New horse is playing in the water tank... how do I keep him out of it?!?!!

[SouthernYankee]

Apparently the new horse likes to take mid day baths. He paws at the water tank and splashes himself with the water…

While this is ‘cute,’ it’s wasting a lot of water, dirtying up what is left, or he is emptying it so there isn’t any water to drink. I’m on city water so this runs up my water bill… and in the summers I put a float valve (auto waterer) on a small tank so they always have fresh water. We were out of town this weekend, and sometime on Sunday morning he decided to play and a) knocked the float valve off the tank and flooded the pasture and b) emptied the tank and the horses were without water for who knows how long until we got home at 4:00. We have people that come and check on the horses twice a day but that doesn’t help if he does it right after they leave… We also work away from the home and are gone from about 7 am- 6pm so that is plenty of time for him to get into trouble and too long for the horses to go without water. I suspect the lack of water caused my $$$ gelding to mildly colic Sunday night, he’s fine now but neither of us enjoyed being up all night.

We have since replaced the small tank with a large 100+ gal tank I suspect that he is still playing in it as there is still a large puddle around the tank and the water is already nasty. I’m OCD about clean water… The tank is in a mostly shaded part of the paddock and it still gets nasty and stagnant in our summers, which is why I use a float valve on a smaller 30 gal tank.

What can I do to keep him out of it while still allowing the horses fresh water? I don’t want to put in a real automatic waterer the the moment (with the ball). And I’m afraid if I put the big tank up on cinder blocks it will be easier for him to tip over. The big tank is almost 3’ tall, but this guy is a 16.2+ hand 4 year old with a very active baby brain and long legs…

[Jello]

Id move the water tank right next to the fence and install a strand of electric. When he goes to splash in it, all it takes is the water hitting the electric wire once to make him not want to splash in there again.

[Ticker]

Put your water tank on a platform you build that is too high for him to get into.

Then, Give him a couple of cheap muck buckets filled with water to play in.

[moving_to_dc]

[QUOTE=Jello!;8714489]
Id move the water tank right next to the fence and install a strand of electric. When he goes to splash in it, all it takes is the water hitting the electric wire once to make him not want to splash in there again.[/QUOTE]

I actually would NEVER do this.

You do not want electric fence near enough to the tank that the horse touches the fence while drinking or standing near the tank.

Getting shocked near the tank is a darn good way to teach a horse NOT to drink out of the tank and have a wicked case of dehydration and/or impaction colic.

[SouthernYankee]

[QUOTE=Jello!;8714489]
Id move the water tank right next to the fence and install a strand of electric. When he goes to splash in it, all it takes is the water hitting the electric wire once to make him not want to splash in there again.[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=moving to dc;8714511]I actually would NEVER do this.

You do not want electric fence near enough to the tank that the horse touches the fence while drinking or standing near the tank.

Getting shocked near the tank is a darn good way to teach a horse NOT to drink out of the tank and have a wicked case of dehydration and/or impaction colic.[/QUOTE]

I’m in agreement with Moving to DC, I will not be putting it next to anything electric. It is against the barn now, and it will be staying there. On top of all the options DC mentioned above he could also hang a hoof/leg in the wire and cause significant damage to himself.

I also do not want to fill muck tubs with water for him to play in, that is only encouraging the behavior and it will wreak havoc on his feet. Alabama’s weather can turn any horses feet into crap and the fact that we are in a severe drought I don’t want to artificially moisten his hoof walls. Or give them something that is hard plastic that they can break into multiple hard pieces…

I like the platform idea but I’m not sure how to make a 3’ tall platform that is stable enough to handle horses bumping into it and still be safe if they run into it… maybe I can turn over the large tank and figure out how to secure the small tank on top of it…

[Ticker]

You could build a wood platform and put rubber on the edges. Also, I currenlt use a muck bucket for water, it holds up very well.
If you use it as a temporary measure to distract him from the elevated water tub, it can work to change his focus, cause right now he is focused on your current water tub. Decoy him away from the main water tub, then take it away or leave it empty for awhile. Bait and switch.

[keysfins]

Would it work to put the small tank inside the big tank?

[csaper58]

I used a large Rubbermade garbage can secured to the fence for a horse like this. If he is tall put the trash can up on a couple of cinder blocks

[digihorse]

Raise the tank so its at least 3’ off the ground with the float valve. But be prepared… that may not stop him either. You may need a plain 20 gallon bucket with a float valve hung high enough he can’t put his feet into it.

