Keeping your horses hydrated is essential to their health, but it can be difficult to do so if you need to physically fill up buckets and troughs every day. That’s why many horse owners turn towards automatic waterers, so that whenever their horse wants water, it’s there. Non-electric automatic horse waterers, like from Bar Bar A and Drinking Post, make watering your horse even easier by preventing standing water and all the health concerns that comes with it, as well as staving off the risk of your horse getting electrocuted when they’re just trying to get a drink of water.
Both Bar Bar A and Drinking Post are leading brands for non-electric automatic horse waterers. As such, it’s no surprise that people want to know the details about each one and their pros and cons in order to be able to determine the right automatic waterer for their horse. Here’s what you need to know about the Drinking Post and the Bar Bar A Horse Waterer, how they work, and their individual pros and cons so that you can make an informed decision about which non-electric automatic horse waterer you’d prefer for your horse/s.
What The Drinking Post Is
The Drinking Post is similar to a frost-free yard hydrant. It is connected to a pressurized water line and the base needs to be 18” underneath your local frostline. The water comes from beneath your frostline and then drains back down when your horse is done drinking. This is also how it is a non-electric automatic horse waterer, because the water drains away, so it won’t freeze.
In general, Drinking Post recommends their 36” above-ground height option for adult horses. The size you need will also depend on your local frostline, as it is necessary for the base to be 18” below it in order to have frost-free water for your horses all year round.
What The Bar Bar A Horse Waterer Is
The Bar Bar A Horse Waterer is lower to the ground than the Drinking Post. It is designed like this because horses naturally drink from ground level lakes and streams, so having the waterer closer to the ground is more comfortable for them. The Horse Waterer connects to a water source to the drinker’s waterline (½ inch polypipe). This keeps it from freezing and ensures that your horse always has fresh water.
Bar Bar A Horse Waterers are 5’ long and are buried 3-3 ½ feet into the ground. They come in both insulated and non-insulated drinkers, for cold, moderate, and mild climates. They use gravel and tar paper or landscaping for the drain field, in order to prevent soil contamination of the water.
How Drinking From Them Works
You want drinking from an automatic waterer to be easy for your horse, and for them to be able to learn how to use the waterer fairly quickly. The Drinking Post and the Bar Bar A Horse Waterer are both fairly simple for your horse to learn how to use.
Drinking Post
When your horse comes to a Drinking Post, the bowl is empty. There is a paddle that horses push in order for water to fill it. When they are done drinking, the water drains beneath the waterline.
When training your horse to use a Drinking Post, the brand recommends removing all other water sources and ensuring they are thirsty. They suggest bringing your horse to the post, filling the bowl, and splashing the water in order to catch your horse’s attention. They say to walk away after your horse drinks the first time, so that they can figure it out on their own.
If your horse struggles with this waterer, the brand recommends showing them again, but advise against filling the bowl for them repeatedly, because you want your horse to learn how to use the paddle on their own, without needing you around. If your horse still struggles, they suggest giving them a call.
Bar Bar A
Since Bar Bar A is a non-electric waterer, your horse will need to push on the paddle in order to fill the bowl with water. When the horse is done drinking, the water will drain away so that you don’t need to worry about standing water and algae and the like.
When training your horse to use a Horse Waterer, we suggest removing all other water sources, ensuring your horse is thirsty, leading your horse to the waterer, pushing on the paddle, and rubbing some water on your horse’s nose, then getting out of the way. Since horses are naturally curious, they should figure it out on their own within an hour.
Bar Bar A waterers also come with a training mode in order to help horses that need some extra help learning how to use them. In the training mode, you can temporarily stop water from draining so that there is water in the bowl, so that your horse will learn the Bar Bar A Horse Waterer is where they can drink from.
Drinking Post Pros And Cons
The Drinking Post is a leading non-electric automatic waterer that has all the benefits you can expect from a non-electric automatic waterer: temperate water all year round, no worry about algae growth since there is no standing water, and no worry about your horse getting electrocuted from electricity.
Like everything else, it has its cons. A chief complaint customers mention in their reviews is that these posts are tall and that the paddles are hard for horses to push and break, so you need to replace them from time to time. Taller waterers are more uncomfortable for horses to drink from, because if your horse has to reach higher in order to drink, this can partially close their windpipe, making it difficult and less comfortable.
Horses also rub against taller waterers and can crib/chew on the outside sleeve, leaving teeth marks. Drinking Post is aware of these issues, and makes their waterers so that they flex rather than break when rubbed against or leaned on.
Bar Bar A Pros And Cons
Bar Bar A Horse Waterers are made with the firm belief that water and electricity do not mix. They are one of the leading non-electric automatic waterers because they do not have standing water. The water is cooler for your horses in the summer and warmer in the winter, to encourage your horses to drink more. They are low-maintenance and self-cleaning.
These waterers are designed to be closer to the ground so that they are more comfortable for horses to drink from. This can also be a con that customers mention in their reviews, as horses can defecate in them from time to time. Bar Bar A is aware of this potential issue, and can provide you with multiple remedies in order to prevent it.
Are You Interested In A Bar Bar A Horse Waterer?
Bar Bar A cares deeply about providing you with high quality non-electric automatic horse waterers to ensure that your horse is getting fresh, clean water all year round. To learn more about our waterers, please don’t hesitate to contact us today.
Margie Focht says
Do you have any installers in Western Pennsylvania for your waterers?