Local Riding

Your horses drinking water.

by Karen Mac
(Edinburgh, Scotland)

Horse Drinking from Trough

A recent study was carried out to test whether horses preferred drinking from buckets, a pressure valve bowl (where the horses have to push a plate to get water) or a float valve bowl (where the water automatically refills when it dips below a certain level).

The study found that horses universally prefer to drink from a bucket.

This is possibly because the bucket, being placed on the floor, more closely resembles the your horses natural drinking habit and it's probably easier to get to with the water bucket having a larger diameter opening.

When the test horses were restricted to the two automatic watering systems, it was found the horses spent more time drinking from them, but they took in less water, causing an overall decline in hydration levels.

So, if your horse's access to water is limited to automatic watering bowls, it could pay dividends if you supplement your horses drinking water with a simple rubber bucket filled once or twice a day, especially during a hot spell or after exercise.