This old adage is finished off by the phrase “but you can’t make them drink.” We have tried to deal with this problem over the years, in an effort to get water into our horses or mules that are standingtied onto a high-line. It is such aproblem that we try to water them at the last stream before we get to ourcampsite. This is tricky, because we need to do this far enough away, to walk off the chance of a cold-water colic in a hot animal.
A critter removed from the gang, on the highline, will not normally drink much or at all, from a stream. They are too busy looking for danger from the boogie men and nervously calling out to their friends. This is especially noticeable after dark. Lights will add to the problem by creating unfamiliar shadows etc. Uneven footing and slippery conditions may also make this operation dangerous to the handlers.
We have a new system for dealing with this problem. Ed was packing with Clara Donato, the head Olympic Park stock handler. She had just purchased a collapsible trough, in an effort to deal with this very problem. It worked slick. We were able to water the string at their leisure without any of the fuss or muss. They all drank more water than they would have on a stream visit. We had to work more, but it was better for the animals. We have added this to our must carry list when we head in for over night trips. We also carry a smaller collapsible bucket (that we carried anyway) to fill thetrough. The trough will hold up to 6.5gallons of water. We purchased ours from the Outfitters Supply http://www.outfitterssupply.com/. The price at the time of writing this was $30.00 plus shipping. We think it is avery worth while tool.
This old adage is finished off by the phrase “but you can’t make them drink.” We have tried to deal with this problem over the years, in an effort to get water into our horses or mules that are standingtied onto a high-line. It is such aproblem that we try to water them at the last stream before we get to ourcampsite. This is tricky, because we need to do this far enough away, to walk off the chance of a cold-water colic in a hot animal. 