Tips For Dealing With Unkind Weather - February 25, 2021

Tips for dealing with unkind weather.

Here are a couple of tips that have helped me tremendously during that hateful, unnecessary,  portion of the year, known as winter.  

There are numerous benefits to having heaters in stock tanks. Horses, who seem to sometimes look for reasons to colic, will drink more water when it is warmer than an iced cocktail, and that alone will help alleviate the chances of colic. 

I use submersible heaters because my horses believe that anything floating in their tank is to be used to test their throwing skills.  I place the tanks as close to the outlet as possible, always using a GFCI, of course. I also run the cord through PVC to thwart grabbing/chewing the cord. 

Both of these brands have worked well for me, for multiple years.

Now that there is a tank full of warm water, let’s take full advantage!!   My barn isn’t heated, so any horses in stalls who have water buckets will have huge cubes of ice if something isn't changed.  

Click here for more info

Click here for more info

I don’t believe in just breaking the surface ice, again, horses drink more if the water isn’t ice cold. So, I use double end snaps to hang the buckets, which allows me to easily unsnap the frozen bucket, while leaving the snap on the ring, keeping it ice free.  I then simply put the iced up bucket into the tank, use a different bucket in the stall, and switch them out the next time I feed. No matter how cold it’s been the buckets I’ve put in the tank have always been thawed by the time of the next feeding. I feed morning and evening.  

A hose that didn’t get drained in time, or is frozen up for whatever reason can be thawed in the same way, simply put it in the tank.

Hope this helps!! 

Feed lots and lots of hay during frigid temps, and provide fresh, ice free water!!!!

It’s truly critical for those precious buddies!

MaryAnn

President of the IHWA,

I Hate Winter Association