Hi Folks! I’ve been looking at lots of cool DIY pics of horse scratching posts on the internet. I haven’t seen pics of scratching structures that allows a horse to scratch the belly. I think folks use tractor tires, instead of the more typical poles with brushes, for this type of thing. Ideas? Pics?
Not gonna help you any, but George has this one poor little Pine tree he uses.
Comical, almost obscene; I wish I had a video.
And the entire herd abuses our smooth-wire fencing, scratching head, neck, and withers. (Reminds me; they broke another wire and I need to fix it. Mañana.)
Maybe watch to see what they use normally, and try to come up with something similar. And, from experience, don’t be too disappointed when they simply ignore it.
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I’d worry anything they could walk over could also impale 
My vet just had to euth a horse who managed to put a large (rusty) carabiner through her foot.
It had been in use on a pasture gate.
Horse might have survived except owners waited a week to call the vet. 
My own mini managed to put a slit in his lower eyelid & I suspect a small carabiner was the Eye Gouger. I was using it for the same reason as above & have replaced with baling twine.
@George_T_Mule My TB once scared the bejeezus out of me. He’d gone down to roll & seemed to be having a hard time getting up from the Sitting Dog position. Forelegs straight out, but hind end seemed stuck
Turned out he was giving his belly a good scratch before getting up 
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This is what I’ve seen mine use too! The tree trunk has a bit of a curve so it’s like an eco-friendly ergonomic scratcher.
For the belly, I’ve seen them itch it when they get down to roll on the ground so you may not need to add anything! I also would worry that they would get stuck on it.
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Hi 2Dogs, All
Yeah, seeing one of The Kids apparently struggling to get his feet back underneath is a real heart-stopper.
I too worry about using those little carabiners to deter Equine manipulation (lip-nipulation. That a word d’ya suppose? Otter be.), but some of our Equines have no problems at all with the latches on our Priefert gates, and the gates that just use a chain in a slot don’t deter any of them for very long. Honestly I worry about one of them getting their lip caught in the carabiner; having had one of them bite me before, I know they are capable of causing harm. I guess I’d better look for another solution before it becomes a problem. How atypical is that? 
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Sssshhhhh!!! 
So far my chain-in-the-slot latches have been safe from my Equine Einsteins 
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Sorry dont want to hijack this post but these are the gate latches I use. I use a screw eye on the post. Horses cant figure it out, I can use one hand, cheap and effective. DOnt think they can hurt themselves since it’s outside the fence. https://www.amazon.com/Qwikee-Latch-Livestock-Extra-Protection/dp/B007OUGERC/ref=asc_df_B007OUGERC/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=194861420852&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=12222351812310725897&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9012349&hvtargid=pla-314066276082&psc=1
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Aah. Thank You, Lori!
I’ve seen those in use before, can’t recall where.
I’m gonna look around our gate collection to see where something like this might replace a carabiner.
I have these on the sliding doors to my barn.
Once I figured them out ( a place I boarded had them & it took me a couple trys:unamused:) I agree they are great for using singlehandedly 
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This looks safe, and easy to build (at least for the smaller guys). Of course you’d have to be sure to use a type of rubber pipe so that it couldn’t shatter under too much stress.
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both of these bellyscratchers are great! For the second one, the single vertical tube, I bet a bunch of heavy duty zip ties (all bunched together and stuck into the end of the rubber tube) would make a great “brush”. I’m totally going to try it!
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Whenever I put out a round bale of hay, my horse rushes to scratch on it before I put the hay ring around it. Makes me wonder if a large straw bale might be a good scratcher.
