One trail near where the horses live crosses a river. The water is a little deeper at this time of year, but not deep enough to reach a rider's feet. Carys stands around 14.3 hands and the water comes between her knee and her belly. It's good for washing her extensive leg feather. Historically, this trail would have been used by farm horses, and would have provided a good place to let them drink. Now this is just a footpath (with footbridge just out of the photo to the left) and riding trail, and today's large and heavy farm vehicles use a more suitable track.
Back where I used to live in Transylvania, some of our rural cart roads went through rivers for this very reason, even if a bridge was provided adjacent for pedestrians and motor vehicles (and for spring when the frozen river ice was thawing). I remember a wise old mare who would tell me which way she wanted to go, depending on whether she was thirsty. With the others, I always took them via the river. Best to give them every opportunity to drink. In winter, that meant wells and buckets.
Our horses don't drink in this river, even if they sometimes play with their noses in the water. Perhaps they aren't thirsty, as we moved here after the hot weather, and they have free access to water in their field. But I did read in the news about concern that, even out here in quite a rural area, the water isn't all that clean. Some of the communities are (it is alleged) discharging improperly treated sewage into the river, and there's chemical run-off from farms too. On the way home, our horses always wait ten minutes to drink from their field trough. On longer summer rides, I look out for field troughs where the trail crosses pasture, as streams and rivers are few in the chalk hill counties.
Lovely photo!
Posted by: Shirley Nicholas | December 06, 2020 at 11:55 PM