BO and I are trying to figure out the best strategy to provide water for my horse who is a bit of a PITA about buckets and tubs. (He also pulled down the feed bowl in his stall) He is turned out daily in a separate paddock. Water is provided in a black rubber tub. Unfortunately, he has decided that this is a great toy. He tips it and paws it and creates mud (as well as having no water afterwards!) She put out a second tub, but he just has twice the fun. We are thinking of using a taller plastic tub but are concerned that he could hurt himself with that. Hanging a bucket is problematic with the electric fence (and I am concerned that he could pull over a post!) Do I need to invest in a big trough to solve this?
I have a 50gal food-grade plastic barrel - cut down about 6"
In 14yrs noone has managed to tip it, although I have an elaborate PVC/cement block system to keep the sinking de-icer in place.
It is high enough so only a big Draft could get a leg in & heavy enough when full so it doesn’t tip easily.
Yet, even my 33" mini can reach in for a drink as long as it’s more than 1/2 full.
For a stall bucket I foiled my tipper by adding a fencing staple pounded in just below the hook that hangs it so the lip can’t be tilted enough to get it off the hook. Lip of the bucket is wedged between hook & staple & hidden so the staple can’t be messed with.
A minor PITA for me - have to remember to allow for the staple when I’m taking buckets down to scrub.
100 gallon Rubbermaid stock tank. Safe and he won’t be able to move it 
You must have wimps, lol. I suppose if it is kept full but kind of misses the whole point of using a 100 gallon tank.
I have built a platform out of cinder blocks. But the easiest is using a large galvanized tank that started leaking after just a few years. Almost threw it out. Flipped it over and set a 75 gallon Rubbermaid tank on top. Too high to get a leg in it and they don’t fool with it even when its almost empty. Works like a champ. Looks OK also.
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I have one of these. Dove LOOOVES to play in the water tank. She swims. She drives me nuts :lol:
I put the tank outside the fence. Works BEAUTIFULLY. There are some pictures at the end of this thread.
Thanks for the ideas. Trying to avoid buying a 100 gal tank going into winter. Looking at raising the tub on a platform of some kind. Maybe using a deeper tub too. Unfortunately cant put it outside the fence with electric fencing.
I would raise it. I have swimmers and a bucket dumper or two… the best thing i have found was to raise the tub high enough so they couldn’t get their feet in it. It’s possible that your horse could still tip it, though, if it’s not any bigger than a 50 gallon tub
We had a couple who liked to play in water tubs. We put the tubs on raised platforms. One used to put her foot in her stall feed bucket so we raised that also.
Like Gumtree, I use cinderblocks for a platform in the rare instances I need a tub. Most of my fields have automatic waterers, but I do have a paddock that would need tub if used. Raising the tub works. Also if the horse likes to play with “stuff” consider giving the horse something distracting like a toy or a small hole hay net. Keep the mind busy with something else.
My mare is a tub flipper/destroyer. I ended up going with a 40 gallon rubber tub. I drilled 2 holes in the center of it right below the lip. I then tied it to a fence post. It was a pain in arse at first because she was always filling it with mud. But once she realized it wasn’t flipping over she’s left it alone. I haven’t tied it back in over a month and it’s still upright
I guess I need to try tying mine to the fence. My TB mare is in with Minis who won’t be able to drink out of an elevated tub so I elevate the 100 gallon tub on cinder blocks and slide a rubber 25 gallon tub beneath it long ways. On a bad day, the mare will paw the small tub out from under the big tub, then go on to tip the big tub over. I don’t know what it is about TBs, but EVERY SINGLE ONE I have ever owned has been absolutely terrible about water tubs.
Well, haven’t found the solution yet. Tried raising it and using a larger tub without a lip. Problem is he uses his teeth and head, not just his feet! He grabs and pulls and butts until he flips it. His is the only muddy paddock! Before I got him, someone taught him tricks, including getting on a pedestal so he is convinced that anything raised is for stepping on.
Thinking about options. For right now, maybe drilling holes near the top of the tub and attaching it to a couple of T posts. Anyone had luck with the bucket clips that are supposed to hold a flat back bucket to a wall? Thought that a flat fence post might work with that.
There was a horse boarding at barn where I am last year who was terrible about this. She stood in it, tipped it over, kicked the trough, and totally tore it up. The solution that worked for her was to elevate the trough. They actually used a low water trough flipped up side down and put the deeper trough on top of it. Made it about chest high for the horse and she no longer messed with it.
Wrote my post before I saw your last comment. Maybe try building a short fence in front of the trough to make it harder for him to tip it. Kind of trap the trough between the paddock fence and barrier. Leave open at the ends or at least one end,so trough can be pulled out and dumped to clean.
Apparently, the propensity to be a flipper must be genetic because if one PITA water flipper wasn’t enough (my horse) his brother, who we got last summer, also enjoys flipping buckets and being an all around (cute) nuisance.
It didn’t seem to matter how full or not the water trough, they’ll play and stand in it. Our water trough is in a weird spot - it sits directly up against the run in shed which has 2 different shed options… it’s there so we don’t have to run an electrical cord through the paddock in the winter to keep the stock tank warm.
Anyway, we put screw eyes in the shed that the tank is up against, and then drilled a hole on the lip of the tank on 2 different sides, and basically bolted the water tub down. You can unclip it with carabiners if you need to dump/scrub. It seems to be working well as it has not been flipped since we did it, and that was some time in the summer.
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Did the same! Works well.
We also have 100 gallon RM tubs that we picked up off CL and use as hay feeders. We put screw eyes (with nuts and bolts) on them and used double end snaps to attach them to the fence to anchor them. You can easy unsnap them for cleaning, but they stay put when you want them to.
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I feel your pain! We had one that could flip 100 gallon tank no problem…
what about putting a cover over the top with only a small hole for an opening for water access? If you could add a float or a cover, that would prevent pawing in the water. My auto waterers a have ball floats (similar to mirafount) that my young horses love to play with. They paw sometimes at the waterers but since there is not really water access, the ball just bobs up and down. Maybe balls/toys in his paddock for him to play with? The toy ball that you put treats/grain in keeps one of mine busy for quite a while. Indestructible too… so far. Lol. A float ball in the water? Bonus is the tank was covered, it would help insulate for winter. Good luck with your water baby!
I misread the title of your post as: Water tub for Flipper. I thought your trough was big enough for a dolphin!
I use the water tubs that have the thick rope handles. I attach a heavy duty carabiner clip around the rope to the mesh on the fence and the bugger… I mean… sweet horse can’t flip it over.
