Water at Endurance Rides

[firecracker]

I’m slowly easing into the world of endurance and aiming to do an intro ride sometime this spring. Looking through ride flyers, I’ve noticed quite a few mention to haul in water. Most flyers say there is horse water available. I’ve camped with horses before and there’s always been a faucet available to fill buckets for horse water. I usually bring along a few gallons of drinking water for myself.

How is water typically handled at endurance rides? I just want to make sure I’m adequately prepared. I’ve volunteered at an AERC ride, but I didn’t think to pay attention to the water situation (I was super focused on the vetting processes). Ride camp was out in an open field, primitive, which I assume is the norm.

Right now I have a 5 gallon bucket that I fill and seal with a lid when I need to have water on hand for trailering out. When camping, I have a 17 gallon tub that I can fill. I have a little utility wagon that I use to move buckets of water around when needed. I have an SUV and a Brenderup, so no water tank on board.

I’ll get in touch with a ride manager to figure out specifics, but I like to plan ahead and wanted to get an idea on what a typical ride camp water situation looks like. Any advice/tips/info would be appreciated!

[clanter]

we did competitive trail, not endurance (daughter did a few endurance rides) , for water we got a 55 gallon drum that had had been used for food grade products, used a 12 volt transfer pump

we never assumed our horses would drink any local water however they were taught to drink from mud puddles if needed (and our horses were real sissy horses that came from show horse world)

How about being a volunteer at a few rides to get a real idea as to just what will happen in the real world rather than what some one has condensed into a pamphlet that is written to interest one into riding the event.

[tabula_rashah]

It really depends on the individual ride. I usually haul in water for me and my horses are far as drinking because even if they have drinking water, it’s often a good walk from where we camp. To make camp set up super easy, I will bring a muck tub ( one that I’ve only ever used for water) that I line with a contractor size garbage bag. I then fill the bag in the tub with water at home and tie it tightly shut. Then once you get to camp, pull the tub out of the trailer and tear the bag open to pull it out of the tub- voila horse water trough. I will also bring a couple extra 7 gallon water containers

[firecracker]

@clanter

we did competitive trail, not endurance (daughter did a few endurance rides) , for water we got a 55 gallon drum that had had been used for food grade products, used a 12 volt transfer pump

we never assumed our horses would drink any local water however they were taught to drink from mud puddles if needed (and our horses were real sissy horses that came from show horse world)

How about being a volunteer at a few rides to get a real idea as to just what will happen in the real world rather than what some one has condensed into a pamphlet that is written to interest one into riding the event.

Thanks for the info. I totally agree that real world experience is very important, which is why I did volunteer at a ride before deciding to try out an intro. Volunteering was a great experience and I learned a lot, I just didn’t pay attention to how folks handled watering their horses since I was fully occupied with helping out at the vet tent.

[firecracker]

@tabula rashah

It really depends on the individual ride. I usually haul in water for me and my horses are far as drinking because even if they have drinking water, it’s often a good walk from where we camp. To make camp set up super easy, I will bring a muck tub ( one that I’ve only ever used for water) that I line with a contractor size garbage bag. I then fill the bag in the tub with water at home and tie it tightly shut. Then once you get to camp, pull the tub out of the trailer and tear the bag open to pull it out of the tub- voila horse water trough. I will also bring a couple extra 7 gallon water containers

This is perfect, thanks!! I can do this with my 17 gallon tub and secure it (along with extra water buckets) in the spare stall in my trailer.

[beau159]

I don’t do endurance but I haul a lot for barrel races and horse shows. I always pack my own water for the trip. My horses are so picky. One of these days I’ll get a big tank, but I have four 5-gallon buckets to use that I fill and bring with (if I need that many).

If I do need to get water somewhere, I just bought one of those cheap as-seen-on-TV flexible shrinkable hoses to keep in my horse trailer. I’ve been to places that have a water hydrant but no hose and it can get so messy and muddy around it. The hose comes in handy!!! (also nice if you want to hose your horse off)

[SonnysMom]

I trail ride, foxhunt and horse show quite a bit. I carry 2 of the Reliance Aqua-tainers. They are 7 gallon and I got them from Walmart. They are blue and normally in the camping section. They have a nozzle on them but I normally just take the lid off. Reliance also has a 5 gallon one that collapses. I don’t like that as much but I have a few of those.

[Alifarr]

I have never been to an endurance ride (in 20 years) that did not have horse water available. It may be out of a creek, so come prepared to haul your water from wherever it is back to your trailer. Most of ours have a water truck that fills big muck tubs or 100 gallon tubs at strategic points around the ridecamp. I have two trug tubs that I use for our two horses, fill those with about 7 gallons each, carry them back, then fill 2 5 gallon buckets and add those to the tub water. refill as necessary. People water is usually a bring your own - potable water is frequently unavailable.

[stressgirl37]

In central and northern CA, the rides we rode had water that we toted in 5 gallon buckets to our camp. We also brought water, just in case. We rigged up a food grade 55 gallon barrel with a spigot and hose and that was in our truck.

[saffire_100]

Plastic kitty litter containers with screw on lids are easy to transport in your rig and carry in camp. I always bring as much of my own water as I can as my horses will drink better with water from home. We do always have water in stock tanks at camp for horses as well, but I’m in Alberta, Canada

[firecracker]

Thanks for all the feedback and ideas, this was very helpful! Tentative plan will be to haul in as much water as I can using what I already have (17 gallon tub, 5 gallon bucket w/ lid, and a 7 gallon water container), and be prepared to haul water from wherever it is in ride camp to my trailer, if needed. And of course I’ll bring potable water for myself. Maybe someday I’ll get a 55 gallon water barrel, but I’m glad it doesn’t seem like that’ll be an immediate necessary purchase.

Now if it’ll quit raining and the ground will dry up… I can start logging miles on the trail again! We’ve had so much rain and the ground is so saturated, I’ve been limited to mostly arena work for the past couple of months. Ugh.