Horse has weird pooping habits?

[WildLittleWren]

My new mustang has me totally baffled. She only poops along the stall walls, in her water buckets, and her feed buckets when stalled. She is so talented she can poop on a 1/4" board on the wall and it sits there, balanced. That takes some great talent!

She also only has barnyard privileges until I am sure I can catch her out in the big pasture. She will go up under the overhang of the barn and poop on all the stall doors (on top of them), and literally along ALL the available walls of the barn. It is SO bizarre. She doesn’t poop in the grass.

I am curious, has anyone else had this same behavior? Any insight?

[Nestor]

No insight, but can you get her to poop in a muck bucket? Much easier cleanup. :lol:

[WildLittleWren]

@Nestor

No insight, but can you get her to poop in a muck bucket? Much easier cleanup. :lol:

She will also poop in the wheelbarrow when in the barnyard :lol:

[trubandloki]

I have a mare that likes to back up against something when she manures. She frequently manures on the top of things. I find manure balls balanced or stuck in the weirdest places.

[Scribbler]

Two thoughts. She is trying really hard not to poop where she has to walk, and just getting some of the details wrong. My mare only poops in her runout, mostly at the back, and she will try to poop off the rail in the arena or on the side of the trail if she can. And will duck around poop on the rail.

Your mare wont poop on the grass because she wants to eat it!

I bet it makes a mustang crazy to have to live cooped up with its poop. She may feel it’s dangerous and attracts predators.

The other thought is a form of territory marking. Stallions make stud piles.

[Jungle_Monkey]

My mare makes stud piles or poops only along the back wall. If you are brushing her in her stall and she has to poop she will get all fidgety and stressed until you tell her she can go. Then she goes and poops in her pile.

[Scribbler]

@Jungle Monkey

My mare makes stud piles or poops only along the back wall. If you are brushing her in her stall and she has to poop she will get all fidgety and stressed until you tell her she can go. Then she goes and poops in her pile.

Yes, my mare will walk away from eating or grooming (if she’s not tied up), poop or pee out in the paddock, and come back inside.

[HPFarmette]

@Scribbler

Yes, my mare will walk away from eating or grooming (if she’s not tied up), poop or pee out in the paddock, and come back inside.

I have seen my mare make a special trip from the pasture into the shed to poop. Thanks mare.

[Marla_100]

Well, I’ve actually studied this, lol.

I also have a neat freak who, when stall kept at night, was so tidy the barn staff called him Mr. Clean.

He precisely place all manure in a dainty, neat pile.

Having, er a, studied this over the years, my theory is a momma mare will or will not teach bathroom habits to her little

one. If little one is a good student, he does as momma mare told him and learned to do his business in the proper

place. Because momma mare was a good teacher.

On the other hand, I’ve also had the slobs who never learned proper placement of said piles. They drop crap anywhere.

On top of their drinking bucket, on top of their hay, in the middle of their stall, you get the picture.

They were not good little students. They were the rebel or momma mare threw up her hooves and gave up.

There, now you know.

[Scribbler]

I feel like ottb make a huge mess and I wonder if they go into Barn life so early that they just figure it’s hopeless and trample it all in.

[Lusoluv]

I had a PRE gelding who would back up against the stall bars that separated him from his neighbor and poop in her stall!

[dotneko]

Some horses also need to back into something while they manure. Theory being it alleviates discomfort somewhere when they raise their tails.
You can train some horses to manure in a spot - mares by putting stallion manure where you want them to go, stallions by putting mare manure there. Something about ‘covering’ the scent iirc

[Color_of_Light]

@Marla 100

my theory is a momma mare will or will not teach bathroom habits to her little

one. If little one is a good student, he does as momma mare told him and learned to do his business in the proper

place. Because momma mare was a good teacher.

I like the way you’re thinking here. I have two Mrs. Cleans that challenge this theory, and other horses who are complete slobs who don’t give a thought about where they poop.

Exhibit A: Tidy Pooper Mare #1, The Neat Freak. As long as the weather is good, she only poops outside at the back of her stall run. In the winter, she’s splits the pooping 75/25 outside/inside. Both piles are neat and tidy and are targeted into one 2x3 area. Her mother, Broodie #1, was a very normal random pooper. Her mother, Granny #1, was also a very normal random pooper.

Exhibit B: Tidy Pooper Mare #2, The Queen of Organized Pooping. This mare is even more organized than #1, except she will poop in her stall. It’s her method of stacking that is impressive. Her piles are laid in the exact same spot in her stall and become a huge mountain of poop. She does not poop in her stall run. Her mother, Broodie #2, was a very unorganized pooper.

They didn’t learn this from their mommas, so I have no idea what drove them to be so organized. I mean, what horse even really thinks about where they want to poop? Maybe this a sign of a horse with a higher IQ or higher problem solving ability over those who randomly poop? Both of my Mrs.Cleans are very intelligent and very talented, but also a little snowflaky in their own special ways.

[Saffron_Rose]

My theory is that they don’t like being confined in mess. The neatest pooper we had was a horse who had, before coming to us, been kept in a 10*12 stable 24/7 for about two years. But as she was turned out for longer she got messier, though was still quite neat. My mares are also much neater than the geldings! So it might be to do with scent marking maybe?

[WildLittleWren]

I am leaning towards territorial scent marking. I was told she was a very alpha type mare with other horses. The fact that she does it around the walls…and when outside…along the barn aisle walls, makes me think, perhaps she is marking her territory against intruder horses? Alas, I will probably never know but its sooo weird. I would say it’s to it’s to is tidy but…she pees all over her stall with no real rhyme or reason.

[WildLittleWren]

@Saffron_Rose

My theory is that they don’t like being confined in mess. The neatest pooper we had was a horse who had, before coming to us, been kept in a 10*12 stable 24/7 for about two years. But as she was turned out for longer she got messier, though was still quite neat. My mares are also much neater than the geldings! So it might be to do with scent marking maybe?

This would make sense too. This mare was confined in a dark 12×24 stall in 3 feet deep manure for 3 months. She said she couldn’t get her out of her stall so she just stayed there :no:

[MysticOakRanch]

@HPFarmette

I have seen my mare make a special trip from the pasture into the shed to poop. Thanks mare.

I have TWO horses who do this - drives me NUTS. The pasture is spotless, the shelter is a poop pile. Wish I could figure out how to stop this behavior. One is a mare, one is a gelding (late gelded, was a stallion, you would think HE could be neat)…

[CPL713]

@Color of Light

They didn’t learn this from their mommas, so I have no idea what drove them to be so organized. I mean, what horse even really thinks about where they want to poop? Maybe this a sign of a horse with a higher IQ or higher problem solving ability over those who randomly poop? Both of my Mrs.Cleans are very intelligent and very talented, but also a little snowflaky in their own special ways.

I choose to believe my gielding who makes a mess of his stall is a disorganized genius. He doesn’t have time to concern himself with things like housekeeping. :lol::lol::lol:

[WildLittleWren]

@CPL713

I choose to believe my gielding who makes a mess of his stall is a disorganized genius. He doesn’t have time to concern himself with things like housekeeping. :lol::lol::lol:

In that case Wren, my other mustang, is a bloody genius! She can destroy a stall in a couple hours :lol:

[CanteringCarrot]

Probably a marking type behavior I imagine.

I have a gelding (gelded around 4 years old) who is very neat and poops in piles in his pasture. He also poops on top of other horse’s poop. Quite stallion like with his pooping. Easy to clean his turnout if the need arose. Honestly, if this is the only “stallion trait” he kept, it’s fine by me!