Horses stopped drinking

[OzarksRider]

Does anyone have any thoughts on why horses would suddenly refuse to drink water that they have been drinking for years?

This morning I saw both of my horses go to their water tub, sniff, and walk away. They did this several times, and they were obviously thirsty. They’ve been drinking out of the same tub for years. They drank copious amounts of water from it just yesterday. I scrubbed the tub 3-4 days ago, and it was not noticeably dirty. There was nothing dead floating in the water,and I had just filled the tub the previous evening. I filled another tub with water from the same faucet and they drank it down immediately, so obviously something was wrong with either the old tub or the water that was in it. What could have fouled the water? Could some animal have peed in it? Could it be some algae growth just starting? Any thoughts?

[B_and_B]

Is it near anything electrical? Often horses will be able to feel ‘stray’ voltage very easily. More common in the winter with heaters, but if there is a fence or power line nearby, it could be arcing over.

[OzarksRider]

No, nothing electrical within 300 feet. It was just so weird–tub was clean, water looked clear, and they drank it just yesterday. The tub is in a shady area, which should help retard algae growth, but I can’t think of anything else that would make both horses refuse to drink.

[Critter]

Did you use any bleach or cleaner (or was any left on the scrub brush) when you cleaned it out? My one gelding has a strong aversion to any bleach residue and won’t drink if the bucket wasn’t rinsed 500 times! We typically bleach and scrub water buckets…if you don’t rinse his multiple times at every angle, he will not touch that bucket of water.

[candyappy]

I never scrub my trough with anything. I let them drink it down, scrub it with my hands, rinse and fill it up again.

It is very possible something got into and then out of the trough overnight. Not something you can see evidence of but obviously something fouled the water. We are in drought mode now and everything is looking for water. I keep an eagle eye on how much my water level drops .

Dump , re-clean and refill and hopefully that takes care of it.

[OzarksRider]

No, I’ve never used bleach or any kind of soap to clean the water tub–just a soapless scouring pad and elbow grease. I wish I had a keener sense of smell so I would know what the horses were smelling. I bet my dog could tell me.

[OzarksRider]

@candyappy

It is very possible something got into and then out of the trough overnight

@Candyappy you could be right. Maybe a raccoon decided to take a bath. I know deer drink out of the horses’ water trough, but that’s never caused a problem. A squirrel once drowned in it, and even that didn’t cause the horses to quit drinking.

We’re having a truly ghastly summer. No rain in 5 weeks, hot as hell, and no end in sight.

[B_and_B]

It sounds then like something got in and took a bath and got out…Definitely weird! With serious drought, chances are you will have desperate animals hanging about that don’t usually. (as a side, I would recommend a rope or board to help keep animals from drowning because they will try to drink even when they know it is dangerous) I hate it when horses turn their noses up at water, all of my alarm bells go off!

[clanter]

@B_and_B

It sounds then like something got in and took a bath and got out…

we coyotes that do that in the upper pasture water trough

I have used 30% vinegar to clean the troughs, rises out easily

[endlessclimb]

My horses LOVE bleach. I catch them licking the scrub brush to try and get the bleach off. It’s strange to hear of any horse that doesn’t like bleach!

[sascha]

Good to know mine isn’t the only weirdo that has a thing for bleach.

[OzarksRider]

So yesterday I dumped all the water out of the suspect tub, scrubbed and rinsed it, put it in the sun to dry, and left it overnight. This morning I filled it with water so I know nothing got into it overnight, and the horses STILL won’t drink out of it. I then put water in the spare tub and they sucked it right down. Why the sudden aversion to that particular tub?? What could possibly be wrong with it?? I know horses can be weird but this beats everything.

[sascha]

Did you scrub the outside of it too? I’m thinking maybe something ‘marked’ the outside of it.

And at this point, I’d be tempted to do the whole thing, inside, outside, and bottom with dish soap, bleach and hot water, then rinse like crazy and leave it to totally dry in the sun for a day or two before trying again.

When you do try again, put it in the location of the spare tub. If they drink - great. Try moving it to the old location to see what happens. If they don’t drink - maybe consider selling the tub.

[OzarksRider]

@sascha

And at this point, I’d be tempted to do the whole thing, inside, outside, and bottom with dish soap, bleach and hot water, then rinse like crazy and leave it to totally dry in the sun for a day or two before trying again.

Yep, I agree. I scrubbed with bleach, rinsed, and left out to dry for a couple of days. Then I’ll soap it, rinse, and dry again, and then see if they’ll drink from it.

I think I’ve ruled out tainted water and location. The substitute tub is in the same location as the “bad” tub, and they drink from it no problem. And they still drink from the buckets in their stalls.

This is surely the most bizarre thing I’ve ever seen with my horses. And like @B_and_B said, all my alarms bells go off when horses won’t drink, especially when it’s over 100 degrees day after day after day with no rain for going on six weeks now.

[OzarksRider]

@B_and_B

(as a side, I would recommend a rope or board to help keep animals from drowning because they will try to drink even when they know it is dangerous

I put out a shallow dish with water for the rabbits and squirrels and other small critters so they don’t have to try to drink from the stock tank. I thought about a rope or board, but one of horses would never leave it alone–he chews everything (except, of course, the jolly ball I bought so he would have something to chew!)

[SolarFlare]

This happened at the barn where I board my horse, in his paddock. We still haven’t figured out why they stopped drinking out of that particular trough. No sign of stray voltage, clean trough, same water as usual - but they just wouldn’t drink. The barn had to put out a different trough because some of the horses in that paddock lived out and they were worried they weren’t getting any water. The ones that came in at night would wait until they were in and then suck back at least a full bucket of water (same water source as the outdoor trough).

[Paint_Party]

Is this tub made of exactly the same material as the one they will drink from? If not, maybe the intense heat has somehow altered the flavor of any water in that particular tub.

Is it the same color? Horses are very good at identifying That Which They Do Not Like. Once they’ve determined “no bueno”, it may be hard to convince them to drink from it again.

Otherwise, I agree with what’s been suggested. Some critter has marked it, either inside or outside, and while you can’t smell it, they can. I’d just get rid of the tub instead of worrying about it. Drill some holes in the bottom and turn it into a garden planter!

[clanter]

@OzarksRider

I know horses can be weird but this beats everything.

ours will just take an aversion to a specific colored water bucket, that Blue bucket must be poisoned now when before it was the best of colors, Red is now the chosen color

[Paint_Party]

Mine love the yellow bucket. Because yellow is the color of the bucket which brings carrots.

And the big ugly dish that holds the water for the barn dogs. While they have plenty of access to fresh water, they cannot resist a slurp of the lukewarm dog water. Laced with dog spit. I do not get the appeal, but apparently it tastes divine.

[WildGooseChase]

I had this issue. They would be okay for a few days and then all the sudden they wouldn’t drink. I found out the farm owners ducks were drinking and bathing in it.

I would buy a spare to have on hand, but thoroughly clean the inside and outside, use dish soap on the outside to remove any oils, residue or smells, rinse really well and let it dry completely in the sun. Once fully dry, rinse again to ensure no soap is left over, and let dry in direct sunlight again.

You can also try raising it up with blocks in case there is a smell in the dirt/ground near the trough, or move its location completely.

I would also strongly recommend having your water tested. Ground water is greatly affected by heavy rainfall, waste disposal, mineral/raw material quarries etc. Even the pH can change. If you have line supplied water, (aka city water) I would call the municipality that supplies your water and ask if there was a main break or other maintenance done within the last 48 hours, as that will change the quality of the water getting to you, even without service interruption.