Pros and Cons of Automatic Horse Waterers

: ©Stacey Nedrow-Wigmore. All Rights Reserved.

The relentless tedium of lugging hoses and scrubbing troughs can make automatic waterers seem like an attractive addition to horse stables and paddocks. Before you replace those buckets, however, consider the cons as well as the pros of automatic watering systems.

On the pro side, automatic waterers:

free you from bucket/trough-filling and -cleaning duties

prevent playful horses from tipping buckets and soaking stalls

assure horses constant access to water, assuming the system is functioning properlyOn the downside, automatic waterers:

get clogged with dirt, hay and manure if not regularly cleaned

make it impossible to monitor a horse's water intake unless you install a monitored system

can freeze, depriving your horse of water without your being aware of it

may malfunction and allow water to flood stalls or paddocks

In short, the time and hose-lugging labor automatic waterers save need to be reinvested in vigilant attention to the automatic devices to make sure they are working properly. Each day, test the refilling mechanism and cleanliness of automatic waterers and, if the waterers' reliability is questionable, hang buckets of water as a backup supply.

This article first appeared in the June 2000 issue of EQUUS magazine.

One Response to “Pros and Cons of Automatic Horse Waterers”

poco bueno says:

May 24, 2011 at 8:02 pm

In the TB racing Industry we use only buckets and have buckets that are only used for one horse. We use two buckets per horse that are cleaned everyday. It is important to make sure that our horses are drinking enough water plus it is the first sign that something isn’t right. If we find that a horse isn’t drinking enough water we take a closer look right away. When you are taking care of race horses nothing is left to chance.