pooping on top of other poop

[Risk-Averse Rider]

Panda-chan (new little rescue pony who's been here 2 weeks after 3+ years in a pasture all by himself) tends to poop on top of the big boy's poop.

I have heard that this behavior is something stallions do to mark their territory.

He's a gelding.

When he was in a stall, he tended to poop in just one spot.

Do you think he's just being tidy? :lol:

Or is this a common thing for horses to do, and it just so happens that my big boys don't do it?

[Nezzy]

it is marking, and hopefully for you it will stay nice and tidy.

[monstrpony]

My donkey girls will do this on top of the boys' poops; I think that may be an attempt to disguise their presence. They are not neat otherwise--as much as we want horses in work to poop on the go, it's a royal pain when those who have the run of the barn make you travel with a manure fork. And a clean stall is a sign of a sick donkey--no sooner is the barn mucked than a donkey christens it again! And why do they have to poop in the spot where I drop Dipper's night-time hay??

Aren't you glad you got a pony instead?

[Phaxxton]

My STB gelding does this and I thought he was the only one! :lol:

He actually parks out to poop -- as if he's going to pee. He has to position himself over another pile of poop (either another horse's or his own in his stall), park out, and go right on top. He ONLY poops in his stall or paddock and almost never under saddle. In the nearly 6 years I have had him, he has NEVER pooped in the aisle or wash stall and he has pooped under saddle 3 times (and all three times had to park out to go). Two of those three times were in the show ring. :eek: Did I mention he ALWAYS poops with loud, grunting side effects?

On the plus side, his stall is very neat and it's fewer piles to pick up in the paddock, too. Granted, the piles are double-sized thanks to Joey!:lol:

[hoopoe]

it is normal horse behavior, not liked to a specific sex, to deficate in one "set aside" area of a pasture

[hollyhorse2000]

My girl mostly poops on top of her own poop in her stall. Makes it easy to clean!

[Phaxxton]

it is normal horse behavior, not liked to a specific sex, to deficate in one "set aside" area of a pasture

For my horse, it's far more than that. My STB gelding finds another horse's pile, sniffs it, positions his rear end over it (spreading his back legs), and goes directly on top of it.

In his stall, he does the same thing and generates one giant pile. Every time he poops, he smells his last pile (or when his stall is clean, smells the spot where he normally goes), turns around, positions his butt over it, parking out and spreading his hind legs, and goes directly on top.

This is beyond just going in one particular general area. He must go right on top of another horse's pile when outside and even when in his stall. The only time he doesn't is when the paddock or stall is completely clean. Then, he sniffs for a spot where someone went previously and goes right on top of that.

He beats my super neat "always poops along the back wall" Arabian in terms of neatness any day.

[Risk-Averse Rider]

it is normal horse behavior, not liked to a specific sex, to deficate in one "set aside" area of a pastureMy big boys go wherever (and whenever) they want.

Although I have noticed a definite tendency for them to poop in the FARTHEST corner of the arena, so that I have to drag the muck cart as far as possible through the sand...

[Bayou Roux]

We actually use this behavior to "potty train" ours-- we'll leave a few big, round balls in the back corner of the stall after mucking to encourage them to poop on top of it and keep things tidy. Sometimes, if it doesn't seem to work with their own manure, we'll grab the neighbor's poo and put it in-- they seem to certainly want to cover that!

Works on 90% of the geldings, and about 80% of the mares. Both stallions are 100% rock-solid pile-poopers.

[ddashaq]

One of my geldings is very fastidious about pooping and peeing in one spot when he is stalled. It made cleaning very easy-- all I had to do was pull out the back left corner every day and I was done. All the other self care boarders used to be very jealous when it took me two minutes to clean my stall!