Since it hasn’t been mentioned yet - Potomac Horse Fever (Neorickettsia risticii) is associated with water access.
My friends had a horse come down with it and the horse almost died. They had a small pond in their pasture, had eight horses and the seven others never had issues. The sick horse was the one that was constantly in or near the pond, splashed around and ate whatever was growing at the bottom.
There is a vaccine, but it is very controversial and protection is incomplete at best.
[QUOTE=Parrs Gold Bar;8678524]
Thanks for all your input, guys.
My gelding comes home this weekend (I’m super excited!!), he’s 17 and fairly sane, so we will see how it goes with just him and the water during the warm months. I’ll definitely put a temp fence around it in winter rather than risk anything.[/QUOTE]
My very sane pony followed the farm geese out onto the frozen pond and went through. Fortunately she was OK but it was scary; she got herself stuck in the muck at the bottom. I shiver still to think about it.
Also of concern would be bacteria (esp. Coliform), sulfates, nitrogen, protozoa, pesticides, herbicides. Blue-green algae in a warm, stagnant pond is also a big concern - very toxic to horses.
the previous owner of my farm let the horses have access to the pond in the pasture and just about destroyed it. We are on gumbo clay and the horses chewed the banks into mud bogs and killed all the bull rushes, water quality was disgusting - surpirsed nothing blew a tendon in the bog or got sick from the water (though not sure if they would have noticed if a horse had, sigh). I fenced my horses out and the bull rushes etc and wildlife have come back and the water is now realitvely clean.
mmmm - I’d be anxious. Where we are it is clay bottomed and poor drainage - it would be a muddle in five minutes. I’d be thinking that the overspill will be going into creeks and rivers, polluting as they go. Every drop of rain ends up going somewhere.
Also, if you are in an icy area, there are stories every year of horses going through the ice. Then Nancy M lives the experience quite well, it seems.
Cattle farmers are looked down on around here where they use the creeks as drinking holes because of the erosion and what goes on downstream, yet not much is done about it.
I think my horse would LOVE a pond or a stream. She loves water. But we are in CA and it’s pretty arid out here.
