# Horse won't drink from water trough. HELP



## horsemanshiphelp (Nov 30, 2016)

I'd say you have a great grasp on your horses normal habits. You are to be applauded. My suggestion is to take your time. the more you force the issue the worse it can get. If your horse finds comfort with you and trusts you, just sit at the trough (maybe on an upside down bucket) dress warmly!, with the horse on a lead and encourage him to come to you for a pet. When he has shown effort of moving into his uncomfortable spot at the trough don't try to keep him there. Real him in for a pet and if he wants to take a step or two back let him. He needs to release well after his discomfort so after the pet, rub his tongue to get a sincere release of the jaw. While he's licking tell him good boy with a drawn out voice so he associates a relaxed phrase with his effort to explore something that makes him uncomfortable. Many times we can talk our horses into giving something an extra look or effort if we take their guard down with an encouraging tone they have experienced previously.


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## walkinthewalk (Jul 23, 2008)

Get the volt meter out and check the water.

I have one horse that could feel .05 volts (point zero five). We changed out the water heater and he drank from the tank again.

Your gelding may be more sensitive than your mare.


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## rambo99 (Nov 29, 2016)

Did the voltage meter check of water that has been an issue in the past .05 kept mare from drinking. It was 0 so no voltage going through the water. I'll spend some time with him tomorrow and see if i can't get him to get a bit closer to the trough. I'm worried he's not getting enough to drink even though i haul water to him 2 to 3 times a day.

Something happened to him to scare him what i have no clue. With 4 horses sometimes there's some pushing each other around,he maybe got pushed into the hot fence near water trough. So now thinks trough bites. Fence has been turned off now since i discovered he was scared of trough. That is only a theory on what could be the reason for not wanting to go near trough. Can't be watching them 24/7 but i do spend a good amount of time out with them feeding watering and just checking them over twice daily.


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## walkinthewalk (Jul 23, 2008)

Where is he in the pecking order?

Maybe one of the higher order horses pushed him, he hit the fence, got juiced and wrongly associated it with the trough.


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## horsemanshiphelp (Nov 30, 2016)

I agree that he thinks the trough is a biter. lol adding table salt to a little grain will make him thirsty so he'll become a bit more aggressive about dringking


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## rambo99 (Nov 29, 2016)

He's low man gets pushed around for most part.We put out big round bales and have to put out 4 or he gets pushed out of the hay. I know from watching them he has to wait his turn at trough if the other horses are getting drinks.. i will add salt to his feed tomorrow. But that does make me a bit worried if he doesn't go to trough to drink,but might make him more appt to drink from trough. All other things that could be wrong have been ruled out as far as trough is concerned. 

Saw him drinking from puddles today that was in between watering times. He was drinking dirty water so i took him a fresh bucket of clean water.


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## walkinthewalk (Jul 23, 2008)

It sounds like one or more of the herd have decided he isn't going to get any water.

When I had four horses, I actually saw one of the other horses wait for the #4 horse to go to the tank, and then chase him away.

It probably isn't possible to separate your #4 horse from the others? Stress like this also causes ulcers and weight loss eventually


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## flytobecat (Mar 28, 2010)

If you can maybe set up another trough for now or move the current trough to a more open space. If it's up against a wall, he may feel cornered or trapped.


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## rambo99 (Nov 29, 2016)

walkinthewalk said:


> It sounds like one or more of the herd have decided he isn't going to get any water.
> 
> When I had four horses, I actually saw one of the other horses wait for the #4 horse to go to the tank, and then chase him away.
> 
> It probably isn't possible to separate your #4 horse from the others? Stress like this also causes ulcers and weight loss eventually


its possible to separate him just going to take some doing.When i feed in am i will see just what is taking place at drink time. He has lost weight so your probably right he is stressed. I know i have to stand guard while he eats his grain. I do see him being moved from bales by the top dog of the herd,bales are spaced 20 to 30 feet apart. 

I will report back after my findings i the am.


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## rambo99 (Nov 29, 2016)

flytobecat said:


> If you can maybe set up another trough for now or move the current trough to a more open space. If it's up against a wall, he may feel cornered or trapped.


Could possibly setup another tank.Current one isn't against wall kinda out in the open but this horse is very, very submissive. Anyone pins ears or gives stink eye and he's gone right now.


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## walkinthewalk (Jul 23, 2008)

rambo99 said:


> Could possibly setup another tank.Current one isn't against wall kinda out in the open but this horse is very, very submissive. Anyone pins ears or gives stink eye and he's gone right now.


He sounds like my foundered horse. I laid my two elders to rest in the last two years, and I'm down to two horses. The other one is such a bully, I have to keep him separated from my IR horse. 

