I rode one who did this and did the same as @ThreeWishes without any problems. Hose off. Scrape. Tack. Go.
I’ll try it!
Could you put mats in the shelter part?
I probably could.
I bed my horses’ stalls with sawdust topped with pine shavings to cut down on the dust. I pay $20 for a pickup load of sawdust at a local sawmill. This covers two 14x16 stalls and lasts about 3 months, and it’s by far the cheapest way to bed the stalls. I usually put another layer of pine shavings after about six weeks. I use bags of pine pellets to fill pee spots that I dig out. If you decide to use sawdust, be very sure that it doesn’t contain any walnut. Walnut will founder horses.
My deepest sympathies!! Currently have grey/white horses so I feel your pain. I would try sand on the theory that the pee will drain through so less will be on the top when he lays on it. I will warn you that sand can be its own grooming nightmare. Mine roll in the sand when they are a little sweaty or get rained on and come in looking breaded. I find shavings/sawdust to be more trouble than benefit outside. I will agree with the above posters that it is ok to tack a wet horse. Just be extra careful setting your saddle pad so the hair is smooth. Good luck, you need it!
I used to use stall pellets in my horses dry lot pen…wet the some to start the fluff process…not enough to completely fluff. That will soften them and leave plenty of absorption left. He can pee in them and as long as you keep the pile turned over and fluffed, it may decrease the mess some. Where she was, the wind was pretty constant so shavings didn’t work very good. The pellets will blow away eventually too but do a lot of absorption before that happened. I usually did a pile with 2-3 bags.
My horse is white and does the same thing in her pen. At the current barn she doesn’t have as much room but she has always preferred to lay in the poop and/or pee .
I recently got one of these tools and it works pretty good on the stanky places.
Susan
He will. My gelding will only pee where there is the most splash control.
I board these days (haven’t lived on my own farm since I was teen) so unfortunately bagged would be my only option. Trying for something else before resorting to that yet.
My trainer suggested the pellets for this issue. Worth a try maybe. Thanks for suggesting this tool. Our regular curry doesn’t seem enough for this
I feel your pain. I’ve got a “pig Pen” too. Nothing seems to deter him from sleeping in his pee spot every.single.night. He’s a dun, so it ain’t pretty either.
I’ve used pelleted bedding for years, so no that is not the answer/cure. I almost think it is a territory marking behavior. Nothing I’ve tried has changed his habit. In this really hot weather, I do as others noted, hose, scrape, and go. I’m not a an of frequent bathes that rob him of the natural skin oils. It’s critical that I keep him clean though, as he has sweet itch and boy do the gnats like that pee smell.
Since I live in a northern climate, I have an option for 3/4 of the year when it is cooler. He wears a rain sheet at night to keep a barrier between him and the grossness. Most of the time it works pretty well and it’s much easier to just hose/wash the sheet when it gets too gross. It also helps when the winter temps are way too cold to consider hosing or sponging him.
Good luck it is a daily struggle.
Please confirm with the barn owner/barn manager that they are OK with you adding bedding to a place that typically does not have bedding.
Adding shavings to a sand base is going to change it for a long time.
Be thankful your gelding does that. No matter how many times people say it is so, it is not so that all horses only pee where there is no splash.
It worked for me. Yes she peed on the pile but a rake through every day minimized the surface pee spots and she didn’t lay in the pee all the time although she very much appreciated her ‘bed’. Yes after 2 - 3 months, I would muck out most of the pile that was left and start a new one. As I said before, I spray the pile lightly to get it to just start to fluff. It maintains absorbency for quite a while. I should say as long as it doesn’t rain but then I live on high desert.
I can’t do that at the new barn…the pens are not big enough and they don’t want organic stuff on the sand. I wish I could because she insists on peeing in her stall .
I am thankful and that is why I bed the run in deeply Plus he only poops in the corner of the shelter, one pile on another. He deserves the best.
Already cleared it for under the shed.
I’ve owned him 3 years now and I suspect he will always be a bit of a dirty boy but I think it’s worth a try. I will love his stinky self regardless
When I had my horses at home, they lived outside with two connected sheds they could use if they wanted. We experimented with a few things and ended up with sand in the sheds. It was easiest to remove manure or rake over pee spots. My guys didn’t lie where they peed, but Salt, my larger pony, slept all day on the manure pile. And he was light gray, looked white. My daughter always said he was a pinto wannabe, and jealous of my Paint mare.
When I moved that pony to South Carolina, there was no avoiding sand. It became a problem in the much wetter climate–I could not get the sand out of his coat. I was glad he was retired, because there was no way I could saddle or harness him with the sand stuck all over him. I never did find a solution. I really missed the dry climate in Colorado in the years I was in SC.
Rebecca