Are you carrying water out to your horse fields? Here is a review of several different ways to get water to your horses.
Natural Water
Are you lucky enough to have a stream running through your property? If you do then this is definitely one of the best ways to get water to your horses. You will want to take a water sample to a lab and ensure the water is good enough quality for your animals. This is a very natural way to get water to your horses and will work the best. Things to consider when using this method is that you have to ensure the horses will be safe. You do not want them to get caught in the stream somehow or injured. You will have to ensure that the fences near the stream are safe for your horses. You will also have to consider where the stream goes once it leaves your property. Some townships and neighbours may not appreciate it if your horse does his business while out in the water.
Buckets
Carrying buckets of water out to the fields is very tedious and time consuming. If you have a son that enjoys the exercise then its not so bad but how often does that happen? If you have one or two horses then this may be the way to go. An easy way to keep the horses from overturning the buckets is to dangle a string with a clip from the fence and attach it to the bucket handle.
Water Trough
These come in various sizes. A 150 gallon trough will keep several horses happy for a few days. If you have many horses in one field then you may wish to opt for a 300 gallon trough. Many of these troughs also have a hole in the bottom of them that you can hook a water heater up to in the winter. The major problem with these troughs is that they quickly grow algae and you will find yourself cleaning them out at least once a week. You also have to be fairly strong to tip it over if its even half full of water. If you are using a trough in the winter that has a heater in it and the horses seem to be avoiding it then its possible that your electric fence is somehow giving off a pulse that is making its way to the trough. It is also possible that its coming from the hydro. You will have to ensure everything is properly grounded and get an electrician in to isolate the problem. Often the electrician will refer to this problem as tingle voltage.
Automatic Waterers
After many years of using all of the above approaches we have finally graduated to using automatic waterers. These are great and ever work in the winter. You will have to run a water pipe and electrical wire from your hydro panel out to the field. Be sure to bury the water pipe lower than the frost gets in your area. Two feet deep works fine in my area. You then pour a concrete pad out in the field around the pipe and wire. You then set the waterer on the pad and hook it all up. The electric cable powers the heating coil and you are all set. Because this style of waterer only heats a small amount of water it makes it easy to keep it clean.
After trying all of the various ways of getting water out to the horse feeds, I would have to say that a natural stream is the best and the automatic waterers are a close second.
