Horses and lakes

Wagtail

Wagtail

Horse servant
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Maybe this is a daft question, I really don't know. We are in the process of buying the 11 acres of grassland adjacent to our property. It is currently one huge field with a small lake in it. My question is, is it safe to allow the horses access to this lake or would it be best to fence it off? I must admit I am worried about the horses going in and getting stuck or something, but hubby thinks I am being silly and fencing it off would spoil the look of the place. I am not worried about the water quality or any plants growing around it. What would others do? Thanks :)
 
Thanks. Yes, if I do decide to fence it, I will use electric fencing I think. The green stuff doesn't look too bad.
 
Where I used to keep my lad it had a huge lake in the centre of the fields and it was left open. The owner had ensured when she bought the place that the lake didn't drop suddenly but had a slow incline to the bottom and assessed it as safe enough for them not to drown. Kane was often found wallowing in the water, he loved having access to it and even though I left years ago I know she still have horses and has certainly not had any fatalities.
 
Wagtail said:
Maybe this is a daft question, I really don't know. We are in the process of buying the 11 acres of grassland adjacent to our property. It is currently one huge field with a small lake in it. My question is, is it safe to allow the horses access to this lake or would it be best to fence it off? I must admit I am worried about the horses going in and getting stuck or something, but hubby thinks I am being silly and fencing it off would spoil the look of the place. I am not worried about the water quality or any plants growing around it. What would others do? Thanks :)
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I suppose it could be a worry in the winter when the horses are rugged and the grounds slippery? We had a pony let himself out of his stable, open another gate and fell into the slurry pit with his rug on! Happy ending, but those rugs don't half weigh them down XX
 
Agree in Summer I would not have a problem with it, but in winter if it froze or snowed so they could not see it was a body of water i would worry.
 
I agree with lexiedhb, snow and ice would be my biggest worry during winter.
However I would also get the water tested as I know particular types of algae can be poisonous and I'd want to know that any water the horses drink would be safe.
 
One of the fields my horse goes in has a large lake along one edge of it. It is completely open and used to have a gentle slope down into it and it used to be used as their drinking water, none of them ever had any problems with the lake, however one winter the sides of it started to erode so the shallow ramp quickly became a less shallow ramp, so we have fenced it off now. As long as the lake is completely open and there is nothing for your horses to get stuck on then it would not worry me. However having spent 4 hours one evening trying to pull a friends horse out of the overgrown stream in their field (along with 2 firecrews and a tractor), to ultimately have to have her PTS because she couldn't stand, i would be very wary of anything they could get stuck on.
 
Agree about the winter, espec. with rugs and even when not frozen could be bad if sides too steep for easy exit. Also: Would depend on how muddy/likely to have hidden tree trunks/old fencing etc lake was in terms of them getting stuck at any time of year.
 
We used to havea pond...a very large pond...not quite a lake though and my ponies used to stand in the middle quite happily! x It was probably a 30m diameter pond x They loved it...i wouldn't worry if its a deep lake though! x plants etc will be fine! x
 
I hadn't even thought of the rug issue in the inter. Thank you! Yes will definitely fence it off in the winter then. It's about 100m at it's longest, by around 60m so not really sure if it is a lake or very large pond really. I expect it is pretty deep in the middle. There are a couple of steep parts but mainly nice shallow slopes. It will probably get very muddy though in the Autumn/Winter.
 
I am not sure, depends how deep it is and if it is clay bottomed.

We have sandy soil here so ok for footage but they can take in sand when drinking.

Also depends on your horses! I have kept mine in a field with a lake in it (unfenced), quite deep but the only one to go in it was my wily pony and he was able to dodge the swimming grass snakes :eek: and keep himself out of trouble. I only got into problems when he found the stream and discovered that he could access all the other fields by walking along it. He also found some water dropwort and ate it and made himself very ill. Stream fenced off after this.

Some horses will walk on the ice in the winter though.
 
