# Water Shocking Horses?



## Corporal (Jul 29, 2010)

Good thing it was volts, NOT watts or amps, or she'd be dead. I do NOT trust these heaters, and I'm not the only one. I've been discussing this topic for over 20 years now. I even posted in the Sufficient Self forum asking how to heat the tank without exposing my horses to any wiring. Right now in the winter I pull my big tank and alternate between a 20 gallon and a 30 gallon rubber round waterers. I can break up the ice in those, when necessary. They double during the summer for my north pasture, when I have to do work in other pastures, so they are worth purchasing.
Take it back and try to get a refund, or at least, a refund card from the store.
The ONLY heated watering container I use is a dog heated bowl, for my chickens, bc they won't chew or peck on the cord.


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## poundinghooves (Aug 5, 2010)

The heater is supposed to be 1500 Watts!

I have a small tank, I'm not sure of how many gallons and I can not get it unfrozen during the winter. Obviously, during the summer there is no problem, but in the winter, when it's below freezing, I can't bust the ice for the life of me, unless it's only a thin layer. Also, we have to fill the trough with a _hose_ so I can't just bust the ice, pick it up out of the tank and pitch it because I can't just refill it lickety split, I can only refill it if the hose isn't frozen, or with tons and tons of trips back and forth with a bucket, and I'm a small person so this doesn't come easy to me. I've got no idea how to fix this problem.


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## MHFoundation Quarters (Feb 23, 2011)

I'm not much help, I don't use electric tank heaters either because of the chance of them getting shocked, just the thought scares the snot out of me. Glad your mare is okay! I use gas tank heaters for the stock tanks, get the big propane tanks topped off in the summer when price is low and runs them all winter usually with a bit left over (it cost $36 to top off the propane in July).


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## Corporal (Jul 29, 2010)

Corporal said:


> *Right now in the winter I pull my big tank and alternate between a 20 gallon and a 30 gallon rubber round waterers. I can break up the ice in those, when necessary. They double during the summer for my north pasture, when I have to do work in other pastures, so they are worth purchasing.*


Buy one bc you CAN break up the ice.


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## poundinghooves (Aug 5, 2010)

What do you use to break the ice?


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## Corporal (Jul 29, 2010)

I just throw it, step on it and bang it out. It only takes a few minutes and rubber is very forgiving.


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## jaydee (May 10, 2012)

This is why I wont use water heaters in the actual troughs or buckets too
The whole thing is supposed to be submersed but I dont think thats the problem
It might be the extension lead - especially if they warn to not use one but most likely a loose connection somewhere


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## poundinghooves (Aug 5, 2010)

20 or 30 gallons is much less than what my trough will hold (although I don't know my trough's exact capacity) so that would be much easier to break. How do you fill them back up once you break the ice? Right now I only have my (large) mini horses so it wouldn't be too bad to keep them in water, but by next winter I will have a barrel pony/horse and he or she will drink much more water but by then we will hopefully have a more sufficient way (besides the hose) to fill the water.


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## MHFoundation Quarters (Feb 23, 2011)

I have a couple of smaller lots with 70 gallon rubbermaid tanks that don't have heaters. For those I use a sledge hammer to bust the ice and a metal potato fork to scoop it out. I fill them back up with hoses, then walk the water out of the hoses so they don't freeze. Smaller containers outside when you don't have heaters are a pita.


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## Corporal (Jul 29, 2010)

I carry buckets...from the house. HOPEFULLY, THIS YEAR, DH and I build a heated building over the well, which is 20 feet from the barn. I try to make the best of it, and tell myself that it's my winter workout routine.


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## poundinghooves (Aug 5, 2010)

Oh, wow, Corporal, that is quite a work out! And rubber buckets can't crack, right? Because I had a plastic one crack in the bottom last year when the water froze.


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## Corporal (Jul 29, 2010)

FOR THE RECORD, I left rubber feeding buckets outside for YEARS before they developed cracks. I was REALLY abusive to them. =b It isn't impossible for these to crack, but it probably won't happen over one winter season. When they do get a crack, you can reuse them for feeding hay/grain in a stall, or for other animals.
I carry the water in those big, hardware store, plastic buckets bc they are lightweight. I hang them upside on the 3 wooden posts that keep you from backing into my barn, so they drain and don't crack from any ice. When we had a bad cold snap last week, I drew extra water the night before, stored them in my grain room, which is the warming room in my barn, and I only had a skim of ice, whereas the chicken's little rubber water bowl (outside) had 3 inches of ice. (I rotate THEIR 2, small rubber water bowls, too.)