The bully horse has ~19 acres and the IR horse has ~5. It's a pain but the IR horse will not stand up for himself and will end up shoved into a fence if I don't keep them separated.


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## Dreamcatcher Arabians (Nov 14, 2010)

I have one that has to be separated from the others at feeding time, she gets so picked on. The problem is solved for now, I moved the bossiest one who was really after her into another pasture. Now she's bossing the stallion around. After she delivers and the foal is weaned, I'm thinking she's going on the sales list. In the meantime, I watch the submissive one to make sure she is not getting picked on by the others and is eating and drinking ok. 

And the water trough having an electrical issue is still a possibility. We had a tank heater go south and it was putting just enough current into the water that they all quit drinking from that tank. I could put my hand in the water and not feel anything, checked voltage, nothing showed. Eventually it got bad enough that I stuck my hand back in the tank and got a very mild shock, pulled the heater and put in a new one and problem solved.


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## jenndieu (Oct 31, 2016)

Side issue on hay rolls -- We started rolling out the hay roll across the field (instead of leaving it as one giant roll). We did this mainly to deal with a respiratory issue in one horse (not good for him to stick his head in a hay roll), but it had other positive effects. There is plenty of hay and plenty of space on the hay swath for everyone, so it eliminated a bullying issue. (That's just a secondary issue that I offer to anyone using hay rolls. Very positive results from that change.)

Kudos to you for being so up on your horses habits that you were able to catch and identify this problem before a major impaction, etc. Best of luck in getting this fixed. I like the idea of getting the submissive horse out of this field. However, I do recognize that that is not easy. Good on you for being willing.


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## rambo99 (Nov 29, 2016)

So i spent time just watching the horses this morning. He went to get a drink stops short of trough starts pawing at the ground. He left to eat hay but came back to water trough and repeated the same thing after he did this 5 different times i haltered him. Was able to get him right next to trough,took some water in my hand and put it on his lips. He would take a sip then look around then go back and repeat. Stood there with him haltered and rope on while he very nervously took short fast drinks. 

Noticed he's got bite marks on him so he's being bullied and there are 2 offenders. Both of who came over to try and chase him off from drinking. Ha little did they know i had the lung whip in hand and it made contact, with both their hides in a real fast swift fashion.

Working on getting area fenced off for him so he can eat and drink in peace,ground isn't frozen yet so can still get fence post in. 

The hay bale are netted with 1 1/2 inch hole nets and also in hay feeders. Without the nets and feeders there was way too much waste. Rolling them out sounds like a good idea but a good part would be wasted, walking through it peeing on it and pooping on it. Before nets and feeders they took great pride in making a mess of hay bales. We got tired of all the wasted hay mess to clean up every spring. Now there isn't any waste at all.

Being how nervous he was you'd think me swinging the lung whip would of had him come right out of his skin. He never flinched or batted an eye,guess he knew it wasn't aimed at him he trust me way more then i thought.


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## walkinthewalk (Jul 23, 2008)

I am so glad you got to the bottom of the issue and quick, too!. Wouldn't it be great if we could figure everything out this fast

Sometimes horses are better off by themselves yet still be able to see the other horses. Hopefully he will regain the weight he lost, now that he has some piece and quiet


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## rambo99 (Nov 29, 2016)

Still has an issue with drinking from trough. Was standing looking at it and pawing this morning. Did chores and he kept going over to trough but wouldn't drink. 

I halter him lead him over to trough he"ll drink. He"s by himself so no one to harass him. He"s not forgetting being chased from trough. Hopefully he figures out no one's going to chase him off now. Poor boy!


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## Smilie (Oct 4, 2010)

walkinthewalk said:


> Get the volt meter out and check the water.
> 
> I have one horse that could feel .05 volts (point zero five). We changed out the water heater and he drank from the tank again.
> 
> Your gelding may be more sensitive than your mare.




Big ditto!!!
Smilie got severely impacted one winter, when I did not know that there was a small electrical current leak in the trough, which you cannot feel with your bare hands
You also need a special sensitive volt meter to detect that very slight current, at the level where hroses will stop drinking
I only became suspicious, when I watched my gelding drink, then raise his head quickly and snort
I replaced the heater, and removed the hotwire from the section of fence near the trough
Horses have very good memories, and it took me some effort, to convince them to drink out of that trough again,esp Smilie, once I knew it was completely okay
I had to dip buckets of water out at first, then progressed to dipping water into the palm of my hands, bringing my hands closer and closer to the surface of that water, and so they finally drank from that trough again
Horses retain memory association with something that caused discomfort to them,for a long time, some more then others


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## Smilie (Oct 4, 2010)

