Health – Page 2 – Equestlife

It makes sense that we would want to potty train the pets that live in our homes, but what about the pets that live outside? Shouldn’t they have some sort of potty training as well? If you have horses or are interested in the aspect, you’ve probably wondered these things yourself. You can train a horse to poop in one place. Horses are naturally clean animals and potty training them is fairly simple. They may require more than one spot, however, using two to three different areas as designated piles. The areas where they live, sleep, and eat being the most likely. Horses of all shapes and sizes can be trained to have good manners when it comes to pooping, from mini-horses that spend time inside the home to giant draft horses that can produce up to a hundred pounds of raw waste in one day. In this article, we will look at how you can get a horse to poop in the same spot as well as some other fecal facts about these animals. Training A Horse To Poop In One Place Left to their own devices, horses will poop and pee nearly anywhere they like, whether at a full trot or standing still, it doesn’t matter. Even though they can be a bit messy in this way, most horses will try to avoid going potty wherever they lay or too close to their food, though it’s not always the case. It is entirely possible to train a horse to go in the same spot or spots, over and over. This will not only help to keep your horse’s area, and your horse, cleaner, but it can make mucking out your stalls or barn a much quicker task. There is more than one way to get a horse to poop where you want them to. Here are some of those ways: Use Stud Piles Even in the wild horses like to poop in the same place. These piles of dung are referred to as stud piles. Why do wild horses poop in the same place? Well, the stud piles get their name because they are where the dominant stallion, or stud, chooses to poop. Wherever he decides to drop his dung is where the other horses in the herd choose to do so as well. But how does this help to potty train a horse? It is pretty simple. Even if you don’t have a dominant stallion in your home herd, you can use this trick. Simply locate a spot, say the rear corner of your horse's stall, and pile up a bit of another horse’s poo there. That’s all there is to it. By creating a precedent inside the stall, in the form of an existing poop pile, your horse will most likely get the hint. In this way, some horse owners say it is much easier to potty train a horse than a dog. Most likely though, you will have to choose a couple of spots for these dung piles, as a horse will likely drop dung in more than one location during the day. For this, just choose a couple more locations to start piles. Choose locations that aren’t in the middle of horse, or human, foot traffic, and places that are not too close to food and water areas. Unfortunately, you can’t make it too far from where they eat because as gross as it may seem, horses don’t like to travel too far from where they dine to eliminate waste. For more on the concept of stud piles, check out this interesting article from listentoyourhorse.com. Reward Good Bathroom Manners Thankfully it shouldn’t be too difficult to train a horse to use a certain corner of their stall as a bathroom, though there are always those stubborn animals. If you have a horse that just seems to always make a mess of their living area, you may need some reinforcements. Some high-value treats can go a long way to reinforcing good behavior. Reward your horses when you see them poop or pee in the correct area. It is important, especially for stubborn animals, that you reward these good behaviors immediately upon execution. Rewards are much more incentivizing and humane than punishing a horse for pooping where you don’t want them to. Always choose to reward the good rather than discourage what you dislike - as it isn’t truly bad. Use Shavings To Reduce Splashing This can be a problem for any horse but seems to be especially prevalent in mares. Some mares will go out of their way to urinate in unfortunate locations to avoid getting their pee splashed on their legs. Can we really blame them for this? Luckily for us, it is a simple problem to fix. If constant urination in the wrong location is a problem, try putting a nice pile of shaving where you would like your horses to relieve themselves. The shavings absorb the urine and reduce the splashback. It is really as simple as that. While there is no consensus on the greatest ways to get a horse to cooperate with their bathroom behaviors, there are many different methods that have worked well for others. In this, her article on the topic, Stacy Westfall of stacywestfall.com collected the anecdotes of many a horse owner on their plights of potty training their horses. Horses And Their Pooping Habits Horses are impressive animals in many ways and their waste productions can certainly be considered impressive based solely on the amount. Sure they are large animals, but people that are just researching whether or not they should own a horse can be shocked when they look at the poop data. Here are some interesting, and impressive facts about the elimination habits of horses. How Many Times A Day Should A Horse Poop? A 1,000-pound horse can poop anywhere from 4 to 13 times per day. Let us not forget that they also urinate around that same amount. How Much Poop Does A Horse Produce Per Day? Considering a 1,000-pound horse can poop upwards of 14 times a day, they can make up to 37 pounds of dung. When you take into account that that same horse will likely produce 2.4 gallons of urine in that same day, that makes around 50 pounds of excreted waste in one day! Double that bodyweight with say a draft horse and you will be dealing with twice the waste. If we do the math, it means that your average half-ton horse will produce over nine tons of feces and urine per year. So, if you were on the fence about training your horses to do their business in the same places, this might just change your mind. Cleaning up 9 tons of feces is hard enough work without it being strewn about all willy nilly throughout a horse’s living area. Potty Training Your Horse Is Relatively Simple In conclusion, it is possible to train a horse to have very good manners when it comes to pooping in the same spot. It might not be in one singular spot, but you can definitely cut down on the many piles that a horse can produce. Remember, that can be upwards of 100 pounds of raw waste per day if you are looking after draft horses. Using the stud pile method can work wonders in managing multiple horse’s feces and even instill good training inside an individual horses stall. For even more information on manure management, check out this article.