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Water
troughs, better known in Texas as horse troughs, were intended for
the hydration of livestock. But Texas ranchers and their families
found far more use for these open containers of water than merely
affording Old Dobbin a place to drink.
Horse troughs also played a role in many a Hollywood Western as a
handy receptacle for bad guys in saloon brawls. Nothing like knocking
a drunken cowpoke in a slimy horse trough to put him in his place,
so to speak.
In the 1963 Paul Newman classic “Hud,” the cold-hearted, hot-blooded
character played by the late actor in his salad days seemed to think
the ranch’s horse trough could sober him up if he splashed his face
enough.
In real life, many a ranch kid ran to the trough to stick an injured
or burned limb in. Cartoon characters like Daffy Duck also found that
a convenient horse trough could cure the effects of a shotgun blast
or a hotfoot. |
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While
the trough shown in “Hud” was a circular galvanized metal affair,
the first generation of Texas troughs was made of wood. Later, ranchers
made concrete tanks and eventually turned to the galvanized tank.
“They lined
the inside of the wooden troughs with pitch,” Merkel advertising
executive and cartoonist
Roger T. Moore recalled. “They always leaked a little, but not
enough to make a difference.”
Despite the pitch, the troughs eventually sprouted some form of
vegetation. Wet wood made a nice growth medium for algae, and the
constant water supply encouraged other plants as well.
But in a country where water was and is always at a premium, a full
horse trough was as good as a creek or river if neither body of
water lay particularly close.
Moore remembers a wooden trough on his grandfather’s place that
the old man claimed had been the site of the first baptizing in
that part of Taylor
County.
Other horse
trough uses include:
A place to
obtain water for the radiator of your over-heated Model T.
A place to
dunk someone who had offended you in some manner.
A place to
take an outdoor bath. Vaudaline R. Thomas, in her self-published
book “Plum Creek Memorabilia,” recalled a West
Texas cowboy who preferred bathing in the horse trough. One
day when the wife of a neighbor drove up, she spotted the cowboy
as he enjoyed his bath. Every time he tried to get out, Thomas recalled,
the lady revved the motor of her Model T to announce her continuing
presence, forcing the hapless hand back into the water. “This went
on for some 10 minutes,” she wrote. “She was determined that he
have one good Saturday bath.”
Horse troughs
made a handy place to keep minnows in anticipation of the next fishing
trip. They ate mosquitoes, too.
You could even
keep a creek-caught bass or mess of perch in the horse trough for
a time. Moore remembers one friend who put gold fish in his family’s
trough.
On a hot day,
dipping your hat in the trough provided a little natural air-conditioning
for a while.
As long as
a careful guard was kept, a horse trough made a great place to cool
a watermelon.
Throw in a
block of ice and a horse trough made an excellent beer and soft
drink cooler.
In lake-shy
West Texas, a horse
trough could be as big as an ocean for a kid with a homemade toy
boat.
Finally, troughs
attracted wildlife, from quail to deer.
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