Mine have water 24/7 plus as it gets colder I provide sweet water to encourage them to drink twice daily. They will down a 5 gal bucket making me very happy! Of course our troughs rarely freeze here in GA but feeding coastal hay and not drinking water is a recipe for disaster. BTDT
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It’s not ideal but for healthy horses is not a death sentence, either.
All of my fields but three at the present time have natural water from flowing creeks. We don’t get cold enough for the creeks to freeze (at least not in the almost 30 years I’ve lived here) but I have been told on COUNTLESS occasions that watering from natural sources will weigh down the horses with parasites and they’re all going to die!!! Not a one has…yet.
If this is a “deal breaker” it’s because of human anxiety, not equine need.
G.
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My horse drinks a lot all day long. This situation would not work for him. But if the place has some grass and snow, I could see it not being the end of the world for some horses. Here, a lot of people take the time and expense to install heated automatic waterers to avoid this issue, although of course those can break and may not be easily fixed in the middle of winter. And we don’t even get extended deep freezes here like in the upper Midwest or Canada.
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Horse keeping 101: Horses must always have access to clean, fresh drinking water.
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2-3 hours maybe, but 8 hours no way- absolute deal breaker for me.
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I used to help the BO with chores years ago, and have pounded a lot of ice and dragged hoses out of the cellar to various locations to fill tubs. It makes a long winter feel even longer. But she absolutely will not turn stalled horses out without access to water. The smartest thing she did was to put heated Nelsons in about 10 years ago in all the turnouts. They are great, reliable, and haven’t frozen even in prolonged below zero weather. She also has salt blocks out for her horses and the pasture boarders who are all out 24/7. If you have the resources and can work the logistics out, I think that waterers, especially heated for those of us in the frozen north, are well worth it. Impaction colic apparently is more of a problem in winter. I want my horse somewhere that the BO takes steps to cut down the likelihood, which includes access to water when he wants it.
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My old mare coliced one year at a boarding barn because of the lack of water. It was a good lesson learned for me - until then I hadn’t really given it much thought. Knew it wasn’t ideal, but whaddyagonnado? So I wouldn’t board at a place like that again.
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I’d have a hard time being OK with this.
I’m a reasonable person; I realize that horses do not drink 24/7. I realize that for hundreds of years before Fortiflex, it was standard procedure to only offer your horses water 1-2x per day. I realize that heating outdoor water sources in the extreme north is not always feasible.
But 7-8 hours daily without any water at a boarding barn? That’s too large of a time period for me. There is just too much that can go wrong IMO.
For example, how big of a barn are we talking about? Is one person providing the care? If so, what if they get held up and the horses end up staying out longer? If it’s a big enough place to employ staff, what happens when the new barn worker forgets to top off your horse’s bucket inside? Or what if your horse gets running and playing on a nice day, works up an extra thirst, and downs his inside buckets well before morning? Even if there are auto waterers, what happens if the float gets jammed and no one checks it?
For most of us, our horses are no longer commodities; they are domesticated companion animals. I don’t want to gamble that the system will work for my pets.
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Yes, for most of us there is an emotional attachment - but let’s not ignore the fact that many horses are significant investments of money and our own time. I’m not sure I want to gamble that at a barn that finds it “too hard” to figure out a way to bring water to pastures in winter. Or “too expensive” for the barn…while being willing to risk the safety/life of MY investment.
In my opinion, fresh/unfrozen water is one of the basic things a boarding barn needs to provide. Electricity and water are pretty portable…how far a distance are we talking about?
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For an older horse not used to being without water all day, this is a hell no! For me, 8 hours is too long for any horse I own. I can see how many horses can adapt to a schedule, but I don’t want to have the horse that runs into trouble with it.
If the horses are out 8 plus hours, I would want at least water offered midday if it is too cold to keep water in a trough.
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What a coincidence that your name is the same as the blog itself. No wonder you think they are “very good”. LOL.
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Yeah, I saw that too!!! Nice “bootstrapping,” what?
Over the millenia that humans have been keeping horses there have been many systems that developed due to local conditions and horses, being at least reasonably adaptable, adapted.
Like I say, no water all the time is likely not ideal but neither is it a death sentence.
G.
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Agreed, it’s not ideal. But if an owner is investing in a $20K+++ animal and $500++/mo in boarding and $$ in training, tack, plus their time, etc., it seems like boarding barns could figure out a way to get water to turnout areas. There are ways. If a barn can’t afford to install underground plumbing and frost free hydrants near paddocks, and/or some other solution…what else can they not afford?
Not a death sentence, necessarily. Unless it becomes one…like colic, which happens.
An owner can choose this type of arrangement at home, but if they are paying for board, I think water should be expected.
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All the boarding barns around here have water in all turnouts. Either automatic waters or tanks with heaters in them. Smaller boarding barns have tanks with heaters bigger boarding barns have the automatic waters.
Would I keep my horses at a barn with no water in turnout it depends. If only out with no water for 8 hours probably not a huge issue. But if I was paying 500 plus for board I’d expect water to be provided.
My horses are at home I provided water 24/7 they choose not to drink. It certainly isn’t because its not available tank is clean water not frozen. They went 2 days with not drinking, they finally came up this morning to get a drink.
For me, having the horses without water for 1/3 of the day is just one more gamble that seems unnecessary. Winter already puts horses at an increased risk of impaction. Of course, the majority always get through it fine, but you have horses consuming a mostly dry hay diet in combination with decreased thirst and usually decreased movement. You have factors that may further discourage them from drinking, like decreased salt intake, dislike of cold/icy water, or stray voltage from heaters. You always have the usual risks that a horse will defecate in his bucket or a human will forget to top off the water. And then you create a situation they have zero water available for 1/3 of the day? I’m sure the majority adapt fine, horses can be incredibly resilient. But I’m unlucky and that’s rolling the dice too many times in my opinion.
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This is one reason my horse lives at home with 24/7 access to a heated tank. I usually clean it once a week. That said, during the summer, he prefers the puddles, so not sure if that cleaning is a priority for him. When he lived at a place with limited water in turn out, he colicked. Not worth it to me.
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It’s always something that’s “never happened” to anyone until it happens to YOU.
I would absolutely not be okay with this, having seen way too many dehydration or impaction colics happen.
I don’t care if every top barn in Canada doesn’t do it, or no one has ever had an issue… it won’t be an issue until you’re standing there with YOUR Vet and YOUR horse saying “yeah… i guess that wasn’t a great idea”
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This is an absolute no-go dealbreaker for me. My horse has access to clean water 24/7. No exceptions. I know everyone is different and everyone will have their own opinion on the topic but it would be an easy decision for me.
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This is quite common at barns in my area, particularly for horses kept in private pens. I think it is just too costly to put heated waterers in private pens. I thought it was normal and don’t recall issues, but I did grow up always letting my horse have some water when I brought it in (before riding). Now I have auto waterers in all pens other than the isolation pen and summer pastures.
More than 2-3 hours without access to water would be a deal breaker for me - Years and years ago, when I was young and naïvely thought boarding barns knew about good horse management, I Iost my mare to colic because the boarding barn (unbeknownst to me) was restricting her water intake in her stall because she “drank and peed to much”!!!
I’m in the North where water freezes easily in the winter - all horses have water in their paddocks. The big paddocks have heated troughs, the rest are monitored 3x a day and ice is removed if needed. Yes, it’s time consuming, but the barn has a policy that horses are happier outside, whenever possible.
When temps go down to single digits, all horses stay in as a rule - but boarders are free to turn their own horses out if they monitor them themselves.
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