Proper water management on horse farms during drought seasons is vital to ensuring your horses have adequate water supply during these times. When water is at a premium, taking a little time to ensure there is little to no wastage can go a long ways to conservation.

Here’s a checklist of what you can do to preserve your water resources:

• Check all your hoses, faucets and fittings for leakage, and fix where appropriate.
• If using sprinklers, position them to rain over the plants rather than extraneous areas such as roads, ditches, etc.
• Water early in the day to minimize evaporative losses as the weather warms up.
• Water for longer durations, but keep longer intervals between watering; this will encourage root growth.
• Soil amendments can enhance water-retention properties.
• Mulch (when appropriate) further reduces evaporative losses.
• Eliminate weeds as they tend to compete with grasses for water and nutrients.
• Tops of water tanks can be covered halfway to reduce evaporative losses.
• Check water sources–water tanks, creeks, ditches, and ponds–making sure that they are palatable and free of algae and debris. Treat standing water against mosquito larvae using mosquito dunks or crumbles.
• Collect rainwater from gutters and runoff if allowable in your state.
• Refrain from giving the horses baths.

By using common sense, you can use your water resources most effectively for managing your horses and your pastures.