I have boarded at a place where there was no water for turnout in the winter- I would never do it again. I had to leave after my horse coliced twice in a week and developed ulcers. My horse was young and otherwise healthy, and we have never had an stomach issues since.
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Interesting the strong opinions on this one, though not surprising.
Honestly, having lived in VT all my life, this is not uncommon and does not trigger pearl-clutching for me. But the scenarios I’ve been in where this is the case were not for lack of care, it was either unsafe or extremely difficult to keep heated sources of water in turnout areas. I’d rather my horse come in a little thirsty than some of the alternatives in those cases.
However, an old crusty rancher type once told me the solution he had for bitter Midwest winters and watering his horses. He’d fill a huge stock tank, let it ice over and then cut two or three 12" hole in the ice, in which he’d drop these 4" rubber balls that floated at the tank surface. They moved around enough that they kept the holes he cut from freezing over (and also absorbed warmth from the sun) in all but the coldest conditions. In those conditions, the balls kept the freezing to a minimum and the horses figured out they could break the thin ice near the balls to drink.
