Musings on 'dirty' behavior...

[dmj]

why oh why must my horse immediately pee (and usually poo) as son as I am finished laying down fresh shavings for him? Does he like living in filth? :) Is he marking his territory? Do your horses do this?

While we are at it - why does he insist on rolling in the dirt the second I am done bathing him - and turn my back for a split second? Down he goes!

lol, just venting a bit I guess. I love my guy - he is absolutely wonderful and full of personality. I just know that he is the filthiest beast I have ever encountered - anyone want to commiserate?

Oh yeah, he's also a hay dunker. Oy.

[NorCalDressage]

Haha!

Mine like the pooping/peeing as soon as the stall is cleaned also. I've heard the rolling after a bath can be because they're itchy - don't like the feeling of being wet. Also in the summer they roll and get dirt on them for fly protection, supposedly.

Just be glad yours doesn't think it's funny to poop in his own feed bucket!

[JB]

why oh why must my horse immediately pee (and usually poo) as son as I am finished laying down fresh shavings for him? Does he like living in filth? :) Is he marking his territory? Do your horses do this?
Mine does it every time ;) It's the same with cats - go to clean the litter boxes and here comes somebody or two to take another pee :lol:

While we are at it - why does he insist on rolling in the dirt the second I am done bathing him - and turn my back for a split second? Down he goes!
He's trying to save you $$ on fly spray :winkgrin:

[dmj]

aha, I did'nt realize that encrusting himself in mud might ward off flies - but it makes total sense!

Yeah, he poops in his feeder AND his waterer...aren't I lucky? :)

[KonaPony]

I know a lady who taught a horse that if he pooped while she was around, he got high praise and cookies. So the up side was, she pretty much didn't have to worry about him messing up the paddock right after she'd finished cleaning (which was the point of this exercise). He'd make sure to squeeze out whatever was available so he got his cookie as soon as possible...

The down side was, the owner of the horse was semi-mortified that he pooped as soon as he saw her best friend coming :p

[caballus]

The elimination is actually a territorial behavior. You've cleaned out the stall so the horse is going to go in and 'claim' his/her territory all over again before another horse gets there.

Ditto on the saving you $$ on fly spray by rolling after a bath ...

*grin* --Gwen

[Percheron X]

Horses point of view.....

"My mom loves to clean up after me. She loves it so much that she does it every day. I love my mom... so when she has nothing left to clean up, I make sure I make more mess as quickly as posable, so she will always have her favorite thing to do..."

Horses thinking applies equally to rolling in the dirt.:yes:

[baysngreys]

Your horse is "marking" his territory.
Ever seen a horse sniff anothers poop in the paddock and then poop on top of it?

Kinda like you putting your scent/perfume back on after a shower.

The rolling - yeah, natural protection from flies, gets all those itchy spots. Then again, some horses are just pigs!

[HiddenStars826]

Mine doesn't really do it anymore, but the second I used to empty the bag of fresh shavings in his stall, he used to pick a spot and pee in it. Then he'd wait a few minutes (for the pee to sink to the bottom maybe?) circle around twice, drop and roll in the fresh shaving pile.

Another horse at an old barn LOVED to roll in fresh shavings. You'd dump a bag in (or heck, even half a bag!) and you'd have to get out of the way fast!! He would even be out in his paddock (his stall was an in/out), and he'd come RUNNING into his stall if he heard you shaking out the bag of shavings!!! It was so cute- talk about the simple pleasures in life!

[TikiSoo]

Yup, we have a colt at our barn that loves to roll in new shavings...and rolls with such abandon, gets cast every time!

My lovely invariably decides to power fart when I clean her back hooves. Never while picking the front hooves, only when I'm in the range of fire.

Once, I narrowly missed a poop cascade while I was picking out a hind foot. ;)