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## RitzieAnn (Dec 22, 2010)

I have the same heater. I don't like it very much, but I use it sometimes. I have a 30 (maybe 35 gallon?) rubbermaid trough that I use in the winter. Luckily our temps don't get into freezing too often. I turn it on in the morning when I get out of bed, and by the time I leave for work (about an hour later) I unplug it. It thaws it out nicely.

The one I prefer is this:
http://www.callisters.com/assets/images/regularpics/15dp_api.jpg

Again, I only have to plug in at night, and it's been a week since freezing temps, but I like that one, because the horses cannot move it, and it's fixed, so the risk of it melting my trough (100 gallon) is next to impossible.


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## Phly (Nov 14, 2012)

You can test for stray voltage a few ways, your hand being easiest. Or you can use a D.V.O.M (digital volt ohm meter) one lead in the water and the other on the ground. They are super sensitive so be sure you know how to read it. In a side note, we once had a metal stock tank that got kicked into the electric fence and was shocking the horses. Just a thought.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## waresbear (Jun 18, 2011)

I have never used that model, but I have always used a stock tank de-icer as it can to -40C at times. Never had one give a shock yet & I have been using de-icers for decades. I find they burn out before they short out, especially when some horses (who shall remain nameless), wing them out of the trough & play with them. The best one I have tried, sorry don't know the brand I bought it at the local hardware store, is small submersible one that looks like a lifesaver, I have that one for about 5 years now and it's been played with a few times & still works great.


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## 2manypets (Mar 28, 2011)

Why don't you get a bigger tank, and dig out a footing for it about a foot or so down into the ground? Inside this 'footprint' use a post hole digger and sink 2 or 3 very deep holes, maybe 2 or 3 feet straight down into the ground. 
This will help prevent freezing using geothermal heat from the Earth itself. Just a little work and no electricity!


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## tim62988 (Aug 30, 2012)

Farm Innovators Multi-Use Utility Deicer, 250 Watt - 2170738 | Tractor Supply Company

we have something that looks similar but has a cover over it, and have never had problems. 

I would be guessing stray voltage, but I hate braking ice because I don't know how long the horse has been out of water if you're breaking ice every day.

as far as the "don't attatch to an extension cord" make sure it's a 12/3 or a 10/3 cord and you will be fine, most people just buy cheap extension cords and drawing the amount of juice that a heater will will actually overload the cheap extension cord and create a fire hazard


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## Northernstar (Jul 23, 2011)

I use the 16 gal. heated water_ bucket _(Tractor Supply) and I wouldn't sell it for a Million $!!! - I haul 5 gal. buckets of water using a Jet Sled from the spigot behind the house to fill. I have it sitting on a wood pallet right up to the fence by the pasture gate, and a 100' heavy duty cord running down to the polebarn and plugged in. By Nov. around here, there is no chipping ice anymore, as one can watch the ice form right after chipping! This is my 2nd harsh winter of use with it, and it's 'tried and true' - I can _highly_ recommend! 

Agree with above poster on not buying a cheap extension cord - worth every penny!


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## Celeste (Jul 3, 2011)

I never have had a problem with horses getting shocked from the de-icer. The one that I have says that you must use it with a rubber container and not metal.

One advantage to heating the water is that they drink more and are therefore less apt to colic. It has been so warm this winter that I haven't needed it.

If your heater is shocking the horses, it is defective. I would take it back and get a replacement.


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## usandpets (Jan 1, 2011)

Corporal said:


> Good thing it was volts, NOT watts or amps, or she'd be dead..


Umm... A little electric lesson here. It is volts, amps and watts. Volts is the pressure pushing electricity thru. Amps is the current or flow of electricity. Watts is the work done or heat generated. All three are present. 

OP - If the horses are getting shocked, there is a defect in the heater, or a crack in the wire. You aren't putting the connection of the extension cord and the heater in the water, right? That would cause a shock too. 

Do you have electric fence and have the cord for the heater touching one of the fence wires? Quick story: I was filling one of the tanks and had the hose on one wire of the fence. Up came one of the horses to get a drink. As he touched the water, I heard the fence zap. It traveled along the hose to the water and thru the horse. He was hesitant to get another drink. I couldn't help laughing. Now back to your issue. 

Last year we used a floating heater. It did ok but it only worked for that year. This year it didn't heat as well and there was some ice in their tank. The other problems we had were the cord wouldn't stay straight so the heater was always on the far side from the horses and the boys would play with the cord. They never pulled the heater out but could have. 

