I had not considered splashing as anything but
pawing when I read the first post, but Diane is right, some "splash" with their
noses. Hank seems to want to move his muzzle across the top of the water a few
times, like he is clearing any debris or bugs that might be on the surface.
Usually not too much of a splash factor.
I am with Jim on the pawing though. Bad, bad
manners and habit. For all the described reasons, and, I saw a horse who was
used to being allowed to paw in water holes, and when it got to a big 12' round
cattle trough at a ride, it decided it wanted to paw. So, up went the leg, over
the edge, and in went the horse. But, the trough's bottom was lower than ground
level, and had algae on the bottom. Not a good situation.
If you want your horse cooled down, help him out,
and scoop or sponge water on the horse. Pawing is not a "cute" habit in my book,
and I have seen, it is potentially dangerous if the horse tries to do so in a
trough.
