Horse "burying" poop piles?? Why??

[Calvincrowe]

I have two retired geldings together-- they mostly get along, but one is one of those “grumpy old man” geldings. You know the type: I don’t like you, buddy, ane will periodically charge you when we’re eating… but NEVER GO AWAY!! because I’ll freak out if I can’t see you!!. I’ve noticed that in the last 3 months, GrumpyGelding will scratch up the gravel in the paddock to bury the other horse’s pile of poop. (We just finished creating mud-free paddocks with geotextile cloth and 6" of pea/screenings over it). He’s ripping into our geotextile and generally making it very difficult to clean the poop well, which we do daily. He does not do this nearly as often out on grass in the pastures.

Why is he doing this? And is there a way to stop it? I’ve separated them…but once they’re back together he’ll sniff out the other guy’s pile and have at it. GG has never done this before. He did colic last summer and I watch him and his pooping/eating/drinking like a hawk now. His companion is new to him from last spring, so they’ve been together for nearly a year. And yes he’s been attached yet angry the whole time…it’s his way.

Thoughts??

[Scribbler]

Well, that’s a new one!

Stallions and some geldings do make their manure into stud piles, which really helps for cleaning paddocks but is obviously territorial behavior.

Your grumpy man isn’t angry at the other horse so much as engaged in constant territorial or status questions, so messing with the other horse’s poop could connect to that. I’ve seen my mare and her Studly Gelding turnout buddy sniff and paw each other’s poop.

As far as pawing or digging, if the horse is unattended I’ve never found a way to stop them doing whatever the footing allows. In summer my mare will dig down a foot at the back of the paddock to eat tree roots.

“Natural” footing in the wild tends to be too hard to dig, except for digging in snow to graze (my mare is obsessed by this on the rare occasions it snows here) or maybe sand river basins where you dig for water.

I can see pea gravel being irresistible for a digging horse.

I expect that the new footing has allowed him to invent a new behavior that wasn’t possible on his old footing. Did he stomp on poop before?

Would be curious if he does this to other horses or what he does now on hard footing with this guy.

[Calvincrowe]

He does dig at the poop out on the pastures, but not as noticeably. I figure it is a dominance behavior. He’s only ever had one lovey-dovey relationship while with me-- I boarded another COTHer’s gelding and they LOVED each other…it was cute to watch their grooming sessions. But when he left for home, GG has struggled to find a soulmate. He can be very aggressive if he doesn’t click with a horse.

GG is also now kicking in his stall–only on the wall shared with Buddy. I don’t really have an option of separating them in the barn, but am working on solutions. GG has some old injuries that are undoubtedly troubling him, but we’ve added Previcox and he’s actually rolling outside (that lovely pea gravel!) which is a new behavior. He never lays down in his stall, as getting up and down are tough with a knee and a hock that just don’t work well. He’s got Cushing’s (treated with Prascend) and lots of separation anxiety (shared with Buddy gelding–he too is a “ahhh…don’t leave me!” kind of guy, but will graze out of sight).

GG is a tough one to get a handle on. Not a touchy-feeling boy, a bit spooky, was a star athlete in his day, itchy and loves to be groomed…when he wants to be, will play keep-away when it’s time to be caught, but loves his night check cookie and a scritch. I love him but sometimes…I want to scream! Lol!

[Simkie]

…he’s part cat? :lol:

In seriousness, that’s super curious. I’ve had study geldings who will poop or pee on other horses piles, but haven’t ever had one bury. I’m curious to see what responses you get her. I know @IPEsq has a gelding with some weird poop obsessions–paging her in case she has ideas!

[IPEsq]

@Simkie :lol::lol::lol:

Mine is certainly weird (weird is putting it nicely) about poop with certain horses in particular, but he hasn’t done this. Closest thing I can think of is it’s kind of like the horse that has to poop on top of another horse’s pile, which I’ve always thought is stud like behavior.

