# Automatic Waterers



## NBEventer (Sep 15, 2012)

I am not a fan of automatic waterers. I don't like that you can not monitor the horses water intake. Plus I find them to be really hard to clean really well and they trap a lot of nasty crud in them. I actually boarded at barns with automatic waterers and I would put water buckets in my stall and disable the automatic waterer.

But if you are really set on them the plastic ones are better.


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## nyg052003 (Oct 11, 2010)

NBEventer said:


> I am not a fan of automatic waterers. I don't like that you can not monitor the horses water intake. Plus I find them to be really hard to clean really well and they trap a lot of nasty crud in them. I actually boarded at barns with automatic waterers and I would put water buckets in my stall and disable the automatic waterer.
> 
> But if you are really set on them the plastic ones are better.


but won't the horses drink enough water as they know they need or does the size of the waterer make them impatient and they drink less?

with the plastic ones just basically run a water line to it and connect?


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## NBEventer (Sep 15, 2012)

A lot of horses are actually scared of them and wont drink enough. If you have a power outage they don't work. There are just so many reasons why they are not a reliable source of water for a horse. I've also been in two different barns that had them and the water line to them burst in the winter time creating a huge mess and spraying the horses. Again, that is just my opinion. I haven't found many people who like them honestly.

I'm not sure how they hook up, i've never installed them. I'm sure there is something on youtube.


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## verona1016 (Jul 3, 2011)

My barn has simple stock tank float valves mounted on large buckets, with one bucket mounted in the wall between every two stalls. They have PVC piping overhead with regular garden hoses coming down to the valve itself. 

It's a very inexpensive solution but has no way to track water consumption and freezes readily when we get very cold weather (we don't get it all that often though!) I've also seen horses occasionally pull or bump the bucket so that it is a little askew causing it to drip constantly. If it's not caught it floods the stall eventually.
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## stevenson (Sep 12, 2011)

Power outage ? and they don't work ? never seen one of those..
You can get some with a large bowl with the paddle or a float system
I don't like them 1) cannot judge how much a horse is drinking 2) if the water has to be off for a busted pipe then the horse is without water 3) I had some that made huge messes playing and letting the water over flow 4) one horse ripped them off the mounting. HUGE MESS. 5) it gets hot here and the water needs to run some to cool down, 6) I would be afraid of a pipe freezing and again no water.


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## Cowgirls Boots (Apr 6, 2011)

I have them at my barn. Two in the paddocks and one in each stall. 

The ones in my stalls are off and I have my own bucket hanging up so I can see how much my guys drink. 

I also have water troughs in the field next to the automatic waterer and they would rather drink from the trough.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## NBEventer (Sep 15, 2012)

stevenson said:


> Power outage ? and they don't work ? never seen one of those..
> You can get some with a large bowl with the paddle or a float system
> I don't like them 1) cannot judge how much a horse is drinking 2) if the water has to be off for a busted pipe then the horse is without water 3) I had some that made huge messes playing and letting the water over flow 4) one horse ripped them off the mounting. HUGE MESS. 5) it gets hot here and the water needs to run some to cool down, 6) I would be afraid of a pipe freezing and again no water.



I know next to nothing about them other then my experience at various barns with them lol. I was at one barn that a power outage caused them to stop working and the barn owner said that she was pulling them all out and going back to buckets because she was sick of the problems from them. 

Like I said, I know nothing about how they work. I've always used buckets. So i'm not a reliable source about how they work lol


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## Malice (Mar 10, 2012)

I honestly like our automatic waterers, we have one scaredy cat mustang gelding who took about two days to get used to the sound of it refilling but other then that after a couple of tries all other horses are fine. I've noticed the horses also prefer the automatic water over buckets, as they'll more readily drink out of them if offered both now. We have double sided metal ones that refill from a float system and run through the middle of two stalls, never have had them freeze and while I can't monitor how much an individual horse is drinking I've never had a dehydration problem. Only downside to them is they are more difficult to clean with all the nooks and hard to each places. As long as you keep up on it then its fine. Especially with a hose attached to a high pressure nozzle, easy easy that way.


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## Saddlebag (Jan 17, 2011)

I use the frost-free Nelson hydrant. Open the handle, water flows. Close the handle, the water in the pipe drains back down into the trench that's down about 8'. This is what keeps the pipe from freezing. A rigid plastic pipe directs the water to the pans just inside the fence.


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## david in md (Jun 13, 2013)

My horses drink from a Lapp energy free waterer purchased from www.kit-master.com. its an insulated plastic waterer with a plastic disk that floats on top of the water to keep it from freezing. I pull the drain plug out once a week to let the debris flush out. I like it because my horses live at home and I'd be the one filling troughs.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## NBEventer (Sep 15, 2012)

Saddlebag said:


> I use the frost-free Nelson hydrant. Open the handle, water flows. Close the handle, the water in the pipe drains back down into the trench that's down about 8'. This is what keeps the pipe from freezing. A rigid plastic pipe directs the water to the pans just inside the fence.


That is what we are putting outside our barn next summer. We had so much we needed to get done this year that we never got the water for the barn taken care of, so we run the water from the hose off the house. Going to be a serious PIA this winter but I can't complain, at least I finally have my horses home. If I need to lug water from the house, oh well.


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## kaitlynbowles (Sep 30, 2013)

We have a double-sided Tarter automatic waterer, and it has been awesome. I had to drag out one of our traditional troughs after fencing off some pasture (for a little weight management), and I wasn't happy to go back. All you have to do to clean the tarter waterer is turn the water off in the bottom compartment, and take out the plugs to scrub and rinse.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## nyg052003 (Oct 11, 2010)

Thanks to all that replied. Looks like i will continue to fill 55 gallon drums


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## Mochachino (Aug 14, 2012)

I don't use them as I just like to know how much they are drinking.


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