ponds in pastures

[mightyhijames]

anyone have an opinion on ponds in pasture used by horses? safe? unsafe? thanks.

[Rushtawin]

My thoughts on it are this: find out what contaminants (toxins, parasites, diseases shed by wild/domestic animals) are problematic in your area and then determine whether or not to give your animals access to that water. Your cooperative extension should be able to point you in the right direction and may offer inexpensive testing options. My source of wariness is because water is often a vector for things such as parasites in livestock & horses. Hope this helps, and wishing I knew more on the topic.

[amanda1]

My personal opinion.....asking for trouble!!! Some horses sink like rocks!!!

[KamiBrooks]

Talk to your local extension agent. Even ponds with good, constant water sources can be difficult to maintain. When you add the run-off from the pasture, it will get even harder to keep it from becoming a green lake. Keeping sides that aren't too steep or muddy (so safe for the horses) all the way around in a natural pond would be hard. And consider how many of the lost/stolen horses are actually found in the spring with the pond thaws.

I was considering installing a pond on my farm. After talking to the extension agent and people involved in agriculture ponds, I've decided against it as just too much work to keep safe & clean.

[madelyn]

Unless you can aerate the pond and keep it very clean, most times OTTB's and the like will not drink the water until they are dying of thirst. It is less work to put in permanent water troughs.

Ponds get stagnant and mucky in drought and provide perfect breeding areas for mosquitos (EIA and other things are mosquito-borne). On a curious note, the fellow who owned my farm before (I call him "Jack, the Almost Builder") tried to establish one up on top of the hill (!?) and it may hold a few inches of water now and then. Sometimes it dries completly, but it usually has a big mud puddle in the middle. The broodmares treat it like a mud spa and they LOVE it in the summer.

[Regal13]

One of my pastures has a pretty large pond (3/4 acre) in it. It was not intended to be a water source for the horses; when we decided to add another pasture it was already there, and we decided that to have it filled in would be a monstrous task!! So it got "fenced into" the pasture. For whatever reason, none of the horses even attempt to drink from it- they don't even go closer than a few feet from the edge. We do treat it with a copper algaecide that is safe for livestock (it's the kind made for swimming ponds) just in case they do drink. If you decide to put a pond in, my two suggestions would be to stock it in order to keep the mosquitos at bay, and put in a fountain-type aerator.

[Bondama]

I have two mares that would love a pond if we had one. Not for drinking, but for splashing!! These two love to stand knee deep and paw and splash. It's really funny to watch.

[griff]

Mine prefer pond water to spicket water which is treated

griff

[madelyn]

Some of the worst condition starved, dehydrated horses I've gotten from the killpen got that way when they were expected to live on pasture and pond water (weeds and muck). By the way, griff, I think you mean water from a spigot? Like tap water?

[kezeli]

I would not put a pond in, I'm surprised that no one mentioned leptos and That protozoan born illness I'm blanking on. Any possum, rabbit or racoon that walks through the field can contaminate it.

[mightyhijames]

thanks for the input. i'm looking at property that already has a pond, i was thinking more along the lines of safety rather than as a water supply.

[madelyn]

It would be fine if you fenced off access around and built a "beach" for horses to wade in. If they fall in they can drown REALLY easily.