Water overnight

[flying_high]

Based on the fact mine can and did drink buckets down to dry, I don’t think an inch in the bottom necessarily means that they have none.

But do agree some horses are fussy, some wont drink water once has absorbed stable smells, other don’t like fresh tap water and prefer it once chlorine evaporated, others prefer fresh water, still others prefer trough water.

If you give your horse fresh water, when there is an inch of stale left and he drinks it, he was clearly thirsty though and I wouldn’t be happy.

TBH if the yard are unwilling to accommodate this, after a clear and polite request, I would wonder what other corners they are cutting and why they don’t put basic horse welfare first, and look to move, especially as the nature of retirement livery means you don’t tend to see your horse daily.

 

[NinjaPony]

I’m glad you all seem to agree with me, as far as I’m concerned it was a reasonable request, which would take about 1 extra minute to carry out. Reason given was that it would be a ‘waste’ if he won’t leave the bucket dry. Whereas my view has always been give water unlimited, and any left over just tip out in the morning. It’s not the first thing that has bothered me, and I think this might be the final straw...

 

[hopscotch bandit]

Just wondering how much water you give your horses when they come in from the field and overnight. Eg, do you top up at all, how much do you leave them? Having a bit of an issue and want to see whether I’m over reacting...

Mare only drinks about 1/4 of her tub on wheels water and about half the bucket hanging from the wall, and most of that is full of dunked hay. I think your yard is bang out of order to be honest.

 

[ihatework]

What a bizarre reply from the yard.
If they are being so flipping ignorant and tight over a bucket of water I wouldn’t like to imagine what else they might be scrimping on.

 

[be positive]

I’m glad you all seem to agree with me, as far as I’m concerned it was a reasonable request, which would take about 1 extra minute to carry out. Reason given was that it would be a ‘waste’ if he won’t leave the bucket dry. Whereas my view has always been give water unlimited, and any left over just tip out in the morning. It’s not the first thing that has bothered me, and I think this might be the final straw...

I would not consider a few inches of water chucked away as being wasteful, a full trug daily would be, there has to be a bit of middle ground, if they are scrimping on water what else are they doing that may not be so obvious.

 

[Hollychops]

I would not be happy with that response! My oldie doesnt seem to drink anything as her big bucket always has plenty in come the morning, whilst the younger of the 2 nearly empties her bucket and always has.

I use the leftovers for cleaning out buckets so nothing goes to 'waste'. Even if it is a full trug left i wouldnt be fussed as i would rather they had the option of a drink when needed rather than nothing, esp overnight. Sounds abit mean and lazy not to fill it up to the top, just in case he doesnt finish the lot off.

 

[Pearlsasinger]

IME horses which attempt to drink the last drop, usua;ly manage to tip the bucket up and so waste the last inch or so anyway.

OP, that would certainly be the last straw for me!

 

[Annagain]

Agree, the inch at the bottom is because it can't physically be drunk and I wouldn't be happy with that being used as an excuse not to give my horse at all. Mine has three standard buckets a night. Sometimes he drinks half a bucket, sometimes 2 1/2 but the one consistent thing is he will drain one bucket before starting on the others. Every single time, if he drinks more than one or more than two buckets there will be an inch of water at the bottom of those buckets. If he ever gets to the point where he has 3 buckets with an inch left at the bottom of each, he'll have 4 buckets.

 

[Red-1]

Only an inch left with 12 hours to go? They think this is acceptable?

I am afraid I would move.

 

[wiglet]

I would be very unhappy with their attitude - water is a basic requirement and to ration it in any way is totally unacceptable.

My girl is very fussy with her water - in cold weather she often doesn’t drink enough so my YO adds warm water to her bucket to encourage her to drink. I hope you manage to sort it out op x

 

[NinjaPony]

Only an inch left with 12 hours to go? They think this is acceptable?

I am afraid I would move.

You’ve got it in a nutshell! One very unpleasant phone call later, and he’s moving this weekend. I hate to have bad blood, I’ve had him 12 years and have never left a yard on bad terms before, but I’m afraid enough is enough.

 

[Auslander]

Good for you! That's one of the most outrageous things I've heard recently!

I've got one here who not only drinks a lot, but she can also tip up a full giant sized trug either by playing with it, or by walking all over/into it. This was my solution - I hated knowing that she would probably not have water overnight because of her staggering lack of spatial awareness.
She still managed to sodding well trash it... the great oaf!

 

[Pc2003]

That’s not on!
Both mine have 2 x large trug tubs filled to the top. Mine seem to drink loads!

 

[Arzada]

Another interesting clip from your yard Auslander! The same person wielding the clippers?

 

[Auslander]

Another interesting clip from your yard Auslander! The same person wielding the clippers?

That's a vet clip - she had surgery just before Christmas!

 

[Pearlsasinger]

You’ve got it in a nutshell! One very unpleasant phone call later, and he’s moving this weekend. I hate to have bad blood, I’ve had him 12 years and have never left a yard on bad terms before, but I’m afraid enough is enough.

You have obviously never been on a yard where water is restricted, before! It sounds like a good decision to me.

 

[Surbie]

Good for you! Mine prefers trough water, but I wouldn't stay where water appeared to be rationed and where it was acceptable to leave a horse with that little water overnight.

 

[tankgirl1]

I have a 14hh and a shettie sharing and they get 2 full trug tubs. Sometimes they hardly drink any, sometimes they only have a couple of inches left in each bucket.

 

[pixie]

All the horses on my yard are given a given a full-to-the-top, scrubbed clean daily, large trug of fresh water every day. Even if they only drink half, I want to ensure they have access to as much as they choose to drink. What your yard is doing is absolutely unacceptable.

 

[Apercrumbie]

Sounds like a good decision. To give some context, I give my miniature Shetland a trug that holds 3-4 buckets worth overnight, and he is teeny tiny! Water is really not a thing to scrimp on.

ETA - said Shetland doesn't drink 4 buckets in one night, of course. I just like to make sure that they will never run out, even if I get hit by a bus in the morning and they don't get seen to for a few hours too late. The big horses get even more of course.

 

[Equi]

Free access to water is a number one law in my book. My old yard had auto drinkers but mine was rusty and manky, and one small sip would get rid of the water thus horse had to go back several times. I was actually told by someone more knowledgeable than me that his sudden drop in weight over a few days which always happened in winter could be dehydration. I then started to put in a bucket of fresh water which YO wasn't happy about because it was a waste of water etc...bugger never drank it so i could never prove my point..

Anyway my point being, if they don't have too much water left, they don't have enough.

 

[mandyroberts]

I don't think there is an absolute answer but I would expect there to be half a bucket left in the morning to be sure they are getting enough. Mine drink almost nothing to almost 2 buckets depending on temperature/grass water content/hay and feed etc