Anything that can cut chores is welcome. And one of those gotta-do-it chores is keeping the water buckets clean. EquiFit, Inc. has come to the rescue.
We’re talking about cleaning out the slime that forms inside the bucket every day. Some may be algae but most of it is bacterial slime from the food particles your horse leaves in the water when he drinks.
Eventually, the slime takes a firm hold on the bucket and becomes difficult to remove. As it does, the bucket takes on an unpleasant taste and needs to be replaced.
Silver To The Rescue.
Silver has been known since ancient times to have antimicrobial properties. Today, silver is used for its ability to kill organisms on contact. Silver catheters and implantable medical devices cut the risk of infections. Silver is used in topical disinfection solutions without the risk of any bacterial resistance developing. it’s the active ingredient in the burn cream Silvadene and appears in a variety of wound dressing pads.
EquiFit Inc.(http://www.equifit.net/, 877-437-8434) has a bucket called the AgSilver CleanBucket ($29.95). The durable buckets are all black and made of a high-density plastic polyetheylene blend impregnated with ionic silver.
EquiFit claims that horses prefer the taste of the water. We tested this with six horses, AgSilver CleanBucket hung side by side with the horse’s regular bucket. Two horses that had new (less than two months old) plastic buckets had no preference, but the four with older buckets showed a clear preference for the CleanBucket.
Bottom Line.
they’re more expensive than a similar plastic water bucket, but the choice is obvious. Both horses and owners give it a big thumbs up.
Horse Journal staff article.
