Automatic water feeders in stables ... love 'em or hate 'em?

I agree :) I clean mine quite a lot but some of theothers on my yard are really dirty! Some are easier to clean than others though, mine you can unscrew on the bottom but some of the others you have to put your hand in yo unscrew the cap at the bottom.

I think they're really useful just can be a bit disgusting if they've been left for a while without being cleaned!
 
Hmmm, on the one hand I love the theory... No back breaking lugging of water, no endless miles of hose pipe... No sloshing water down my jods or in my wellies... In reality I simply wouldn't want one... I like to be able to see how much my horse drinks, its a good indicator of how healthy he is or if anything is wrong. The only place I've been that had automatic feeders had them turned off for this reason.
 
One of my horses doesn't go near the automatic feeder in his stable so I have a 40l bucket in a tyre in his stable. Personally I prefer the buckets, as you can monitor what the horse drinks whilst they're in the stable, which you can't with an automatic feeder unless you install some gadget.

My other horse drinks from his feeder, but I have noticed that it often fills up with feed and shavings and general muck at least once a week, so I pull on a pair of marigolds and scoop it out into the wheelbarrow. As far as I can tell, he gets enough water.

I guess some horses take to them and others don't, I think Fergal will probably drink from his if he had no other water, but I don't really want to take his bucket away just in case he doesn't because he does drink a lot of water.
 
We have large automatics waterers in all our stables and find them really great. I clean them whenever they need it (usually about once every 7 - 10 days), and it's really quick and simple to do. If monitoring water was an issue (which it isn't) it is easy to fit a gauge. Most people who are against automatics have never had them, I find.

And horses will drink from an automatic if left to their own devices: nothing goes thirsty out of choice>
 
Cortez said:
Most people who are against automatics have never had them, I find.
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Been on yards both with and without and while I wouldn't say that I am against automatic waterers, I do prefer buckets. Kal doesn't seem to care either way, but I like knowing that his drinking water is fresh and being able to monitor how much he drinks while he's in (and, yes, I know that I don't know how much he is drinking in the field - all the more reason to have a good handle on how much he is drinking in his stable).

Kal's stable is pretty much the furthest away from the tap, but that's what wheelbarrows are for ;).

P
 
I love them. I have the small ones and just use a bucket and soup ladle to scoop out the water then give them a quick brush around. The only time I don't like them is in the winter. If we have more than 3 days of sub zero temperatures in a row, then they freeze up. The ones in the wooden block freeze the quickest. I have to use trugs when it is that cold. The ones in the brick block hardly ever freeze and when they do, it is usually just the valve which I pour hot water over and they defrost in seconds. The tend only to freeze whilst the horses are out though, as when they are in, the water is kept moving.
 
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