Re: [RC] [RC] Horse won't drink water when offered - Shelley Kerr
I've had picky drinkers in the past. If they really
weren't that thirsty they wouldn't drink out of creeks, strange buckets,
strange water. Guess it smells different. Anyways, when they
were thirsty they would drink, even from a mud puddle. They're not
that dumb and stubborn. When they need water, they will
drink.
Subject: [RC] Horse
won't drink water when offered
When I got Serts (my free lease) his owner told me I
might have trouble with him taking him camping or to endurance rides
because he would only drink out of *his* creek or a trough. Not buckets
and not strange creeks. I haven't been worried about him so far, but
had an idea in the last couple of days and wondered if anyboy tried
this and/or what other people thought about it.
Idea is this: be
the sole source of water for the horses at home. We have a water
trough. In the back hill, where they're shut up for 2 months because we
just seeded the front pasture, there is no source of natural water.
The water trough is back there. I was thinking to drain the water
trough and bring water out to them several times a day in buckets. A
lot of work, yes, but my reasoning is that they will begin to look to
me to provide their water and hopefully will drink away from home when
I offer them water. Is this flawed reasoning?
If I did decide to
do away with the water trough, how much water should they be drinking
each day and how often should I offer? I'm currently unemployed so
would have the time now to devote to teaching them (especially Serts)
to drink when offered. I was thinking to leave water for them overnight
since I'm not planning on getting up several times during the night to
water them. How big of a container would be needed for overnight
watering for one horse?
