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Expert
Posts: 1477
  
Location: In the land of peanuts and cotton | We're expecting in the next couple days unusually cold weather for our area. Saturday it's not suppose to get out of the 20s which itsnt normal for here. Couple of questions.... My horses have blankets but would they be better in their stalls and sorta out of the wind or out so they can move around and be in the sun? Of coarse since our normal weather is 40s I don't usually hav to worry about my water buckets and troughs freezing. I know I can buy heaters but they're expensive and I would only need it a couple days. Is there anything else I can do to help keep them from freezing? I read that I could put salt water in bottles and put the bottles in the troughs and that would help. Anyone tied this? |
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 Expert
Posts: 1857
| Just break the ice in the morning, it's only two days. The horses will be fine if they have hay in front of them at all times. |
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 Take a Picture
Posts: 12841
 
| someone put on facebook that you can put salt water in throw away water bottles then put them in the water trough. I really can't see how that would possibly work since water troughs freeze on the and salt water is more dense than plain water??? But it is cheap |
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 A Somebody to Everybody
Posts: 41354
Location: Under The Big Sky Of Texas | When we had our freezing temps I would still let my horses out and carried a hammer to break the ice on the troughs, I had to break ice at least 4 times or more during the day. |
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 The Bling Princess
Posts: 3411
Location: North Dakota | Throw them extra hay, give them shelter from the wind, and they'll be fine. If it starts snowing that wet, heavy snow, then maybe move them inside for the night. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 1182
Location: Do I hear Banjos? | Hay and access to water and they will be fine.
On the water bottle idea...my guess is the salt water has a lower freezing point than plain water...so maybe that's their thinking...but just the way they will float around in the trough may help keep the ice from forming on the top of the water? That's the only thing I can think of as to why folks may do that.
We don't get too many days too far below freezing here but we get some. I have the de-icer/trough heater in when temps will be anywhere near freezing even if not long enough to actually freeze the water. They will drink more water if its not ice cold...frozen or not. I want to do all I can to encourage drinking.
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 Good Grief!
Posts: 6343
Location: Cap'n Joan Rotgut.....alberta | It was -37c here last weekend...i had horses outside with no blankets on....M |
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 Heeler Hoarder
Posts: 2067
| They will be fine a wind break and hay in front of them they will stay plenty warm |
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Expert
Posts: 1314
Location: North Central Iowa Land of white frozen grass | Horses do not have to have water in front of them all the time. Just offer it in the morning and night. They will be fine. Mine were outside when we where -18 degrees below zero for 2 days. They were actually rolling in the snow and having fun. They are designed to be outside. |
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Expert
Posts: 1477
Location: In the land of peanuts and cotton | They have a round roll 24/7. If I put them up I just pull some off the round tool and put in their hay feeders. I haven't seen any predictions for snow but I have seen we have a chance of ice. |
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 Ms. Poutability
Posts: 2362
Location: In my own world | mruggles - 2016-01-21 4:21 PM
It was -37c here last weekend...i had horses outside with no blankets on....M
Yours are tougher than mine!!! |
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  Warmblood with Wings
Posts: 27846
Location: Florida.. | mruggles - 2016-01-21 5:21 PM It was -37c here last weekend...i had horses outside with no blankets on....M
But they are use to that weather.. hers isnt.. the salt bottle doesnt work someone said
Id blanket and hay and leave them out with a wind break to move around.. ours goes out in 20s we blanket of course.. and the water troughs we just break with hammer in morning.. a few days is ok.. or leave hose running slightly into it.. |
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 Expert
Posts: 1367
Location: mi | I agree with everyone else lots of hay and they will be fine. Break the water as often as possible and the only reason the water bottles help is that movement will slow down the ice from forming. It certainly won't hurt but don't bet on them keeping it from freezing.
They only reason to bring them in is if it rains, snows a heavy wet snow or as you said they are calling for a chance of icing I would bring mine in for that. Otherwise unless you are having 30 mph winds with those temps they will be find for a few days.
Edited by ajs2002 2016-01-22 7:17 AM
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| Leave them out and let them move around and be in the sun.
