Is it unreasonable to fill water buckets at night?

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Butterbean

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Our horses are on livery but, due to staff shortages, can often be left for the night as early as 5pm. By the time I get to the yard (usually between 7 and 8) they can be near the end of their hay net and may have drunk quite a lot of their water - they have 2 water buckets each. So when I leave I normally top up their buckets & give them a little extra haylage if necessary.

Tonight we had a message from the yard manager asking us not to fill up the water buckets at night, on the grounds that it wastes water as sometimes the buckets are still fairly full in the morning .... ??!!

I know yard is on a water meter but was amazed as (a) surely its important to ensure the horses have access to plenty of water (b) we are generally only talking about 2 or 3 buckets-worth & (c) the yard staff regularly leave the tap running & buckets overflowing for ages while they muck out ...
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You must give me a hint whereabouts you are on The Wirral, as I can think of at least three yard owners who could come out with a comment like that!
No I don't think it's unreasonable of you to fill your buckets and I would expect to leave my horse with two full to the top buckets overnight.
I would think YO has just had her water bill in..
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That's ridiculous.

It follows that if they've drunk nearly all their water in the first 3 hrs of being stabled, they're likely to need a fair bit more to last the subsequent 11hrs.

I wouldn't be happy about this. I like my ponies to have at least 1/4 a bucket left in the morning so I know they've had enough. And it's normally OK to be topped up for the next night rather than chucked.
 
My horse used to drink loads in the stable so I bought a black dustbin to put in the stable instead and used to fill that every day and put in 2 full hay nets. We were on DIY but the hay, water and light were included. Would you be able to put a larger water container in the stable instead of buckets?

Is your haylage included in your livery? Or do you pay for what you use? Does the yard staff fill the net for you?
 
I think that is really unreasonable. I give my horse two buckets plus half a large tub trug and he never runs out. But if he just has the two buckets you can guarantee it will be all gone in the morning (i think he drinks it all to prove a point to me, unless he just likes to see me strugle with his tub trug
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Personally I would tell her where to go. Which yard are you on? PM me if you like.
 
Yes it is unreasonable - horses should have access to water at all times. However in fairness to the Yard Owner so many liveries waste so much water, emptying full water buckets, giving a huge bucket when only a small amount is needed. One of my liveries was giving 2 huge buckets every night - his mare drank about a third of one. Every day he tipped out both and refilled. I removed one bucket and have asked him not to tip out every day as we are also metered.

I have also got automatic drinkers in most stables and I don't allow other water buckets in those stables - unless the horse has a medical problem and it's water intake needs monitoring. That minimises waste.

I also have water butts on every gutter and we collect gallons of water. That is used to wash out any buckets, to make p the feed. to fill water containers for those without drinkers. Saves a fortune.
 
I think topping up should always be acceptable, tipping away half full buckets would maybe be wasting if metered but not topping up! If water is metered the livery charge should be such that it covers the cost of buckets being able to be filled overnight......TBH I would walk away from a yard that had a problem with that - you dont know how much horse might need to drink and its one of the basic needs.
 
Thanks guys, am taking Toby_Zaphod's view and ignoring the message, the horses will get the water they need!
It was just a very strange message to get, YO probably has had water bill and decided to crack down! I wouldn't mind if there was just a general reminder not to leave taps running or take hours washing your horse down.
Just had to let off steam somewhere!!
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And PS to Flowerlady, the water & haylage is included in the livery bill
Bosworth - I don't tip out and refill, I just top up unless the water and/or bucket is filthy (dirty buckets being another rant I'll save for another day
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I am totally happy with tipping out filthy water, would never expect a horse to drink or eat from a dirty bucket, I just get a bit annoyed when clean untouched water is tipped away - at least use it to clean buckets, make up feeds etc. I top up all my liveries when I do the night time check - both hay and water if needed.
 
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And PS to Flowerlady, the water & haylage is included in the livery bill


Then unless YO says to you personally about water which cost approx. 80pence a cubic metre (which is a lot of water) then just carry on as you say
 
I would also do as Ethel suggests; I'd get a big trug bucket and fill that to the brim. Water is a necessity I'm afraid and not something to be scrimped on with horses.
 
I would have filled up too.

It is highly unreasonable for your yard owner to suggest they don't need a top up to last them the rest of the night.
 
We used to have that at my previous yard, the YO blocked off one tap and then removed the hose pipe. Which she allowed her daughter then use the hose pipe and then take it back to her house. She put a notice up aswell. I ignored her as she never directlty said anything to me.
 
i would never leave a horse without water for any lenght of time as water makes up 60% of an adults bodyweight and as they are eating hay this will make them more thirsty so what ever she says dont do it you are doing it right horses can not call for water when they need it and im sure she would not apprisheate being left without any water either always ensure they thet have clean fresh water avalible
 
i tip away what is left in the morning as water absorbs ammonia and so needs to be replaced with fresh, but i use it to scrub my floors or clean buckets. i dont think this is wasting water as i wouldnt drink stale water thats been left around and i wouldnt expect my horses to either.
 
Horses should have ad lib hay or haylage and free access to water. It absolutely is not unreasonable to fill water buckets up, no way. Unlike her, your horse cannot help him or herself to the tap whenever he fancies!
 
My old YO was like that - my horse refused to use the auto drinkers coz she was totally freaked out by the noise they made. I got a large trug that took 4 buckets of water in it and unless she got it dirty I used to top it up then empty it every 2 - 3 days.
 
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You must give me a hint whereabouts you are on The Wirral, as I can think of at least three yard owners who could come out with a comment like that!


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Ditto!!
Water = life, 'nuff said.
 
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