PSU Horse Barns Web Project Dr. Nancy Diehl, Instructor
Water at the Penn State Horse Barns Leah M. Laytar Importance of Water Water is the most important nutrient. Water composes approximately 70-75% of fat free mass of an animal’s body. It is essential for all vital processes. It aids in sight, temperature control, digestion, regulation of sound, and as a solvent to lubricate joints and acts as a cushion for the central nervous system. The average idle horse requires approximately 5-10 gallons of water per day. It is recommended that there is one waterer per ten horses in a group housing situation. Also, highly available water supply and quality are important. The goal is to provide water that is clean, fresh, and without odor, chemical, and microbial organisms. Another consideration is the amount of minerals including carbonates, sulfates, bicarbonates, and chlorides in the water. A measurement of 2,500 mg/l of mineral content is very good, and 5,000 mg/l is safe for animals. Anything higher than 5,000 mg/l is not fit for animal consumption. Penn State has automatic waterers in most of the stalls, pastures, paddocks, and pony pens. There are two different brands, both having nearly the same device used to make water supply available to the horses. Old Barn Waterers The old barn is mostly equipped with the old Ritchie Industries version automatic Fig. 1 Waterer at the old barn. waterer. The front two stalls and the back two stalls each have one automatic waterer. These waterers are heated. They work off of a floatation device. So basically, when the water level gets low, the float is going to signal that the water has to be refilled. The waterer has no sharp edges and sits on a cement block with rounded edges as well to prevent injury. In two of these stalls the waterers are situated within the stall partition so they are shared by the horses in the adjacent stalls. Another point to mention about the old barn is that there are several stalls that do not have automatic waterers. Instead there are buckets. The main concern with the use of the buckets as shown here is that in the winter the water freezes. At these times buckets are checked approximately every six hours. When lactating mares are in these stalls two buckets are kept filled at all times. New Barn Waterers The waterers at the new barns have essentially the same system. Each waterer has a float and a heater. This waterer is manufactured by Pride of the Farm by Hawkeye Steel Industries. As in the old barn, some of the waterers are shared between two stalls (see Figure 2). One of the major concerns with a system like this is preventing the spread of diseases since many bacterial and some viral diseases can be shared through the waterer. Other management techniques should be in place to help prevent horses sharing contagious diseases. Figure 2: New Barn Water. Waterers in the Paddocks and Pastures The outside waterers work in the same way. There is a heating system to prevent frost or freezing. The waterers for the yearlings are positioned between two paddocks. The yearlings have easy access to the water and it is also raised on wood blocks. As in the barn, and you can see in Figure 3, the piping conveying the water comes from above; this prevents backflow from contaminating the water supply. Some pastures also have automatic and heated watering systems, Figure 3: Waterer in the Yearling Paddock. working in the same way as the indoor and outdoor waterers. Some of the larger horse pastures used to be supplied with a stock tank, but this year Penn State is putting in automatic and heated waterers. Figure 1: Bucket in the Old barn. Penn State waterers are cleaned as needed, usually about once a week. Water is drained from the bottom of the unit. It can then be cleaned by hand. While automatic waterers can be very convenient, the negatives include: valves sticking and cause flooding, heating malfunction and subsequent freezing which can damage parts, and the potential for stray voltage. Other Water Options There are many other options for horses to get water. The first and most obvious is that horses can get water from ponds, streams, and rivers. This is a sufficient source of water for the summer months. However during the winter, water must be brought in to the horses if the natural water source freezes. There are many different styles of automatic waterers: diaphragm, float, paddle, and pedestal. Diaphragm waterers have a different valve than the floater to push water into the bowl. The diaphragm valve is completely enclosed in a polyethylene material to avoid contact with the horses. The float waterer maintains water level when the horse drinks enough of the water to trigger a reaction from the float to add more water. The paddle waterer or nose pump creates a shallow reservoir in the tank. As the horse puts its nose in to drink water, it hits a plunger that will pump fresh water into the reservoir. The last type of waterer for horses is the pedestal waterer. This is just a waterer that is raised. It isn’t positioned on a cement block or wood pile, nor is it mounted. This type of waterer can be heated or unheated and automatic or manual. Also you can find that some automatic waterers will have a timer that will add more water into the bowl instead of a floater. Today, most waterers are made of polyethylene construction. It is a safer material. It hasn’t any sharp edges. There isn’t any rust. And it is guaranteed to hold up under extreme conditions. However some manufacturers are still making steel waterers. Conclusions All in all, Penn State is satisfied with its watering system. With horses spread over 2 barns and multiple distant pastures the automatic waterer system provides for a constant supply of clean water with minimal labor requirements. Reference Pond, W. G., Church, D. C., and Pond, K. R. Basic Animal Nutrition and Feeding. New York, NY: John Wiley and Sons, 1974.
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