[mjhco]

Oh gee. A friend had a BIG TB that did this. Would climb into her big tanks. Tip them over, get all the water out.

BIG mess and thirsty horses.

She did install automatic waterers to resolve the issue.

If you cannot install a ‘real’ auto waterer, there are small ‘temp’ ones that you hook a hose to. The float is covered. https://www.valleyvet.com/ct_detail.html?pgguid=8880817a-2fcf-4ff7-8fbd-aba02e7f8464

Now if I could figure out how to keep one of mine from dunking hay in EVERY available water source…

[PaperPony]

I have multiple horses with this issue. Usually its the flies/heat/boredom that gets them splashing. They will not stop once they figure out how fun it is to play in the water.

Here are a few things that have worked or at least helped.

1. Using tall barrels for water (big food grade plastic 3+ feet high). The narrower top seems to dissuade them from splashing in it and definitely no pawing.

2. A-frame Saw horses (must be heavy) that are big enough to straddle the tank. I use a couple of these with a space definitely big enough for them to stick their head in and drink, but no fun to play in and gives a little buffer zone around the tank.

3. Multiple low tanks. The lowness makes the splashing less fun and it can’t get on their necks/chest. Having more than one usually means they will have at least one that goes un-bothered. If they do splash water out at least it’s only 30 gal or so.

Good luck! This is a battle!

[SouthernYankee]

[QUOTE=mjhco;8714562]
She did install automatic waterers to resolve the issue.

If you cannot install a ‘real’ auto waterer, there are small ‘temp’ ones that you hook a hose to. The float is covered. https://www.valleyvet.com/ct_detail.html?pgguid=8880817a-2fcf-4ff7-8fbd-aba02e7f8464[/QUOTE]

I had forgotten about those waterers! I’ll try to pick one of them up and give that a try. I was thinking about hanging a flat back water bucket but was worried that they may knock it off or it may not refill fast enough for when the herd comes up from grazing to drink.

The trash can on cinder blocks may work too, there is a big post that we could easily secure it to…

I’m not against a real auto waterer but we are focusing on buying hay for 5 horses and 6 cow/calve pairs for the winter… and are having to feed hay now… so a fancy waterer is on the want but not need list.

[Chestnut_Run]

I built a wooden cover, with a big enough opening to put their heads in, to go over my big tank. If you are at all handy, you could build one to fit any size tank. I’m fanatical about clean water always available, but have 1 really persistant mare that was ALWAYS in the tank. I built the cover originally to help keep the stock tank heater from having to work so hard in the winter, but realized the mare wasn’t getting into the tank anymore either, so now it stays on year round. I put them in a different pasture this spring to eat down the grass before summer and flies got here, and just drug the smaller tank over since they would only be there a few days, so no top to it. What a mistake. I was cleaning and refilling the tank 3-5 times a DAY from her standing in it. Back to the regular pasture and the covered tank, no more standing in it.

I can take a picture if you want to see it. It’s more than 3 years old and looking a little chewed around the edges, but still going strong.

[dog_amp_horsemom]

I had a horse that did this and she drove me crazy! I put it on a platform that was too high for her to get her leg in but not too high to drink. Horse learn from repetition so its important to ‘nip it in the bud’ or they get better and better at it.
My mare quit doing it once I made it difficult for her and it broke the habitual behavior.

[Boo]

Any chance you could post a picture. Ill admit im a tad confused. A tank here is generally several thousands of litres and enclosed so im have a hard time pictuing what you mean. We would have smaller troughs attached to tanks etc for the actual water acess.

On another note i also have a playful pony here who likes to play with the auto water trough fittings. Thankfully weve been home everytime hes broken it so heard the water pump not turn off. At the moment we just have a submersed auto valve on a 1/2 blue drum as the trough but will be swapping this for summer to framed bath tubs and the auto water will sit in the middle under the electric fence line with half the tub in each paddock. Common practice here and ive never heard of or seen any problems with it being done like this.

[moving_to_dc]

[QUOTE=Boo;8720144]
Any chance you could post a picture. Ill admit im a tad confused. A tank here is generally several thousands of litres and enclosed so im have a hard time pictuing what you mean. We would have smaller troughs attached to tanks etc for the actual water acess.[/QUOTE]

I am guessing you are not in the US? A water “tank” here is probably what you refer to as a trough. Open container that holds water for livestock (but a tank can also be an enclosed storage/transport container!). Some people call them troughs, too, but few ever spell it correctly!

