This has been the coldest December in middle Tennessee since the early 1940s. Another record. Of course. At least we’re consistent. We just came through eight days of below freezing temperatures. It got so low the first night that the pond totally froze. I kept trying to break up the ice along the edges so the horses could get to water (the remnants seen on the gravel in the photo above) but it soon reached the point where it was re-freezing almost before I got back into the house. So finally – remembering well Mariah’s fall through the ice last winter – I closed off the entire pasture and started filling water tubs down at the barn.
But I also remembered the freeze-proof faucet at the barn freezing last year, and me hauling jugs of water from the house several times a day, and the gator breaking down so the jugs had to be hauled by hand, and the enormous electric bills caused by the resistance-heating coil in the tub water heater, not to mention how difficult it was to set it all up in such a way that Mouse could neither eat it it or destroy it :). All of that got the ol’ brain working. There must be a way to keep the pond both available and safe.
What if I put the tub heater in the pond? Nah, it surely couldn’t warm such a large volume of water.
Then I remembered something someone told me last winter in a comment on the blog. They use a submersible pump in their water tubs and it keeps the tubs from freezing. Moving water is much harder to freeze. And the pump uses much less electricity than a tub heater. Hmmm. I wondered if a pump would work in the pond. Especially if I put it very near the edge of the pond where the horses drink. By this time anything was worth a try. It wasn’t even officially winter yet and already we were setting cold temperature records. It could be a long winter.
So off to Lowes I went and came home with a $70 submersible pond pump. The kind you might use to make or drive a fountain or a waterfall. I placed it on a concrete block about five feet from the edge of the pond with the output pointing straight up, covered the power cord with rocks (the ground was already too frozen to dig a trench), ran an extension cord down from the house… and voila, the photo you see above.
But would the horses drink? Would the fountain effect scare them? Especially Noelle, the mustang. And Mariah, who has icy memories from last year. I decided to leave the pasture closed for the night and see how the little pump fared. It was predicted to drop into the teens. The next morning there was still a beautiful pool in the pond so I opened all the pasture gates during the morning feed. Shortly thereafter I snapped the photo below.
Cash was drinking away. Pocket and Skeeter were not far behind him. No one seemed very worried about the bubbling fountain. Pocket studied it but not for long. The ice on the gravel and the bubbling water did bother Mariah and she turned away several times before finally drinking. Then came the snow.
The next four or five days never got above the mid twenties. The drinking “pool” got smaller but never froze away. I did break up the ice around edge a few times but it was always thin enough for the weight of a horse to easily break it. One night the temperature dropped to 9 degrees. The next morning I was out of bed the minute it was light to check the pond. This photo was snapped from the upstairs bedroom window.
There was a 12″ frozen “shelf ” at the pond’s edge but Cash (who doesn’t like to get his feet wet) would rather reach across than step on the ice. When big ol’ Skeeter came down he just stomped on the shelf and it crumbled. After feeding, I broke up all the ice along the edge of the pond.
Conclusions: I think it’s going to work. If it gets cold enough long enough to cause edge freezing that is too wide or too thick to be safe for the horses I will move the pump closer to the shoreline and see if that solves the problem. I also intend to dig the bottom deeper along the shoreline because one of the reasons it’s freezing is that it’s only inches deep right at the edge so the water movement has less effect. If worse comes to worse I might even acquire a second pump if I feel it’ll make the pond accessible and safe for the entire winter. I believe this is a solution that will work for anyone in the mid-latitudes of the U.S. In either a pond or tub. I have no idea what would happen waaay up at the top of the country, or in Canada, Extremely cold temperatures for very long times might overpower the movement of the water. If anyone up there tries it I’d like to hear about the results.
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The story of our journey with horses (to date) is told in the two books that follow: the national best seller The Soul of a Horse – Life Lessons from the Herd and its sequel Born Wild – The Soul of a Horse.
And what a story it is as two novices without a clue stumble and bumble their way through the learning process so that hopefully you won’t have to. If you haven’t read both of these books already please do because with that reading, I believe, will come not just the knowledge of discovery but the passion and the excitement to cause you to commit to your journey with horses, to do for the horse without waiver so that your relationship and experience will be with loving, happy and healthy horses who are willing partners and who never stop trying for you. Horses like ours.
The highly acclaimed best selling sequel to the National Best Seller
The Soul of a Horse – Life Lessons from the Herd
#1 Amazon Best Seller
#1 Amazon “Hot New Releases”
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Order Personally Inscribed Copies of Born Wild – $15
Order Both The Soul of a Horse & Born Wild – Save 20%
Both Personally Inscribed – $24
Please list the names for each inscription in the “instructions to Seller” field as you check out!
Read More About Born Wild
Read More About The Soul of a Horse
Watch The Soul of a Horse Trailer
Watch the Born Wild Trailer
But first read the National Best Seller that started it all
Now in it’s 13th printing:
Amazon & Kindle
Barnes & Noble & NOOKbook
Apple iBooks
Order Personally Inscribed Copies of The Soul of a Horse – $15
Order Both The Soul of a Horse & Born Wild – Save 20%
Both Personally Inscribed – $24
Please list the names for each inscription in the “instructions to Seller” field as you check out!
Read More About Born Wild
Read More About The Soul of a Horse
Watch The Soul of a Horse Trailer
Watch the Born Wild Trailer
“One cannot help but be touched by Camp’s love and sympathy for animals and by his eloquence on the subject.” – Michael Korda, The Washington Post
“Joe Camp is a natural when it comes to understanding how animals tick and a genius at telling us their story. His books are must-reads for those who love animals of any species.” – Monty Roberts – Author of New York Timers Best-seller The Man Who Listens to Horses
“Camp’s tightly-written, simply-designed and powerfully drawn chapters often read like short stories that flow from the heart.” Jack L. Kennedy – The Joplin Independent
“Joe Camp is a gifted storyteller and the results are magical. Joe entertains, educates and empowers, baring his own soul while articulating keystone principles of a modern revolution in horsemanship.” – Rick Lamb – TV/Radio host – The Horse Show
Hi Joe,
I finally received your long awaited book. I have only been following your blogs since April or May, therefor I am really glad to catch up on everything I missed. As the first Soul of a Horse, it is entertaining and informative I cried about poor Malachi, but also was inspired that a wild Mustang can be made to trust people without being “broken in”.
I know someone who adopted one like you, pregnant and all. The foal died a week after birth and the mother has not been touched since. They just don’t take the time. She is together with 2 other horses, it is therefor hard to win her trust. I have spent some time with her and she comes within a foot, she eats out of my hand, but don’t let me touch her. After reading about you and Noel, I’ll keep trying.
Thanks for sharing your knowledge and your experiences with horses.