We had -30 wind chills here last week. Yep, -30. I would look out the window and the horses would be in a windbreak facing the sun, sun bathing. Ours aren't blanketed either. They really do better than we think  |
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 Go Your Own Way
Posts: 4947
Location: SE KS | streakysox - 2016-01-21 3:43 PM someone put on facebook that you can put salt water in throw away water bottles then put them in the water trough. I really can't see how that would possibly work since water troughs freeze on the and salt water is more dense than plain water??? But it is cheap
be careful of the bottle with salt water in it - my boys would pick up the bottle and bite into and then you have
horses swallowing salt water, |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 672
| Dinero10 - 2016-01-22 1:15 PM
streakysox - 2016-01-21 3:43 PM someone put on facebook that you can put salt water in throw away water bottles then put them in the water trough. I really can't see how that would possibly work since water troughs freeze on the and salt water is more dense than plain water??? But it is cheap
be careful of the bottle with salt water in it - my boys would pick up the bottle and bite into and then you have
horses swallowing salt water,
It doesn't work. |
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 Northern Chocolate Queen
Posts: 16576
Location: ND | If I was you I'd leave them out with free choice hay & blanket if they seem cold. If it's really humid & damp feeling where you are I'd probably blanket.
I'm in ND & we have some pretty brutal temperature swings here. I know people say that our horses are used to it but truly, it doesn't matter where you live when the temps change 40-50 degrees in a day it's a drastic change. One day it'll be in the high 20s here & the next it will drop to -20 with windchills as cold as -50. Most of my horses are not blanketed. My sr citizen is blaneted as well as a mare that didn't grow a heavy coat this year. Everyone else does just fine with free choice hay (they have round bales in nets & when it gets cold I also give them loose hay) and protection from the wind. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1079
| SaraJean - 2016-01-22 4:04 PM If I was you I'd leave them out with free choice hay & blanket if they seem cold. If it's really humid & damp feeling where you are I'd probably blanket.
I'm in ND & we have some pretty brutal temperature swings here. I know people say that our horses are used to it but truly, it doesn't matter where you live when the temps change 40-50 degrees in a day it's a drastic change. One day it'll be in the high 20s here & the next it will drop to -20 with windchills as cold as -50. Most of my horses are not blanketed. My sr citizen is blaneted as well as a mare that didn't grow a heavy coat this year. Everyone else does just fine with free choice hay (they have round bales in nets & when it gets cold I also give them loose hay) and protection from the wind.
^ this.
In ND our horses can't adjust to 50 plus degree temperature swings. They do fine in it, but they can never totally adjust to swings like that. Humidity does make a difference, so keep them blanketed since they have been and let them out on free choice hay. they will be totally fine.
Also, at 20° your water won't freeze that hard, especially for a only a day or 2. The horses will break it when they need a drink. |
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 Undercover Amish Mafia Member
Posts: 9992
Location: Kansas | invest in a stock tank heater. |
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 Sock eating dog owner
Posts: 4557
Location: Where the pavement ends and the West begins Utah | I put water about 1/5th in a milk jug and 2 teaspoons of salt. It will not keep the water in the tank from freezing however the water around the jug didn't freeze and I noticed my horse has pushed it about and been able to drink. It just keeps a hole which keeps it open for drinking. If your horses are getting soaking wet on the neck bring them in out of the weather. |
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Expert
Posts: 1477
Location: In the land of peanuts and cotton | That's how it's been here just not that brutal I had on shorts and flip flops yesterday. This morning started in the 60s and right now at 6:00 it's 30 with a wind chill of 25. And a sleet/snow mix. |
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Northern Chocolate Queen
Posts: 16576
Location: ND | Gotta love weather swings. I shot these pics on Jan 17, wind chills where about -40 that morning. Tomorrow, not even a week later, it's supposed to be almost 40 here....heat wave, i'm going riding!!!
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Expert
Posts: 3147
| Dinero10 - 2016-01-22 1:15 PM
streakysox - 2016-01-21 3:43 PM someone put on facebook that you can put salt water in throw away water bottles then put them in the water trough. I really can't see how that would possibly work since water troughs freeze on the and salt water is more dense than plain water??? But it is cheap
be careful of the bottle with salt water in it - my boys would pick up the bottle and bite into and then you have
horses swallowing salt water,
The idea with salt water in the milk jug was that the horses would push the milk jug down and drink the water underneath the jug. My mare jerked the lid off the jug and I had taped the lid on! |
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 Accident Prone
Posts: 22277
Location: 100 miles from Nowhere, AR | I have a couple of 16 gallon heated tubs. They were about $60 a piece and well worth it, IMO. They don't just keep the water from freezing, they make it a little warm so they drink more all winter. I put them out when it first gets cold and keep them out until spring. This is their 3rd season. Since most of us in the south are feeding coastal hay, hydration is really important.
I also keep my big unheated tubs filled up. Sometimes they want the cooler water, and I don't have to worry about if my hose freezes--just break ice and use a bucket to fill up the heated tubs. We don't stay below freezing for days on end very often, but it's good to have a backup plan. |
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