud, while all her pasture mates gasped and begged for water. If anyone came near, she morphed into instant T-Rex, and even the older horses lacked the temerity to take her on! So, that proclivity got her banished to a pasture with an automatic waterer. She never got overthe notion though, that “She who controls the water, has the power.” One day, many years later, when she was a mid-twenties retired show jumper, I would put her and a couple of buddies in a field adjacent to my arena, where the rubber water trough was in a nice shady spot. One hot (like California Central Valley hot) summer day, while I was teaching a lesson, there was a sudden splashing crashing tsunami type of explosion in the water trough, followed by the sighting of Wally, my sweet gentle Mastiff, soaking wet and running for his life, with ancient old mare in hot pursuit, and murder on her mind! Seems that Baby Doe didn’t take too kindly to sharing water rights with Wally, who had ducked under the fence to lap up a quick drink of water. Luckily, Wally the Mastiff, escaped with his life, and never again attempted to pilfer a drink from “The Queen of the Nile”…who took her water rights VERY seriously.

[jennywho]

Mine is raised up and right next to the fence. Then I took tie down straps and strapped it securely to the fence posts (think around the trough and fence posts). He still tips it over somehow about once a month, but it’s the best solution I have come up with.

[gumtree]

“There’s one in every crowd”

And we always have at least one in any given paddock. The tank has to be set high enough that it uncomfortable, not possible for the horse to get a leg in it. If the stand is not high enough they can and will pull it over. Cinder blocks require at least two rows if not 3 and the tub needs to be secured to a fence post. Either on the line or a dedicated one in the paddock/field.

Putting the tub half under the fence line is not a good idea with a dedicated swimmer. Run the risk of getting a leg trapped and or scrapped up.

Build a well made sturdy stand around 2 feet high for a tall 50-100 gallon Rubber Made tank. I use some old 75 gallon galvanized tanks that rusted out pretty quickly. Kept them around even though my wife kept asking to throw them out. Turned upside down and they make a perfect stand. One VERY determined swimmer has yet to pull it off.

But if the tank should get very low on water he and others do pull it off the stand with their necks. But then I know it needs filling without having to walk all the way to the back paddocks to check. Another time saver. .

[hlra11]

We had a broodmare that was a chronic swimmer. She was also a non sweater in her later years, so i tried to be ok with that excuse, but Christ that was a pain in the butt!!!

after many many auto waterers killed by putting her feet through it, we opted for a regular ol 100gallon tank set up on pallets that raised it to chest level and then strapped it to the fence. We had the pallets cut down so that she couldn’t climb up them. This worked for the most part, but she somehow still managed to sometimes get in there, although no one ever saw how. She would just be wet and the trough disgusting.

She passed away this last fall, so I thought I was clear to remove the water mountain… turns out she taught her ENTIRE pasture group how much fun that is :mad:… needless to say, the mountain is back.

[FatCatFarm]

Has anyone else noticed that this seems to be a TB or TBX proclivity. I swear, every TB I have ever had and now a TBX, were/are swimmers. WTF??? It. Drives. Me. Nuts! I have two low rubber tubs which my guy takes turns splashing in. He does it intermittently in cold weather and often in hot weather. While the low tubs are great in that he can’t hurt himself, in hot weather, he will splash all the water out of both troughs leaving himself and his pasturemates without, which is unacceptable. So I’ve bought a big trough and am going to raise it to chest height and strap it to the fence. As there are 4 minis in the pasture with him, I’m going to try tucking one of the low troughs beneath the raised trough where it sticks out just enough for the minis to drink but for him not to be able to swim. Well, that’s the plan at least. Wish me luck. I think I’m going to need it.

[invinoveritas]

@DarkBayUnicorn

Just did a quick Google consult and there are soft-sided water troughs available. I’ve also seen people use kiddie pools.

Buy a couple of these for your BO and ask her to put them out for your horse. At your expense. I had a mare who loved water and played in the water trough and in any puddle she could find. Fortunately she never injured herself and she was so cute when she was splashing around. Usually she used her head and neck in the water trough.