Tank = trough

Oh, and a safety PSA for those of you that carry BIG water tanks (~450 gal) in the back of your trucks… Either strap the sucker down GOOD or just don’t drive in traffic. About 16 yrs ago, DH had one in the back of his truck to carry water to cattle/horses that were in pastures with no water - he WANTED it in his commuter dually, he thought it looked cool and made him stick out in the city as a “real” farmer. Sure. I kept telling him it was a bad, bad idea and was going to end badly - he would drive to work, thru traffic, with it full and sloshing around. He refused to strap it down, too. Absolutely refused - “no way it can go anywhere, it weighs too much!”. He also drives like a bat outta hell and tailgates. So…

About 2 months into this foray, I get a call from him. On the side of the busiest avenue thru town. Seems he had to decelerate a bit too quickly from his normal warp speed of 70+ mph. Only problem was the tank DIDN’T stop. Nope. It kept going. Straight thru the headache rack, thru the back wall of the quad cab, and pushed into the back seat of the truck.

Tank didn’t have a mark or dent on it. It got moved to a hay trailer after that, and has a speed limit of 20 mph now.

[cloudyandcallie]

I had a wonderful mare for years who would splash in water tanks. I gave her a separate water tank, a rubber one, to use so she did not get into trouble at the boarding barns we stayed at. She would lie down in ponds and rain puddles and put her head and ears under water.

[ReSomething]

[QUOTE=moving to dc;8720274]
. . .

Oh, and a safety PSA for those of you that carry BIG water tanks (~450 gal) in the back of your trucks… Either strap the sucker down GOOD or just don’t drive in traffic. About 16 yrs ago, DH had one in the back of his truck to carry water to cattle/horses that were in pastures with no water - he WANTED it in his commuter dually, he thought it looked cool and made him stick out in the city as a “real” farmer. Sure. I kept telling him it was a bad, bad idea and was going to end badly - he would drive to work, thru traffic, with it full and sloshing around. He refused to strap it down, too. Absolutely refused - “no way it can go anywhere, it weighs too much!”. He also drives like a bat outta hell and tailgates. So…

About 2 months into this foray, I get a call from him. On the side of the busiest avenue thru town. Seems he had to decelerate a bit too quickly from his normal warp speed of 70+ mph. Only problem was the tank DIDN’T stop. Nope. It kept going. Straight thru the headache rack, thru the back wall of the quad cab, and pushed into the back seat of the truck.

Tank didn’t have a mark or dent on it. It got moved to a hay trailer after that, and has a speed limit of 20 mph now.[/QUOTE] DH did that with a pallet of feed. He was only going down the back roads to home so he didn’t cut the shrink wrap off and drop down the top 20 bags, only he met the crazy neighbor lady trying to outrun her dog. He ended up off the road stopped with the feed nestled up against the back windows and them bowed in, and the bed shoved against the cab and she swerved back into her lane and kept right . . on . . going. The dog stopped and stood there. Followed DH home.

On the subject of tanks, Chestnut Runs idea sounds good, it’ll keep down the algae from sunlight too.

[Real_Rush]

I have a 16.3 hand mare that doesn’t sweat, so routinely plays in the troughs. When I first got her, my very smart, impressionable gelding was only a long yearling and thought that her splashing was the coolest game ever and joined in. sigh I stopped them from getting legs in there by raising the trough (100 gallon Rubbermaid one) up on 2 levels of cinder blocks. They both still splash around with their heads, but at least other body parts are kept out. I bought 6 cinder blocks from Home Depot (made 3 stacks of 2), they only run about $1.50 each, so for ~ $10 my problem was solved.

[shakeytails]

We elevate our 100 gallon tanks about 16-18". DH builds a platform out of whatever scrap lumber we have kicking around- they last a few years before needing to be replaced. I have noticed that where we use 55 gal plastic barrels for water, the bad horses don’t splash much in them. I get them for around $10 each and cut about a foot off the top with a circular saw. The cut off piece can also be used for a redneck outside feeder or I’ve thought about using them as planters for growing a few veggies. I actually have a few extra of these barrels for winter water- if the big tanks freeze too solid, I can grab a spare for water until I have time to deal with the ice.