This year we went to using one that goes through the drain plug. They work great and keep the whole tank ice free. Only the heating element is in the tank. No wires exposed to the horses or water.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Celeste (Jul 3, 2011)

usandpets said:


> This year we went to using one that goes through the drain plug. They work great and keep the whole tank ice free. Only the heating element is in the tank. No wires exposed to the horses or water.
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


If it ever turns to winter here again, i will look for one of those. It sounds like a good design.


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## waresbear (Jun 18, 2011)

tim62988 said:


> Farm Innovators Multi-Use Utility Deicer, 250 Watt - 2170738 | Tractor Supply Company
> 
> we have something that looks similar but has a cover over it, and have never had problems.
> 
> ...


 That's the one I have, tough little thing & I use it in a 50 gallon trough, more than enough juice to keep the ice off. Yes always use a heavy extension cord, they even have ratings on them now.


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## usandpets (Jan 1, 2011)

Celeste said:


> If it ever turns to winter here again, i will look for one of those. It sounds like a good design.


http://www.tractorsupply.com/allied-precision-2002dp-universal-drain-plug-de-icer-2170013

If a store has the drop in heaters, they probably will have the drain plug ones too. Unless it is a really small town with a really small store.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Lanny Collins (Mar 30, 2012)

poundinghooves said:


> 20 or 30 gallons is much less than what my trough will hold (although I don't know my trough's exact capacity) so that would be much easier to break. How do you fill them back up once you break the ice? Right now I only have my (large) mini horses so it wouldn't be too bad to keep them in water, but by next winter I will have a barrel pony/horse and he or she will drink much more water but by then we will hopefully have a more sufficient way (besides the hose) to fill the water.


Poundinghooves = Put a 2x4 piece of wood in your water tank. It should be long enough so that it touches the bottom of you tank and is at least a couple feet above the water level. To break the ice just get ahold of the 2x4 (that is above water level) and move it side to side. The longer length of wood above water level will give you more leverage and water doesn't freeze quite as hard to wood as it does metal. After you break the 2x4 loose you can use it as a battering ram to hit the top of the unbroken ice. To keep it from freezing thicker always fish out the pieces of ice.
You don't mention how much hose you have but I always unhook my hose and store it in my garage where I run a small heater for my dog/cat where they sleep.


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## RitzieAnn (Dec 22, 2010)

I agree that the drain plug heater is the way to go! As I have mentioned, I only need to plug it in sometimes. I have the extension cord all hooked up & I wrap electrical tape around the joint to keep rain out of it. It is not hard to take off in the spring.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## MissColors (Jul 17, 2011)

poundinghooves said:


> What do you use to break the ice?


 
At the farm I take a garden hoe and slam that thing in it. breaks it in one trick. I also take a plastic collandar to take out all the small pieces of ice and the big ones i put gloves on and take those out and sling them across the pasture to break them. :lol:


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## littrella (Aug 28, 2010)

I also use the kind that goes in through the drain plug. It works well & I've had no problems with in. we also put our extenion cord through a pvc pipe & then tie that to the fence so that no one can try & chew on the cord


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## Celeste (Jul 3, 2011)

littrella said:


> I also use the kind that goes in through the drain plug. It works well & I've had no problems with in. we also put our extenion cord through a pvc pipe & then tie that to the fence so that no one can try & chew on the cord


That's a great idea!


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## Saddlebag (Jan 17, 2011)

Pounding - how many horses are you watering? If you water before 8 am the horses will drink plenty. Stay there then dump out what they don't drink. If you are there at noon you might offer water but try to time the watering while still daylight. Those are the natural drinking times - after sunrise and before dark. They will be fine all day without water. For two horses I use the small rubber feed pan. They can both drink at the same time and I just refill it if if needed. It's not real heavy even if full of ice. The best item for breaking ice is an axe. If your horses are getting an imperceptable shock it won't belong before they won't go near the tank. That water heater on the extension cord will run your electricity bill thro the roof.


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## goneriding (Jun 6, 2011)

I second the drain plug heaters. Heat rises....They work better than the floaters. The water seems to be more cooler than frigid with the drain plug heater. Just make sure your seal is good, they have a tendency to wear out before the heater does. I wrapped our tank with insulation and duct taped all of the outside which helps. Covering the top half of the tank would help too, just my two cents.

Horse haven't chewed the duct tape yet...knock on wood!


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