Could be because he is bullied, but I sure would still check that trough. Going to drink,then pawing, stopping short of the trough is classic, far as some current leak
Yes, my boss horses always drink first, but the others just come up when they are done, so it is not really a problem, except sometimes in summer, the dominant gelding, decides to take a nap, with front feet on the cement pad, that the automatic waterer is on, head hanging over the water

My main pastures, have a common fenceline, so horses on either side , share a common automatic stock waterer, that functions year round,as it has a heat 
tape
Only had to use a floating heater, in the field Einstein, Smilie and Charlie were in , for the winter Now that I have less hroses, this will be the first winter I am not using a tank that requires a heater
If you do use those heaters, I learned to keep spares on hand, so I could regualrily de mineralize the, as that mineral build up, can cause them to short eventually


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## sarahfromsc (Sep 22, 2013)

Still check any electrical current due to a water tank heater, or even if the water trough is to close to an electrical fence. Some horses are very sensitive to electrical current off the electrical fence if the tank is to close.

Ask me how I know this........


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## rambo99 (Nov 29, 2016)

Checked trough with voltage meter no voltage going through trough. There is wood rail fencing where trough is. Its 10 foot stretch before hot wire fence starts.

Hes by himself now but other horses are across the fence line...that shares the trough. He drinks if I'm out there and lead him over to trough. Went to do pm chores and he was standing 2 feet from trough. ..pawing ground . Just walked over to trough he came over and got a drink. Go figure no halter no lead rope.

Other horse have no issues with trough.


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## phantomhorse13 (Feb 18, 2011)

rambo99 said:


> Hes by himself now but other horses are across the fence line...that shares the trough.


Hopefully it will just take a bit of time for him to realize that he won't be bullied at the tank. We had a similar issue here, only I wound up shutting the bully horse in by himself as the new guy was fine with the rest of the herd. The new guy took a bit to realize that the bully couldn't _actually_ get him any more (the bully was still charging the fence when the new guy went to drink).

However, if the other horses CAN reach over the fence and get him while he drinks, you may need to make the section of fence going across/over the tank taller so they can't get to him any more.


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## rambo99 (Nov 29, 2016)

Fence is high enough other horses can't reach over it to bite him.I left a bucket of water where he won't be scared to go drink. 

The two horses who push him around go over to fence and give him the evil eye. And he won't go near trough. ..hasn't figured out they can't get him. He's kinda a bit slow to figure things out. Not the brightest bulb on the block.


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## walkinthewalk (Jul 23, 2008)

rambo99 said:


> Fence is high enough other horses can't reach over it to bite him.I left a bucket of water where he won't be scared to go drink.
> 
> The two horses who push him around go over to fence and give him the evil eye. And he won't go near trough. ..hasn't figured out they can't get him. He's kinda a bit slow to figure things out. Not the brightest bulb on the block.


Being terrorized can be traumatic. 

Once my #4 horse realized his nemesis couldn't reach him, he turned the tables by standing just far enough away from the fence, the other horse can't quite reach him, lollol.

I have seen him eat grass next to the fence, until the other horse comes up. Then he will coyly move just out reach of the other horse's teeth, lollol. It took awhile for him to be sure the fence would keep the other horse away.


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## rambo99 (Nov 29, 2016)

He's drinking from trough without me having to lead him over to it. Still pawing ground takes him a bit to finally drink. ...but he's doing it with no help from me!!


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## walkinthewalk (Jul 23, 2008)

YAY:happydance::happydance::happydance::happydance:

Great job, recognizing the issue and taking quick action. Thank goodness you are set up in a way that you could separate him:grin:

If you can, now would be a good time to seize the moment and do some liberty/bonding work with this horse. I have found that, after a crisis when the horse has nowhere to turn but you, it's a good time to do that.

Even my oneriest horse learned to respond quite well to some liberty training. I'm not talking about all that fancy stuff on videos, I'm talking about things that really matter in daily life, like being 30' - 40' behind the horse, asking it to whoa and it does. It's a heart stopper when the horse listens and doesn't have to, lol

It also seems to be a confidence builder for the horse.

Anyway, many kudos for doing such a great job!:cowboy:


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## stevenson (Sep 12, 2011)

I would put a separate trough in for him . I would be to worried about a colic, and a trough would be a lot less expensive.


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## rambo99 (Nov 29, 2016)

stevenson said:


> I would put a separate trough in for him . I would be to worried about a colic, and a trough would be a lot less expensive.


I have thought about that...he is drinking good now. Back to filling trough every other day. So good indication everyone is drinking good. When trough isn't needing fill every other day.....then I know someone isn't drinking. Believe me iam keeping a very close eye on him.


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