How do you stop a horse playing in his water?

[Doormouse]

Help! My large ISH is driving me mad, he plays, dunks and spills his water everywhere and not only does he end up with no water unless I fill 2 huge trugs but he is soaking the front of his box and outside as well.

He dunks his food and his hay in the water buckets, literally every mouthful. His food is very well soaked although his hay isn't, the hay is nice and not dusty. He eats at least 1/2 a small bale a night, probably a bit more and there is only ever a handful left so I am loath to swop to haylege, he will bankrupt me and he hates running out of food.

The front of his stable is drowned by the morning, his trugs full of hay and there is a huge puddle of water outside his stable too which is making everything permanently damp and horrid.

Does anyone have any ideas how to stop him? I have got a drinker but he makes even more mess with this and it has to be completely emptied and washed out twice a day so I have given up with it.

 

[old hand]

Have you tried soaking the hay? it doesn't have to be for the length of time needed for a hay allergy, just enough to make him feel its damp enough to eat. May be worth a try. One of mine drops food into his water so I use a corner manger for it. he has enough then to make sure he can move the hay and still drink enough. he too would refuse to use the drinker if there was food or hay in it.

 

[Red-1]

I have to padlock Jay's water to the wall. He plays and drags it out to play with in his bed otherwise. With it padlocked to the wall he has given up dragging it around. We just got a tie ring and attached that to the wall at the right height for a Trug. Now he thinks it is padlocked it is even OK when we occasionally forget. The water is just no longer a plaything.

 

[Spottyappy]

No idea, but our RID mare dungs in hers with amazing accuracy.
Maybe it's an Irish horse thing?!

 

[Illusion100]

How old, how used to stabling and when was the last time teeth were checked?

 

[DD265]

Could you switch to automatic water? The bowls tend not to be that big so although they can splash a bit they can't make that much of a mess.

 

[Doormouse]

Have you tried soaking the hay? it doesn't have to be for the length of time needed for a hay allergy, just enough to make him feel its damp enough to eat. May be worth a try. One of mine drops food into his water so I use a corner manger for it. he has enough then to make sure he can move the hay and still drink enough. he too would refuse to use the drinker if there was food or hay in it.

I could try that, what a nightmare bless him, he has a hay bar so will have to find a dustbin to soak it in, or two probably!

 

[Doormouse]

I have to padlock Jay's water to the wall. He plays and drags it out to play with in his bed otherwise. With it padlocked to the wall he has given up dragging it around. We just got a tie ring and attached that to the wall at the right height for a Trug. Now he thinks it is padlocked it is even OK when we occasionally forget. The water is just no longer a plaything.

He sadly doesn't move the buckets, just sticks his head in with food or hay and kind of swishes it about so the water comes over the side!

 

[Doormouse]

How old, how used to stabling and when was the last time teeth were checked?

Teeth just been done. He is 5 and has been stabled over the winter since a 3 year old.

 

[Doormouse]

Could you switch to automatic water? The bowls tend not to be that big so although they can splash a bit they can't make that much of a mess.

I have one and he is worse, because the water keeps on coming he keeps on emptying it!!!!

 

[Illusion100]

Teeth just been done. He is 5 and has been stabled over the winter since a 3 year old.

How long has he been in for the winter? Mine does similar but settles down after time.

 

[tangoharvey]

Put a car tyre around the bucket he can't knock it over then

 

[MarniL]

Can't offer any advice I'm afraid, only sympathy. There's a pony at the stables who insists on playing with his water; a tyre usually stops him from tipping the whole lot but he can often be heard noisily splashing around.

 

[CBAnglo]

Yep 2 of mine do this (both Irish); I don't put the hay next to the water so its a bit more of an effort to dunk the hay. Waterers were worse because they used to block the bowl and then it would overflow. Doesn't matter how much they are in (have had one 10 yrs and he has always done it) or whether hay is soaked or not. They just like making a mess.

 

[crabbymare]

Try a big trug thats attached to the wall and put the water in a smaller one inside it so that most of the overflow is caught by the bigger one. does not stop the mess totally but it does help and the horse still gets to play

 

[rowan666]

My yearling has a really annoying habbit of climbing in water bath in our field!
Could you try and find some kind deeper bucket so it you only have to half fill it, then he can splash away without spilling it?

 

[twiggy2]

soak the hay and move the water away from the hay and feed

 

[Moya_999]

you could try one of these and fill the manger with water instead of feed



http://www.robinsonsequestrian.com/munching-station-dual-feeder.html
just a few ideas



http://www.robinsonsequestrian.com/wall-fixing-bucket-holder-black.htm]
http://www.robinsonsequestrian.com/hook-over-bucket-holder-black.html]
http://www.robinsonsequestrian.com/flat-back-bucket-17-litres.html?source=webgains&siteid=54264
http://www.robinsonsequestrian.com/stable-yard/feedroom/buckets-mangers/tyre-feed-bowl-black.html
http://www.horseloverz.com/Other/294055-Tough-1-Portable-Bucket-Holder.htm
http://www.doversaddlery.com/bucket-buddy®/p/X1-2805/
http://www.horseloverz.com/Buckets-and-Feeders/354946-Locking-Pin-Bucket-Hanger.htm

 

[saddlesore]

Tyres definitely help, as does separating the water & hay. I used to have one that did this and it's very annoying!

