Stop your horse’s water bucket from freezing

We’ve been seeing the same question popping up in forums over and over again now that the weather has turned “freezing cold” across the U.S.  Horse owners are looking for an economical way to provide their horses with warm water and want a way to stop their horse’s water bucket from freezing.  For some, it’s a trough situation like in this recent post we saw:

We spent 300 a month using 1500 watt water trough heaters used in 10 G troughs for our horses. What do you all recommend for delivering warm water for our horses that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg? What auto waterers do you like? Any alternative solutions to expensive trough heaters?

Obviously that’s for multiple horses and when you’re looking at “auto waterers” they’re going to be more expensive.  But, for the average horse owner who isn’t running a boarding facility, we happen to come across a solution while doing a little holiday shopping of our own on Amazon (our affiliate).  And it’s on sale!  It’s the
API 5 Gallon 130 Watt Heated Flat Back Bucket.
It has a built in thermostat, it can keep water ice free during below zero conditions, the heater that’s built in is completely hidden within the walls of the bucket, and it has a flat back which allows it to be conveniently hung in a stall. The flat back makes it unique.  I had some questions about the design, but it has a 4.5 Star rating on Amazon from 45 different reviewers.  Those who have used it seem to love it.  One woman uses it for goats, so I naturally wondered about chewing the cord. One review states the cord is “About 5 ½ feet. It curls up in a compartment in the bottom of the unit so you can pull out just what you need.”  I looked at the 1 star review- it wasn’t because of electrocution!  There is another heat bucket company that also gets 4.5 stars, the Farm Innovators 5-Gallon Flat-Back 120-Watt Heated Bucket. They specifically advertise their “heavy duty” anti-chew cord.  However, one review said the plug did not have a ground in it (only 2 pins instead of 3) whereas the API has a ground.

Unfortunately we have not tested either one, but if any of you have, please let us know your thoughts.  The API 5 Gallon 130 Watt Heated Flat Back Bucket is on sale for $41.89 on Amazon, down from $54.99 (with free shipping). The  Farm Innovators 5-Gallon Flat-Back 120-Watt Heated Bucket is $51.10 (with free shipping).  For those of you living in “freezing temperatures” we hope the “heated bucket solution” does the trick for your horses, goats, dogs, and any other live stock depending upon you this winter.  If your horse needs a new winter rug, we found an an incredible deal last week on a heavy duty, all-weather rug, that we’ve been highlighting for Filly Fans.  Check it out at the bottom of this post.  And lastly, if you’re scrambling for last minute gifts, don’t forget to check out our Best Gifts For a Horse Rider under $50.