How do i stop my pony tipping his water bucket over??

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cheekyhighlands

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My 4 year old highland tips his water bucket (tub trug) over in his stable allllll the time and I have run out of ideas as to stop him doing it!! :confused:

We have tried everything from putting his bucket big tyres - he still gets it out easily and likes to throw the tyre round his stable too, putting heavy bricks in - again still so easy for him to tip it over n throw it around, bolting clips to the walls to attach to the bucket handles - he pulls them out the wall n then tips it everywhere!!

The latest plan lasted not even 12 hours.. we bolted a bucket to the floor in the corner of his stable with 2 big bolts (we're talking an inch thick and 5 inches long) and another 2 through the side of the bucket onto each wall and then put another bucket inside that and secured the handles together with strong cable ties. He somehow still managed to pull the buckets out of the wall and floor!!

Pleeeease can someone help, I don't know where to go from here :(

He has toys in his stable but never really bothers wih them, hes got constant hay and my other 2 highlands to keep him company and I dont think they are best pleased that he keeps them up all night trashing his stable!!
 
Sounds drastic but if he's only in overnight I wouldn't bother with a water bucket!!! He's not going to have any water to drink anyway so just cut out the middle bit and save money on soggy bedding!!

My NF pony is a fiend for spilling water and when she had to stay in Horsepital for a few days they only gave her a couple of inches in the bottom. I do have one of these http://images.robinsons-uk.com/product_images/large/45128-01.jpg for her now and that seems to work.

Eta: Maybe give him soaked hay if you're worried about him not having any water overnight?
 
If you've got a competent DIY-er around, you could fit a mini automatic waterer system. Bucket up higher than the drinker, and gravity fed to the stable drinker. If you've seen automatic waterers you'll know they only deliver a cupful or so of water at a time. Even a determined horse shouldn't be able to sabotage it because the mini ballcock system is hidden inside the frame.
 
My boy was a nightmare with a tubtrug in the field - they bend so easily and the water tips out... I have one of the big stubbs buckets in his stable (they're about £25) and he hasn't attempted anything with that. You could try one in a tyre with bricks in the bottom to be sure... the good thing about them is that they are so tough they are virtually indestructable...
 
Try:

A. a much bigger bucket
B. one of those white buckets (same material as the corner manger) that fit snugly inside a tyre - no handle to grab hold of.
C. Muzzle him!
 
Our two four year olds used to do that. Both grew out of it eventually! One liked picking things up, so we used the heavy thick jumbo buckets that were so heavy when full that he went off the idea. The other one, a section A, used to be stood with a front foot in each water bucket every morning! Lots of growling and slaps seemed to stop that habit! Yours sounds exceptionally bad, so perhaps automatic drinkers are the way forward? Either that or give him half a bucket of water at regular intervals. Both options are a pain really!
 
PS. If you are going to water him at intervals, or leave without wa ter overnight, throw a bucket of water over his haylage/hay, so that he gets moisture from that. My mare that events won't drink away at competitions or in the box, so I saturate her hay to make sure she is getting some water one way or another, and doesn't dehydrate too much..
 
I find tubtrugs too flexible - use a stiffer heavier bucket and put a quadbike tyre round it as there are a lot chunkier and wider which may help. Perhaps you could paint some cribbox round where he tends to grab hold of bucket and tyre to tip.

Otherwise it is automatic drinker time if he is still as destructive.
 
cheekyhighlands said:
My 4 year old highland tips his water bucket (tub trug) over in his stable allllll the time and I have run out of ideas as to stop him doing it!! :confused:

We have tried everything from putting his bucket big tyres - he still gets it out easily and likes to throw the tyre round his stable too, putting heavy bricks in - again still so easy for him to tip it over n throw it around, bolting clips to the walls to attach to the bucket handles - he pulls them out the wall n then tips it everywhere!!

The latest plan lasted not even 12 hours.. we bolted a bucket to the floor in the corner of his stable with 2 big bolts (we're talking an inch thick and 5 inches long) and another 2 through the side of the bucket onto each wall and then put another bucket inside that and secured the handles together with strong cable ties. He somehow still managed to pull the buckets out of the wall and floor!!

Pleeeease can someone help, I don't know where to go from here :(

He has toys in his stable but never really bothers wih them, hes got constant hay and my other 2 highlands to keep him company and I dont think they are best pleased that he keeps them up all night trashing his stable!!
Click to expand...

My horse used to do that everytime the farrier had visited him. I found out after a while that from someone who was mucking out her horse in a nearby stable at the time that the farrier was shouting and hitting my horse. He was doing it as he was upset when put back in his stable. I remedied the situation by putting bricks in, but as you have already tried that I don't know what else to suggest other than agree with a previous poster who suggested leaving the water out of his stable overnight. He should be fine, provided his hay is not too dry for him. You could give him very wet speedibeet in his feed or speedibeet juice in his feed before bed and that should hydrate him enough overnight.
 
Highlands, who'd have em? Mine always tips his water over for a few nights when he first comes in for winter. He gets offered a drink at about 11 (if he has tipped it over) then his (empty) water bucket is taken out. His hay and feed are well soaked and he has never had a problem when this has been done. After a few nights he stops knocking it over and we're ok for the rest of winter. Incidentally, I also use a Munch Station for him, so he cant throw his feed/hay around :), might be another avenue to explore? You could put his water in the top instead of feed?
 
My yearling was a sod for doing this, after many failed ideas to stop him i finally got 1 of those bungy things that you use for tying bags to motorbikes.
I put the carabina through a handle, take it under the tire and through the other handle...success:D
 
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