 

[blackislegirl]

My pony also has taken to soaking his own hay. There is a small flood in the front of the stable every morning. He has an automatic waterer and nice hay fed on the floor, and is turned out for 7-8 hours a day with plenty of wet grass in the paddock. His teeth were checked two weeks ago and were fine. So I don't think he is thirsty or sore in his mouth. I have seem him at work - he takes a small bit of hay in his mouth, then takes a gulp of water, and then turns his head over the hay pile and empties his mouthful of water. It looks deliberate rather than accidental. I don't want to use haynets, and he can easily kick the hay around to where he wants it. So I just put up with the remnants of saturated hay and small puddles every morning. He is Irish bred, too.

 

[bliss87]

My 5 yr old RID does this, doesn't make a difference whether it wet hay, dry hay, haylage its going for a dunk the pulls its pack out and dribbles it everywhere. I've had to stop feeding him out the corner manger because he was always thirsty by the morning because he had no water to drink as it was just a bucket of wet hay that he wont eat once its been in the water too long. So he now has a haynet the other side of the stable to his water which has reduced it bur dinner still goes for a dunk! Can't leave him unattended with the hosepipe in his bucket either he loves to play with it.

 

[Doormouse]

Interesting that it is obviously not that unusual, especially in the irish!

Thank you for all the suggestions, I have a hay bar and don't want to feed him in a haynet because he came with a sore and stiff neck so am trying to encourage him eating low down although I had to get the hay bar or he destroyed his bed with wet hay!!!

The stable layout makes it impossible to move the hay and water very far apart, which is very frustrating but I will try and see if I can come up with any good ideas about that. Love the munching station, might have to save up for that one.

For now I will clearly just have to suffer the constant damp at the front I think and going up to the yard at 10.30pm every night to top up his water and skip out because he is also a very messy individual and spreads his poos everywhere.

Good job he is a nice person!!!

 

[sport horse]

I have a home bred mare that has done this now for 18 years! You can try soaking hay - it may or may not work. You can try putting hay and water at opposite corners of stable but be prepared for a very wet bed as your horse tramples from one side of the box to the other with wet hay! Whatever you do do not stop your horse being able to dunk its hay - maybe that is what its body needs and that has to be more important than a dry floor!

 

[alex_mac30]

Try a big trug thats attached to the wall and put the water in a smaller one inside it so that most of the overflow is caught by the bigger one. does not stop the mess totally but it does help and the horse still gets to play

This seems like a good idea, he could still play with his water but it might stop so much going on the floor.

 

[catwithclaws]

Try a big trug thats attached to the wall and put the water in a smaller one inside it so that most of the overflow is caught by the bigger one. does not stop the mess totally but it does help and the horse still gets to play

I think this is a great idea

 

[Shady]

had the same problem with P , buckets got bigger and bigger, in the end found a massive plastic drum of some sort, cut it in half and only filled it a bit, it's really heavy and deep , he can do a bit of sploshing but it stays inside, he eats hay nets so i do feed hay on the ground and moved it as far as i could from him, so far it's a lot better, think Crabbymares idea is good. pain in the a**e arn't they

 

[Doormouse]

Try a big trug thats attached to the wall and put the water in a smaller one inside it so that most of the overflow is caught by the bigger one. does not stop the mess totally but it does help and the horse still gets to play

Will definitely give this one a go. Thank you.

 

[Brightbay]

Look at it from the horse's point of view. He's not doing it to annoy you. He has food preferences too and you have total control of his feed - he is locked in a stable and has no way to find other forage than what you provide. It's the horse equivalent of you being locked in a small room with unlimited quantities of dry cornflakes He likes his forage wet instead of dry, so find a way to allow him to wet it himself and don't take what he's doing personally.
Keeping drinking water a long distance from hay, and situating hay over an unbedded part of the stable next to another bucket is probably the best bet.

 

[Gemmabel]

^^^^^^

What brightbay said.

My gelding is a dunker. It took a little training but his stable is now one of the cleanest on the yard. He has his hay near the door with a 'dunking bucket' underneath. He doesn't drink from this bucket so I only ever half fill it. On the opposite side he has his drinking bucket (always full to top). He very very rarely now dunks in the 'wrong' bucket and I have a cleaner dryer stable

 

[stilltrying]

I know its been said already, but I had a youngster who did this. I started soaking her hay and that resolved it. Only dunked it enough to wet it and she was happy.