Water Trough Heater Safety

©  2008 Cherry Hill   © Copyright Information

Hello Cherry,

How do you stop a horse from playing with the tank heater cord and ripping it out of the plug, and how do you prevent a horse from standing, playing in her water trough, the trough is filled with mud urine manure and very undrinkable when she is done. Hope you can help.

Thank you. Kres

Hi Kres,

A water trough should be tall enough so that it would not be easy for a horse to put a hoof in it. This usually means about 30 inches tall. This usually prevents a horse from putting muddy feet in or tipping the trough over.

If a horse backs up to a water trough to defecate, I've had luck placing large rokcs around the base of the water trough which prevents a horse from backing up close enough to poop yet still allows a horse to be able to reach the trough to drink out of it.

All tank heaters must be made inaccessible to horses. This is customarily done by partitioning off the area where the tank heater will reside which can be done with a wooden cover and a heavy mesh containment area for the heater. The cord should never be accessible to a horse as the horse could be electrocuted. Often a good way to do this is to locate the tank half in and half out of a paddock, pen, or pasture, so the heater cage and cord is well on the outside and the horse only has access to the safe half of the tank for drinking. One way to keep a horse from getting at the cord is to run the cord through a steel or heavy plastic pipe that is buried or firmly attached to a pen or wall.

Manure as Arena Footing

©  2008 Cherry Hill   © Copyright Information

Hi Cherry,

I recently moved to Las Vegas from the east coast. Upon arriving here, I noticed that the majority of stables in the area place the manure from the stalls directly into the arena to soften the footing. (We are in the desert and the ground tends to be very hard.) This seems extremely unsanitary to me and to my friend (who also moved here from the east coast). We board our horses at the home of a friend who doesn't have the money to put down another kind of surface in our arena and round pen. Is it better to remove the manure from the arena and ride on a hard surface? Or to ride on manure? Please realize that land is in short supply here and so our horses are also turned out in the arena for exercise - often eating their hay off the manure covered ground. We are very worried about worms and need to know what our best choice of action should be. (We worm regularly.)

Suggestions?
Karin

Hi Karin,

Fresh manure is not a good option for softening arena footing, especially when the arena is for turnout and occasional feeding. You are right, it is unsanitary and just increases the possibility of parasite infestation and fly breeding.

Composted manure would be a safer additive BUT in dry climates, like yours and mine, the humus can become very dusty. And in wet climates, the humus can become slippery, so even composted manure is not a perfect solution.

I'm not going to answer which is better, to ride on hard ground or on manure - you will have to make that decision based on how hard the ground is and economics. You might want to consider either adding on top or working another material into the arena footing - something like decomposed granite or sand. But without seeing your soil, it is hard for me to give you a specific recommendation.

Read the article on composting manure if you want to try that approach.

Clegg Impact Tester

©  2008 Cherry Hill   © Copyright Information

Cherry,

Where can I obtain information regarding Clegg Impact Tester data for footing hardness as listed in your article Footing, Part 3?

You can contact Jim Crandell, the manager of Dr Baden Clegg Pty Ltd in Western Australia. Dr Clegg was the founding director of the company and the inventor of the Clegg Impact Soil Tester, also known as the Clegg Hammer.

The Lafayette Instrument Company (Lafayette IN) is the licensed manufacturer and distributor of the Clegg in North and South America.

Roping Box Dimensions

©  2008 Cherry Hill   © Copyright Information

Hi Cherry,

What are the official dimensions of a heading and heeling boxes? I'm building a team roping arena on my place and need to know how wide and how deep the boxes should be built.

Thanks Darel

Hi Darel,

I didn't know the answer so I wrote the PRCA and here is their reply:

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