Personally I would post and rail it off. Pop some nice trees around it - put a island in the middle for ducks - and hey presto. Beautiful and safe for all.
 
With a clay base you would be courting trouble if you did not fence it off. If one decides to go for a paddle (and there are many that will) you could well end up with someone stuck fast to the pond floor.
 
I have no problem with lakes or stream in the field, the horses have always loved it and seeing them splashing around is good.
Also helps with youngsters getting used to going in the water, wish i still had a stream going through the field
 
Looks like fencing off is definitely the only option then, for a clay bottomed lake. I will do it with electric fencing in the short term and think about making it permanent post and rail at a later date. Thanks :)
 
I have a large pond in one of my grazing fields. It's shallow, only about 2ft or 3ft deep in the middle so no chance of any of them drowning in it ;) In the summer those horses are often seen waddling around in it. In winter they don't go anywhere near it. They are not stupid horses. I have streams in a few of my other fields and I find the same thing there that the horses paddle around in them in summer but in winter tend to keep away. If the lake is big and has some steep inclines then I'd probably fence it off but if it is shallow and has gradual incline then I might leave it unfenced. I suppose it really depends on which horses you put in there as well. If they are youngsters then probably best to fence it.
 
depends on the access really and the ground if its mud around the lake i would prob fence it but if its gravely and the lake looks solid i would leave it

you know what you could do


fence it but have the fencing going into the water say for max 5ft deep that way the horses could go part way into the lake but not get out of their dept??
and in the winter you could put electric across the entrance so they cant go in but in the summer they can paddle m
 
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Didn't think of the winter thing, the lake we had had a salt water river running into it as we're close to the coast so never froze..tbh it rarely freezes round here anyway because of being so near to the coast so I tend to not think about it much. I like Amy's idea of post and rail and a nice island in the middle...you could buy a boat and do romantic boat trips to your 'island' to fund the post and rail costs!!:D
 
Wagtail said:
Thanks, Amy. That is a very good idea. We have a few moorhens on there. I would like to attract more wildlife.
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It's how a large pond/small lake was dealt with at a place I previously stabled at. It attracted all sorts of wonderful wildlife, including ducks and herons that nested in the trees. It was a beautiful place to be.
 
For your peace of mind and the horses safety I would post and rail it and put Equi-Fencing on it for good measure then no way can the horses get in the lake.
 
jsr said:
Didn't think of the winter thing, the lake we had had a salt water river running into it as we're close to the coast so never froze..tbh it rarely freezes round here anyway because of being so near to the coast so I tend to not think about it much. I like Amy's idea of post and rail and a nice island in the middle...you could buy a boat and do romantic boat trips to your 'island' to fund the post and rail costs!!:D
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Lol, yes, around 350 metres of post and rail to add to that we already plan to put up. :eek:
 
Please fence it off during the winter. I have 2 ponds and a lake in the field, the lake if fenced off but we use it as a paddock occasionally in the autumn, and have had many horses throughout the years but nothing prepared me for my boy now. In January 2010 he decided to either have a drink from the pond or was inquisitive about the ice but 620kg of horse and 3.5" of ice don't match. I am sure that it is too deep to touch the floor.

He was wearing an under rug and a combo turnout which weighed him down. God knows how he got out and only had a minor cut under his head but I wouldn't have known it had happened if he hadn't run back to the gate and jumped about in a strange fashion. It was so cold his rugs were refreezing on him and I couldn't get them off, that was a scary 30mins of my life and now I temporary electric fence it before the ground freezes, it doesn't look pretty but I obviously have a daft horse.

I have never had a problem with it before but i'm not going to take the risk again unfortunately.
 
diamond_light said:
she could also have a little secret hideaway ( love nest ) on the island and sneak away to it :D
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Gosh you people are in a different (less juvenile!) world from me - I was thinking of re-enacting Swallows and Amazons!

Sounds lovely. Nothing constructive to add, just my envy ;)
 
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