Something strange is going on.....

[meleahbee]

We have a frost-free outdoor faucet outside above our stock tank for the horses' water. At least three times now in the past 2 weeks, it's been on, and flooding the whole pasture and no one in my family turned it on. We are very puzzled....

So we think it's one of three possibilities. Anyone care to venture a guess at the most likely? We're on a well, and I can't have this shooting up our electric bill!

A) Someone is coming onto our property and turning it on just to be a jerk. The faucet is pretty inaccessible, really. You'd have to park in our driveway and walk in front of the house to get down there. Granted, it has only happened when we are not home, so who knows.

B) One of the horses is doing it. If you've ever used on of these faucets, you know it takes a pretty good yank to lift it up to get the water to come up and out. Also, the faucet is completely on the outside of the fence. It's just a 5 strand barbed wire fence, so height-wise, the fence comes to about the height of the faucet. But I just can't imagine a horse maneuvering themself to bite onto that thing and lift it up.

C) There's some kind of mechanical issue causing the faucet to come on spontaneously. Some kind of pressure build up? I'm not too well-versed in plumbing, so I don't know if that's possible.

Or it could be something completely different. Anyone else had an experience like this? There's a little ring on there that we can put a lock on. That's going to be kind of a hassle, but we can't keep having this go on! We're stumped!

[houndlover]

We had this happen. Like you, it was outside of where the horses could reach. We have a crazy neighbor, so, we just figured it was him. We didn't put a lock, just a small carribiner catch on it. We put the lock on the gate so if it was a human, they had to negotiate the barbed wire/electric fence that surrounds the horse pasture. It never happened again. I wasn't convinced it was a human because the dogs never barked, but like I said, after putting a catch on it, it never happened again.

[ntjpm]

We had this happen to us. It was a goat Somehow he was getting that thing up and letting the water run everywhere. We stopped him by putting a pin through it so that it wouldn't lift with out removing the pin. Amazing if you ask me..

Tracy in WA

[Sawmill Jim]

I'm betting on the horse some can un latch gates barn doors all kind of things.

[Ceilismom]

If you're talking about a hydrant, I'd put my money on the horse. We've occasionally had hunters leave hydrants on, but most of the time, it is from cattle rubbing on them.

[secretcreek]

I have a very tall, strong Saanen wether goat who loves to unhook things around the barnyard. He let my other wether out of his stall once and that wether crossed the road, and sadly had to be put down after he was struck by a vehicle. ( I never underestimate the smarts of that goat. He watches how things work all the time. He makes his own back scratchers from branches he finds and hauls around.

-scrt crk

[julieq]

My mare unlatches gates and does all sorts of weird things out of boredom. I wouldn't trust her around a faucet of any type. In fact we did have her where she could get to a regular outdoor faucet and she turned that on even though we put the stock tank in front of it. I think she'd figure out how to turn on a hydrant type faucet in a heart beat!

[brody]

I'm betting a horse too

[meleahbee]

Ah! Hydrant - that's what I meant to say! That's what it is!

I'll try the carabiner! It'll be way less of a hassle than a padlock. That would hopefully eliminate the critter possibility and will let us know if it's a neighbor up to no good!

[julieq]

Originally Posted by meleahbee

Ah! Hydrant - that's what I meant to say! That's what it is!

I'll try the carabiner! It'll be way less of a hassle than a padlock. That would hopefully eliminate the critter possibility and will let us know if it's a neighbor up to no good!

Had to ask DH what a carabiner is! He tried to explain, then finally said "They're what we use to hold up the goat hay feeders!"

[Horseyrider]

Horse.

We used to have a pony that would open his own latch and then go down the row and let out his buddies. Not the alphas; just his buddies. His previous owner was married to a tool and dye maker, and he used to have to create special locks, latches, and even hinges to outwit the pony. The pony had a badly worn set of incisors in the middle where he used them to unscrew bolts.

He was a driving pony for me, but he became a hunter pony for a little girl. Would swap leads back and forth all day. Who'd a thunk it?

[houndlover]

That's the only kind of latch I've found to be goat proof. I swear mine have thumbs.

[StatHaldol]

My money's on the horse too...

[PNP Katahdins]

We had a ram that would do stuff like that. Only sheep we've ever had who would unlatch gates. He also liked to twist the hanging indoor mineral bucket until the heavy brass double bolt snap broke, and then play kickball with the bucket.

Peg

[Callieslamb]

My cows can unplug the elec fence charger, pull hoses out of water troughs - screwed in hoses, turn the water on and off.

[Colorado]

Raccoons open the neighbors gated pipe and let the water out. I shut mine off at the valve and have chain and lock on it due to kids. Two legged kids.

[Macybaby]

I don't dare leave anything within reach of my horses - and with those long necks and prehenisl noses, they can reach way farther then one might expect.

At our old place, the one gelding figured out how to turn on the barn lights, amazed me that he could even bend around and get his nose on them, but I saw him do it once.


BTW - we use carabiners all over the place. They keep the cats from opening the rabbit pens, the dog from getting into the barn, and the coons from opening up the hatch to the chicken coop.

[Cindy in KY]

I would bet the Hydrants plumbing is wearing out. Ours will pop on just from the pressure in the line. We have a wire loop and a bungie holding down the handle very tight at all times. We double, double check it before leaving the hydrant. Best to secure the handle down before it burns up your well pump.

[CarolT]

My mother was having a nightmare year back in 71 and it was the final straw when somebody kept flooding the pig barn! She tried and tried to catch the culprit, and it turned out to be a sow! Mom's still not sure how, but she did it once with mom there with her back turned so she caught her LOL

[motdaugrnds]

ROFL Yep, I'ld put my money on an animal.

Solution? Get a dog like mine...lol...Whenever she sees a goat trying to stick its head thru a fence or fiddling with a gate or faucet...or trying to mate... (anything except the feeder bin), she "gently" puts her teeth around that goat's hind leg. Needless to say, that goat stops!