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

[HorsesinHaiti]

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

If these are the round, taller than their diameter tuff tanks, if unsecured they also tend to get tipped over by sloshing water leading to a busted tank and vehicle damage if said vehicle goes over an uneven patch in the road, even at low speeds. Ask me how I know…

[danacat]

Platform idea works. My carpenter basically build me a super sturdy coffee table height platform out of treated 6x6’s and 2x10’s. He made it slightly smaller than the dimension of the water tub so no edges could cause injury.

Horses no longer get their feet in the water-- but still slosh their heads in it! LOL

[SouthernYankee]

I think we may have found a solution to our problems… While the SO and I were talking over breakfast this weekend and thinking of ways to build a stand we remembered that we already had a tank on a stand…

http://tarterusa.com/tarter-products/galvanized-canning-tank-2x1-with-spigot/

We got that in a clearance sale from the local co-op, they had a bundle of Tarter things they were trying to get cleared out and this was included. We’ve never used it and had it sitting in a corner of the barn just forgotten. Well we put it up on Saturday and attached it to a post so it can’t be tipped over and it’s working.

My only concern is switching from a plastic tank to a metal tank and the taste of the water being an adjustment. Yes, I did fill the tank and drink out of it and I could taste the difference myself. So I put out a plastic tank too…

[SuckerForHorses]

I would never install a float when you know the horse has the potential to tip the tank over while playing in it.

That’s a good way to drain your spring or well when it tips over and the float just keeps on filling up a tank that is on it’s side…

[seabreeze]

Anyone else think, “Where’s JSwan when you need her?”

[Humblepie]

Cinderblocks have worked exceptionally well for us. We put 4 or 5 long side down and water trough on top. We have the big / deep rubbermaid troughs - it’s not too high for our large ponies to reach the bottom, but it is too high off the ground for them to get their legs into it.

[Duramax]

I have a mare that does this so I use a smaller water trough (50 gallons) and flip it over to use as a platform then put the 100 gallon on top. It’s high enough that she doesn’t try. Not sure how many horses are in that pasture with your problem child but you can also do the reverse- flip over the bigger trough and put the 50 gallon on top which would make it extra tall. It’s an obnoxious habit bc it can also be dangerous- caught legs and like you said, they can be without water for hours.

[BeckyS]

This reminds me of the cutest little Shetland pony I had as a kid. Charlie would stick his head into the water tank up to his eyeballs, then tip his head and slosh out as big of a wave as he could out of the tank.

That being said, I have a goof of a pony now who would probably play in the water if given the chance. He has a 55-gallon drum with the top cut off for a water tank, and really doesn’t have much opportunity to play so much with it. He can’t get in it, too narrow, but is still big enough to hold plenty of water.

It is a cheap enough idea that may be worth trying.

[SouthernYankee]

[QUOTE=SuckerForHorses;8723109]
I would never install a float when you know the horse has the potential to tip the tank over while playing in it.

That’s a good way to drain your spring or well when it tips over and the float just keeps on filling up a tank that is on it’s side…[/QUOTE]

Float is almost required for horses to have fresh water this time of the year. I work away from home and can’t refill the tank every few hours. If I use a big enough tank that I don’t need a float it gets hot and stagnant within 24 hours (even being in the shade), and the new horse can then play in it. Float is on a partially opened valve so it does not refill at full capacity. And I’m on city water, so other than having a high water bill last month I don’t have to worry about running a well dry.

The Tarter tank on a stand seems to be working, I’ve still got a trash can full of water available too and knock on wood he hasn’t tried to play in either.

The unfortunate thing is this means I can’t turn the horses out with the cattle once the calves get big enough. We have to use a shorter tank so the calves can drink out of the tank, and that 100% has to be on a float valve so the calves always have access to fresh water. Which means I can’t take advantage of rotational grazing quite as much as I had planned.