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I just about almost done fixing my horses new stall, (which is bigger than the one she is in), how do you feel about automatic water buckets? Or should I just use a half 55gal barrel for her water trough?
I like automatic waterers, if they can be cleaned well. But at my current barn we use buckets that we have to fill. I am not pro one or the other. It is personal preference
I dont really like them, my mom has had a lot of horror stories about them, a horse actually got caught in one in her stall and died. I prefer buckets or, for the pasture, a water trough.
I use an automatic waterer but my mare prefers the one with the bigger bucket, like 2 1/2 gallon size. The push paddle bowl one tickled her nose too much and she would use it.
You do need to clean them out often, I use a fish tank net for the big chunks often, and I drain and rinse about every 2 weeks depending.
Automatic water-ers make your job easier, but you can't monitor how much water your horse is drinking if you use one.
So it depends on you: Do you not have enough time throughout the day to make sure your horse has water all the time? Is it important to you to know how much water your horse is drinking?
If you haven't noticed any issues with the automatic waterers they do very well.
Where we used to board the water would always go off or one would leak, so they weren't very effective.
In the stalls we prefer 5 gal buckets...outside we prefer bigger like the half plastic barrel or a water trough.....at the farm in the pasture they have a creek.
While the automatic waters are nice, I can't monitor my horse's water intake. I'd rather have to wash out buckets daily then worry if my horse is getting enough water or not. And here in FL it is easy to get dehydrated, horse or human!
Thanks, I'll consider each answer, monitoring the fluid intake is important and need to be taking in consecration, also that with an automatic water I have less time in filling,...well..maybe I'll use the automatic seeing I spend half my day till sundown with my horse, so I can check her hydration and her urine spots. Thanks everyone.
Auto waterers are great just make sure to check them daily to see if they are working. Otherwise you horse could be going without water without you knowing it.