Digging to look for some tasty bits to eat is something my horse would do, but that’s contrary to burying it. That sounds more like my cats

[sk_pacer]

I had one horse (as opposed to gelding) that buried his piles in his stall. He did just use one corner but it was always a bitch to find that pile under the mass of tangled straw. Had several entires before and after him but he was the only one that thought he was a cat; the rest were typical and ranged from pig to tidy but haven’t seen the burying before or since. Not a clue what causes that behaviour but it is interesting.
One thing, if you do have a horse that is messy and tends to poop on other horses piles, you can take advantage of that and pick a fresh pile and place that in the messy stall where you want the offender to go and chances are in a few days he will be a lot less messy

[Calvincrowe]

GG is very tidy in his stall-- he poops on the wall he leans against (those darn damaged hocks!). He’s a retired jumper (his loving and lovely mom lives in Colorado now and I get the joy…and concerned frustration…of caring for him) and has a few quirks but messy is not one of them. I’m worried about the kicking though. Has anyone put up mats to try and prevent kicker from getting hurt? I am planning on putting up plywood to cover the bars between them in the theory if he can’t see BuddyGelding, he’ll be less likely to kick at him. And wow does he kick! I can hear it in the house with windows closed and barn is closed and 100 feet from house!! He hasn’t broken a board (2x6) yet, but I’m more worried about him breaking something.

[CanteringCarrot]

Hm. It sounds like he doesn’t care much for the presence of that horse as he kicks and basically buries evidence of the horses existence? But also cares when he leaves. Or just doesn’t like being alone, but also doesn’t like being with that horse. Are you sure this isn’t a mare? :lol:​​​​​​

​​​​​​I have a gelding (gelded at 3ish) and he poops on other horses poop and makes certain piles in his turnout area. He’s nice to clean up after. I’ve never seen any burying though.

[Calvincrowe]

Yes, I’ve often thought he was a mare in a gelding’s clothing! But I do really love the cranky old man.

[IPEsq]

I thankfully haven’t had a kicker, but hanging mats does work. It helps if you hang them from a 2x4 or 4x6 nailed on the wall so there’s a little bit of a gap behind the mat. Dampens the force by the time mat contacts the wall. But kind of a PITA.

Hey, at least a kicker is easier than a bucker like mine was on stall rest. I would have had to hang mats 8-10’ off the ground based on some of the places he contacted the wall bucking around. But I was afraid of putting up the boards as well for the times he’s rear instead. He really needed a completely padded room. Fun times. :no:

But before you hang mats, covering the bars is a good idea to try. That might resolve the issue.

[Rackonteur]

Your GG (pun intended) has been spending too much time with your barn cats. Or else he would rather have a cat as a companion than another horse.

Is there any way you can turn them out at separate times but GG can see the other guy while either of them is out?

[Pennywell_Bay]

It’s most likely a territorial/dominance thing. The other possibility is the prey animal "hiding " the scent of the other horse- even though he doesn’t do it to his own (like rolling in the dirtiest part of the paddock to mask their scent or grey horses always trying to be the dirtiest to camouflage).

It’s an interesting behavior.

[Bluey]

You can also use rubber mats to cover the bars.
Will help if he decides to kick or paw at that also.
Kicking that hard is definitely bad for the kicker.
Need to find a way to stop that and/or the damage he must be doing to himself.

Have seen all kinds of horse normal to strange habits.
Have a 20 year old gelding now, happy fellow, not grumpy, but also with Cushings and on Prascend and thyroid supplement.
He has used the same spot for 4 years as a bathroom.
Even as other geldings came and went.
Until this new neighbor.
Now he is “marking” by the fence by him and the other reciprocating on the other side of the fence.

Have not seen one burying other’s deposits? Interesting.

That is horses for you, always interesting.

[punchy]

We used to have a gelding that would pin his ears and sometimes semi-come after you when you picked freshly dropped piles out of his stall. He was perfectly nice all other times. I used to humor him and let him spend quality time with his fresh pile then come back and pick it up later when he was eating.