Comments on: Watering horses in the winter

By: JoAnn Schmidt

JoAnn Schmidt — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 13:21:31 +0000

Be careful with the heated 5 gallon horse water buckets! I had them…used them faithfully 1 1/2 seasons. Last winter I had one start on fire! Nearly lost my little barn and 2 horses. My husband saved the day! he saw the flickering light in the barn and realized quickly that it was a fire. He had just been down there and filled the buckets, then turned them on. He grabed a fireextinguser from the garage and was able to put it out. Only the cord, bucket and wall on which it was hung and the mat below were damaged. In just a few minutes all would have been lost!
I had the fire inspector invetigate. He determined that these buckets are a problem becuase they hang in the stall and we clean them daily, each time we are lifting them and flexing the cord at the base of the bucket to dump the remaining water and debris into the wheelbarrow. The constant flexing of the hose will cause an eventual break in the wires inside the rubber coating and that will eventually lead to a short AND a potential fire. I have pictures of the burnt bucket if anyone would like to see the damage. JASchmidt@netwurx.net
I am currently on the hunt for a safer solution to having reasonably warm water in the stalls for the show horses!

By: This Week In Horse Blogs | Deanna Castro’s Professional Horse Blogazine

Fri, 19 Dec 2008 09:53:11 +0000

[...] Watering Horses in the Winter – Karen’s Musings and Endurance Ride Stuff [...]

By: risingrainbow

risingrainbow — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 07:37:31 +0000

Seems like everyone is talking about trying to keep their water de-iced. I haven’t done my post yet, but it’s coming. Having the horses in stalls has its own issues on this subject.

By: Jonna

Jonna — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 15:19:29 +0000

I did a post on my blog site about building insulated boxes around our stock tanks. We live in Northwest Montana and we get high winds at our place. The boxes combined with the plug in tank heaters really do the trick. This past week we had 15 below and 3- below iwth the wind chill. The water didn’t even have a lick of ice on them… check it out on my blog – the post title was “Well, it ain’t pretty…”

By: Ann Cummings

Ann Cummings — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 13:16:22 +0000

I’m kind of wondering about all the hoopla re:global warming!It’s freezing cold in so many places right now! Where I live in WI. we’ve already seen temps down to -15df. I use a combination of heated buckets and buckets with bird bath heaters in the barn. Outside I use muck buckets with bird bath heaters.They are unobtrusive to the pranksters and energy efficient.Some tank heaters use A LOT of electricity to run.Mine have a thermostat sensor. HOw about writing an article about riding in cold temp?Stay warm,well and Happy Holidays!

By: Kathy

Kathy — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 12:01:11 +0000

Here is an artical with other options for winter watering.
http://www.acreagelife.com/articles/acreage_life_articles/dec_05_winter_water_issues.cfm

For those breaking ice…you can take two heavy duty sticks (old broom handles work great) and lay them accross the watering trough at the ends. In the center of each stick have a chain hanging from it that lays in the water. When the water freezes, all you have to do it pull up on the sticks and because you have a chain hanging in the water…your sheet of ice will lift up with it! You will still have cold water, but not all of the broken up ice floating around.

I like Paula’s idea of the extention cord with the light as well.

I have learned that having something other then myself to clear the ice from a tank is worth whatever the initial cost is in purchasing something that keeps ice off your tanks. Fortunatly I do have electricity and so I have one of the plug type of heaters. I also have heated 5 gallon water buckets around my house and barn for my dogs to drink from.

By: Paula

Paula — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 04:38:45 +0000

I use coiled hoses for watering (they look like a spring). They are very portable and easy to drain. I can easily put two 75 foot hoses in one muck bucket and haul it back into the garage where it stays warm. They are connected with quick connects so I can quickly drain each hose individually and pack them into the muck bucket.

We also use an extension cord with a lighted plug for the tank heater. I can look outside anytime at night and see the little light glowing in the plug and know that the tank heater is on. If the circuit breaker trips, then the light goes out.

Paula – in cold, cold Missouri.

By: Heather

Heather — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 00:27:32 +0000

Yup, looks like my water tanks. Unfortunately, we don’t have electricity so breaking ice three times a day with a shovel is all the winter advice I have! If anyone has any good DIY ways to keep tanks thawed without electricity- I’m all ears!