Heated Water Trough Safety

Thehorse.com - Full Article

By Clair Thunes, PhD
Dec 25, 2017

Last week I shared with you several tips on how to keep your water troughs ice-free. Later that day I came across the following images and a story that I think we can all learn from.

When I’m taking a break between tasks I scroll through my Facebook feed to see what is going on in the world. This time of year it is filled with seasonal posts of peoples horses, barn parties, their families and, of course, cat videos. However last Monday I saw the image above. At first I couldn’t figure exactly what it was, but it was looked vaguely familiar and, at the same time, unrecognizable.

I read the accompanying post and did a double take. It was the image of a melted rubber water trough. Given the commentary I had just written and the fact that I had included trough heaters I wanted to know more. I had heard of horses being shocked drinking from toughs with electric heaters that are not correctly grounded, but I had never seen nor heard of a trough melting!

The trough belongs to Charish Arthur, a United States Dressage Federation silver medalist and former long-time American Riding Instructors Association certified instructor, who came home last Saturday evening every horse owner’s nightmare:...

Read more here:
http://www.thehorse.com/articles/40085/heated-water-trough-safety?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=health-news&utm_campaign=12-26-2017