I’m working with my mini to be therapy registered through Pet Partners.
One of the things they require is that all animals are potty trained.
I’ve read a couple of things about conditioning them, every time they go, start using a word. Add in a treat and then eventually start using the word and they will go.
Has anyone done this? What methods did you use? How does one do this when they can’t watch their animals 24/7??
Mine poop every time they come in the barn, every time I get out the shipping boots or put down the trailer ramp, every time I put studs in. Training them NOT to poop would be much harder!
I don’t know how it’s done,but I knew a lady that trained her horse to poop and pee on command.
Weird right? Mine farts on me every time I lift a back leg…little devils…
I had an OTTB that peed on command—a certain whistle provided instant results. It came in really handy before a ride. I assume his groom at the track taught him that to make the drug testing easier. Or maybe the groom just had weird hobbies… 
Clicker training would probably imprint the habit fastest for you. Although when they’ve got to go, they’ve got to go. Good luck, and you must post pictures!
I don’t know know the answer to your question, but both my minis “let go” as soon as their stalls are cleaned (if I am cleaning with them inside). After the last forkfull is flung and I am getting ready to spread the shaving, bingo, another load is deposited for me to remove. Every Single Time. One pees, the other poops.
Maybe you could find the time that they usually go (if there is one) and start rewarding them then for their “efforts”.
I also trained my saddlebred to ‘urinate’ when I whistled a certain way. It was easy but then he was easy to teach
about anything. I’ve heard this was common at racetracks.
I think you need to look at how easily trained and compliant your mini’s are? Do they like to learn new things?
Are they the ‘good student’? Not all equine brains are that co-operative.
She picked up clicker training in like 5 min, so I have a feeling she would be receptive to being trained for that. I was just down there and she was pooping so I said “go potty” and gave her a treat, hopefully with enough associations she will get it.
I watched a youtube video and the woman would wait for them to go, say the cue, cluck, and treat. So she said eventually you can do cue, get the result, cluck, treat.
I have a friend who can literally “lead (her) horse to water and make him drink.” He’s an older horse (25) and prone to colic, and she’s very concerned that he keep hydrated, so she taught him to drink whenever she asks him to.
Though keep in mind that horses poop more under stress. Ours all let go the minute they get in the trailer even though they load and trailer well. So if something stressful occurs during the visit you may get nervous poop.
I think you could do a lot with clicker training but I would never trust a horse to be 100 % house trained like a cat or dog. That’s because horses, like rabbits and birds, really don’t personally care about where the poop. Well, my mare always poops at the back of the runout paddock not in her stall. But if I locked her in the stall she would poop there, not wait.
Cats and dogs on the other hand poop less than horses, and have more personal rules about pooping away from food and traffic, and cats bury their poop. So there is more instinct to build on.
Just like it’s easier to teach a dog to play fetch than a horse.
So you might not ever be 100% reliable.
On the other hand horses can and do hold their pee until they are in a safe and absorbent place.
There’s an old thread about this! Apparently it’s a phenomenon.
I would pick a more neutral command…like get busy
saying go potty would drive me nuts
I know,its super childish but it was what we used for the dog, so its all I remember to say lol.
I once toured a boarding facility that didn’t like to clean stalls (her words, not mine). She “taught” the horses to poop before being put up by letting everyone who pooped in, but leaving the non-pooper tied to a tree outside the barn to work it out himself. They were let in once they did the deed. She said my gelding would be “no problem” to train in the same way. :eek:
I did not end up boarding there. I also do not endorse this method.
With birds at least, it is preferred to teach poop in a particular place rather than on a voice command. Some birds learn TOO well, and will hold it in long enough to make themselves ill if not commanded to poop. I have no idea if a horse would be similar, but I would be inclined to present a target for pooping. Also, if you are going to be indoors, bun bags are pretty useful.
Another boarder at my barn taught her horse to poop over by the manure tub in the corner of the indoor. She used clicker training and treats. The stinker would go over the the muck bucket, stand there and look for his treat. He would not get one unless he pooped. He was very food motivated and always pooped in one spot in his stall so he was already neat by nature.
Just like it’s easier to teach a dog to play fetch than a horse.
Oh Scribbler, depends on the dog and depends on the horse. I have a German Shepherd. quick, smart and oh so easy to train. I also have an ASB, quick, smart and a snap to train. Show him something once. No lie.
He took to fetch like a champ. We took it one step further and he had to walk over to a basketball hoop ( a bucket
tied up in a tree) and SLAM DUNK the ball into the hoop/bucket. Men/sports fans love this trick. He knew it and would
nudge “More, More”.
Now my WB-Hanoverian mare- we haven’t even tried to do tricks- she’s slightly slow in that department. Just doesn’t
put things together in her brain.
I was told that race horses were taught this. You whistle when they pee and soon they pee when you whistle. I was able to teach one of my horses this. Worked great. He was easy to teach though because he peed fairly often. I haven’t been able to teach my others because they pee mostly in private.
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